Brother Nathanael - 10-27-2015 - Why I Believe In Jesus Christ
Aired: 2019-12-27
Duration: 04:07


=== Jewish Journey to Faith (04:05) ===

[00:00:01]  I grew up as a Jew and attended Sabbath school at an early age.
[00:00:05]  We studied the Torah, Talmud, and the Siddur, Jewish prayers, but I always felt something was missing.
[00:00:12]  At the same time, I felt a strong attraction to Jesus Christ.
[00:00:18]  For in the 50s, the general culture still had a strong Christian component.
[00:00:24]  Like many Jews, I love Christmas carols, and this fueled my interest in Jesus Christ.
[00:00:32]  I often wondered, what happens when we die?
[00:00:36]  I asked my rabbi for an answer, and all I got back was, we Jews live through our children.
[00:00:43]  This left me high and dry.
[00:00:46]  I asked another rabbi who said, all Jews have a holy nefesh, that is soul, and are destined for eternal life.
[00:00:54]  But how could this be?
[00:00:56]  I knew of Jews who were cheats and addicted to pornography.
[00:01:00]  Nothing holy in their nephesis, for sure.
[00:01:03]  With half-baked answers, I came to the conclusion that Judaism was bankrupt.
[00:01:08]  The rabbis simply couldn't answer serious questions.
[00:01:12]  And they certainly can't deal with questions about Jesus Christ.
[00:01:16]  How can I help you?
[00:01:18]  Well, we're looking for an honest response to the teachings of Jesus.
[00:01:25]  Okay, let me explain to you.
[00:01:27]  An honest response.
[00:01:29]  The man you call Yashka, this guy...
[00:01:31]  Stop there. What kind of honest response could possibly follow when the rabbi starts by bad-mouthing Jesus?
[00:01:39]  You see, Talmudic Jews won't say the holy name of Yeshua, Jesus, but instead call him Yashka, in order to curse him, avoiding saying salvation, which is what Yeshua means.
[00:01:52]  Well, let me ask you this.
[00:01:53]  I mean, Jesus said of himself, he said, before Abraham was born, I am.
[00:01:59]  Why did people pick up stones to stone him when he said that?
[00:02:02]  It says in the Torah, you should know this day and take it to your heart.
[00:02:08]  The Lord is God. In the heaven above and on the earth below, there's nothing else.
[00:02:13]  There's nothing besides God.
[00:02:15]  God is the I am.
[00:02:16]  Over in Hinduism, they say that man is God.
[00:02:20]  That's idolatry.
[00:02:22]  God is all. So it's idolatry for a man to claim to be God.
[00:02:27]  God is all.
[00:02:29]  If he says that it's all God, including me, that's not idolatry.
[00:02:33]  God is unlimited.
[00:02:35]  God is infinite. That man is not infinite.
[00:02:39]  He's limited. You simpleton!
[00:02:41]  The Old Testament describes many instances of God appearing in limited forms as theophanies.
[00:02:48]  In one instance, God appeared to Abraham and even ate with him, having the appearance of a limited mouth.
[00:02:55]  These were pre-incarnate appearances of the Son of God, who, as predicted by Moses and the prophets, would come as a man, having both a human and divine nature.
[00:03:07]  This is way too profound for the Rebbe with his Torah.
[00:03:10]  All he can come up with is that the universe is God, pure pantheism.
[00:03:16]  No one dies, they just dissolve into the universe.
[00:03:20]  The Christian answer is better.
[00:03:23]  Jesus Christ came as a man to conquer death.
[00:03:26]  By his humanity he suffered death, and thus put away our sins on the cross.
[00:03:31]  And by his divinity he arose from the dead, and thus grants life beyond the grave.
[00:03:38]  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
[00:03:48]  I was perishing in the synagogue, but now have eternal life in the church.
[00:03:54]  The rabbis have no answers.
[00:03:57]  All they can do is curse, fudge, and put serious inquirers on the road to hell.
[00:04:02]  But Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.