Many believing Jews are waiting for the Messiah. The Messiah in Judaism is the coming Saviour, the conqueror who will crush the serpent’s head, free the nation, triumph over sin and death, and gather the Jewish people to the land of Israel. The Messiah will also cause all the nations of the world to worship God.

The Old Testament, the part of the Bible that Jews and Christians have in common, describes the Messiah as a king or high priest who is a descendant of King David who will rule the Jewish people during the Messianic age. These biblical promises that the Messiah will save the Jewish people are still valid today.

Jesus himself was a Jew and preached to the Jewish people. Jesus’ first disciples were Jews. The first congregation formed in Jerusalem was an entirely Jewish phenomenon. These believing Jews worshipped in the temple, celebrated the Jewish festivals, and kept to the scriptures. Even when non-Jews began to come to faith in large numbers, Paul, the leading evangelist, himself a Jew, chose to turn first to the synagogues, and only then to all non-Jews, when he preached the gospel on his missionary journeys.

The belief that Jesus is the promised Messiah distinguishes the Christian faith from Judaism. The history of the Christian Church, many times characterized by replacement theology and anti-Semitism, has subsequently contributed to creating a distance from the Jewish people.
Although most today’s Jews do not see Jesus as their Messiah, there are many Jews both in Israel and in other parts of the world who define themselves as both Jews and Jesus-believers. Belief in the Trinity, on the other hand, is considered idolatry by Jewish rabbis who also believe that a Jesus-believing Jew is not a true Jew. However, Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah shall be eligible for the State of Israel’s Law of Return if they have Jewish parents or grandparents.