Will an educated person inevitably reject the message of Jesus? And what about an intelligent Jew? Would they automatically reject Jesus and His teachings? Is it only fools and uneducated people that are impressed by the message of Jesus?
This is what the rabbis want you to believe at least – see for example what Rabbi Aaron Moss wrote on chabad.org: “The missionaries choose to target those in society who are weak, old, immigrants and deprived populations, in an attempt to take advantage of their vulnerability… Of course they have nothing to offer to a thinking person…”
Is rabbi Moss correct?
Let’s allow an educated Jew, a thinker, to respond: The Jewish scientist, Albert Einstein, answered the question: “Does he accept Jesus as an historical figure?” “Absolutely! No one can read the Gospels without feeling Jesus’ presence. His character lives in every word. No legend is full of such life… No one can deny the fact that Jesus existed, or that His words were enlightened. Even if some of His sayings were said before, no one expressed them in such Godly way like He did.”
The Jewish writer, Shalom Ash, whose stories were turned into theater plays all over the world, wrote: “Jesus is the most prominent figure of all times. There is no other teacher – Jewish, Christian, Buddhist or Muslim. His teachings are still milestones in the world we live in. Other teachers might have something basic to offer the Easterner, Arab or the Westerner; but in every act or word of Jesus, there is value for us all. He became the light of the world. Why wouldn’t I, as a Jew, be proud of that?”
Professor Mordechai Buber of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, wrote in his book “Two Kinds of Faith”: “Today, more than ever, I am convinced that Jesus has a great place in history, and in the faith of the People of Israel.”
The Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza wrote: “God’s eternal wisdom, showed itself in everything, especially in the human soul, but above all, in Jesus the Messiah.” (Letter #21 to Henry Oldenburg, November 1675)
Benjamin Disraeli was Prime Minister of Britain during the 19th century and one of the greatest British politicians of his time. He was a prolific international author and recipient of a Nobel title from the Queen. He was Jewish, but also believed that Jesus was the Messiah. He said the following: “Between the Old and New Testaments, there is a page… Jesus came to complete the Law and the Prophets. Christianity is completed Judaism”.
“Between the Old and New Testaments, there is a page… Jesus came to complete the Law and the Prophets. Christianity is completed Judaism”.
Believe it or not, there are even rabbis who came to the conclusion that Jesus had something to offer them. Rabbi Dr. Daniel Zion, head rabbi of Bulgaria and of the city of Jaffa, said in a radio interview for Kol Israel: “Jesus did nothing but good for his Jewish brothers in Israel. He called on them to show regret and to return to God. He declared God’s Kingdom and called for love, love for all people, even love for enemies.”
Many don’t realize this, but the famous saying, “Once a Jew, always a Jew”, actually originated in relation to faith in Jesus. Rabbi Israel Zolly, head rabbi of Rome during the Holocaust, told how he came to faith in Jesus as the Messiah on the Day of Atonement in 1944, when Jesus came to him in a vision. When asked, “why did you leave the synagogue for the church?” he answered: “I didn’t leave… Faith in Jesus is the completion of the synagogue. The synagogue is the promise, and Christianity is the fulfillment of the promise. Once a Jew, always a Jew.”
Rabbi Dr. Kaufman said about Jesus: “These are the words of a Prophet, of a fearless reformer. With the same courage of genuine love with which he converted sinners, Jesus also defended the woman in whom the rabbis only saw an instrument in the hands of Satan to entice men to sin, and Jesus shattered the forces making the woman’s lot lonely. Jesus was the helper of needy, the friend of sinners, the brother of all sufferers, the comforter of the unfortunate, the lover of mankind, the liberator of the woman, he won and conquered the human heart.”
Many other non-Jewish philosophers and educated people also praised Jesus. The famous physician and mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton, considered one of the greatest scientists of all times, said: “I have deep faith in the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God.”
Philosopher and Professor C.S. Lewis, also known for his “Narnia” book series , wrote of Jesus: “No lunatic could be the source of psychological understandings so deep and efficient as those of Jesus Christ.”
Spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi said, “Jesus, who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was the most perfect act.”
Napoléon wrote during his last days: “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires, but on what did we rest the creations of our genius? On force! Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions all over the world are willing to die for him.”
Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “Jesus was jealous for love, justice and kindness. In that he rose above his surroundings.”
The great scientist, Blaise Pascal, a mathematician, physician and a philosopher, wrote: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man, which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through the Messiah.”
In conclusion, it seems that the emotional manipulation of rabbi Aaron Moss is without basis, and that Jesus has a lot to offer to the thinking person, to every Jew and gentile, and also to you.
