Dear Saints in Yeshua

Dear Saints in Yeshua,

Over the last month I have had the privilege of doing outreach with Jews for Jesus in New York City and had many exciting conversations with Jewish people who wanted to learn more about how Jewish people could believe in Jesus and what it means for Jesus to be the Jewish Messiah.

As we enter the month of October, a lot is going on around us. Since Rosh Hashanah occurred at the end of September this year, Jewish people worldwide are preparing to observe Yom Kippur on October 4th. In biblical times, Yom Kippur was the one day of the year that a priest could enter the most holy place to offer prayers of repentance for the people. At this time, He would offer sacrifices, as we read in Leviticus 16. The priest would take one goat and sacrifice it and take a second goat and drive it into the wilderness after confessing the sins of Israel over it so that the sins of the people would be taken outside the camp.

Today, since there is no temple, Yom Kippur has become a solemn day of prayer, fasting, and repentance for all the sins that were committed the previous year. Pious Jewish people go to their synagogue to pray together, hear scripture, and repent of their sins.

One of the common prayers that is prayed is the Unetanah Tokef which begins with these words,

We shall ascribe holiness to this day. For it is awesome and terrible. Your kingship is exalted upon it. Your throne is established in mercy. You are enthroned upon it in truth. In truth You are the judge, The exhorter, the all knowing, the witness, He who inscribes and seals, Remembering all that is forgotten. You open the book of remembrance. Which proclaims itself, And the seal of each person is there. The great shofar is sounded, A still small voice is heard. The angels are dismayed, They are seized by fear and trembling As they proclaim: Behold the Day of Judgment! For all the hosts of heaven are brought for judgment. They shall not be guiltless in Your eyes And all creatures shall parade before You as a troop. As a shepherd herds his flock, Causing his sheep to pass beneath his staff, So do You cause to pass, count, and record, Visiting the souls of all living, Decreeing the length of their days, Inscribing their judgment. On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, And on Yom Kippur it is sealed.

Pious Jewish people believe that the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is a period of judgment where God takes a record of all that has been done in the last year and decides what the upcoming year will look like for every person. According to this view, God's judgment is based on what they did and failed to do over the previous year. The last section of the prayer begins with these words, “But repentance, prayer, and charity avert the severe decree.” Observant Jewish people in our world today have, generally speaking, developed a works-based sense of holiness. As a result, it is believed that the individual can do something to balance the scales in their favor through prayer, turning from sins, and giving to those in need. As Christians, we know there is only one way to find eternal life: in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

As the Apostle Paul says,

But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ … Then he added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:1-7, 9-10 ESV).

However, the Jewish people, by and large, do not know Jesus as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament and liberated us from sin. This is why I am excited that we will have the opportunity to host a seminar on Jewish evangelism at Zion Lutheran Church on October 15th. It is my prayer that this seminar will serve as a way of helping to teach and encourage us to share the Gospel with the Jewish people. I hope to see all of you at this event and to rejoice and celebrate the Gospel on Reformation Sunday. May our Lord’s peace be with us always in and through Jesus Christ, who is the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Jordan Peiser is the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Maywood, NJ

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