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Richard 'Aharon' Chaimberlin |
Vendyl Jones wrote
a book called, Will the Real Jesus Please Stand? It was published by the
Institute of Judaic-Christian Research in 1983. The picture on the previous
page is the cover of that book. (I borrowed the title for this article.) Vendyl Jones was born in 1930, and died in 2010. In the
late 1990s, I was in communication with him.
Vendyl Jones was
a great scholar, but like Hugh Schonfield before him,
he eventually became more and more heretic. I still have Schonfield's
book, The History of Jewish Christianity, which was published in Great
Britain in 1936. Despite the title, the theology in this book was very much
what I would call Messianic Judaism. In those years, it was expected that all
Jews who believe in Jesus should become good Christians and become part of a
church. Schonfield believed that Jewish believers
should maintain their heritage, be Torah-observant, and not assimilate into the
church. This was a rather radical view at that time.
Schonfield was
born in London, England, in 1901. As a young adult, he became a believer in
Yeshua, and joined the International Hebrew Christian Alliance (IHCA). He was
later was expelled from the Executive Committee of the IHCA[1]
in 1937, just one year after his book came out. I suspect that his book was not
well-received by the Hebrew Christians of that era. He passed away in 1988. I
used to have him on the mail list for Petah Tikvah. He would sometimes
write to castigate me for something he didn't agree with, and also sometimes to
compliment me on something he liked. He requested that I not publish anything
he wrote. I kept the correspondence in a safe place, so safe that I was unable
to find it after he died!
However, Schonfield
became increasingly isolated and heretical after 1937. He also came to reject
his book The History of Jewish Christianity. He stopped all further publication
of it, and actually went to various bookstores to purchase these books so he
could destroy them! I happen to have a photocopy of the book, which I treasure.
Schofield eventually
wrote The Passover Plot in 1965, which was (in my humble opinion)
extremely blasphemous. He also seemed rather pantheistic, blending creation
with the Creator.
Vendyl Jones was
a devout, King James only Baptist. After much research, he recognized that the
Jesus he was following was not the historical Jesus. In his newsletter (Researcher)
dated March 1998, he wrote an article called, "Who is and Who was
Jesus?" in which he wrote the following:
"It is evident that Christians
throughout history and in diverse locales have created a Jesus that conforms to
their own ethnic image. Spanish art, for example, depicts Jesus and his
disciples as Hispanic. In such paintings, the topography and Moorish architecture
are that of Spain, not the Middle East. In like manner, Italian artists always
portray Jesus and his disciples as Italians, while Russian painters will clothe
the baby Jesus and Mary in garments of fur.
"In many of these paintings, the
genitalia of the child is exposed. The boy is not
circumcised and is unquestionably a Gentile and not a Jew! Such renderings
reveal the radical difference between the historical Jesus and the theological
Jesus. A portrait of Jesus as an uncircumcised child who is obviously more than
eight days old displays on the part of the painter either complete ignorance of
Judaism or a strong theological statement against Judaism. In reality, scholars
and painters were never so ignorant. The artists were supervised and directed
by the clergy as to how to present their image of Jesus."
In this same newsletter, Vendyl Jones writes, "In the Church Council that
determined whether the Jewish Scripture (Tanakh/'Old Testament') should be
included in the Christian Canon, it was decided by a margin of only one vote."
The de-Judaizng of Jesus was in full swing.
Regretfully, despite being a great scholar, Vendyl
Jones eventually became more heretical, even studying (and believing!) such
things as Kabbalah[2]
and Tanya. He also ended up renouncing his book, Will the Real Jesus Please
Stand? He would not allow it to be republished. However, used copies of it
are available on Amazon.com for $925.87. It's a pretty good book,
but not worth almost a thousand dollars!
What caused both of these otherwise intelligent
men to fall from faith in Yeshua? I believe it was that the Scriptures (both
Testaments!) ceased to be primary. They started reading Talmud, as well as
Kabbalah and other esoteric literature. I have no problem with reading things
like Talmud - but in moderation! Scripture must come first.
As Vendyl Jones
made clear on the previous page, there are many Jesuses out there. Rav Sha'ul
recognized this when he wrote: "For if one comes and preaches another
Jesus whom we have not preached, or your receive a
different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you
have not accepted, you bear it well." (2
Cor. 11:4)
I don't believe that another Jesus
can save us. Curiously, Jesus has been adopted into many religions, including
many Oriental cults as well as even in Islam, where they expect Jesus to come
back, promote Islam, and destroy the churches!
The one Jesus that is not widely accepted
is the Jewish Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah! Regretfully, Gentiles around the world
have taken the Jewish Messiah and turned Him into something of a Greek god. He
wasn't a blond, blue-eyed Swede, nor was He Chinese or African. I presume that
He was a swarthy-complexioned Middle-Eastern Jew, not at all like the Hollywood
version or the Jesus of European artists from earlier centuries.
I am not knocking everything taught about
Jesus in the churches. Messianic Judaism and Christianity are in agreement on
many fundamentals. He was born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) in Bethlehem (Micah
5:1-2). He was crucified (Psalm 22) for our transgressions (Isaiah 53),
providing atonement for the sins to those who choose to follow Him. Yeshua was
also resurrected from the dead, and will return to reign for a thousand years.
However, in Matthew
5:17-19 Yeshua tells us, "Think not that I have come
to abolish the Law (Torah), or the prophets: I have not come to abolish, but to
fulfill. 18For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one
jot or one tittle shall in any way pass from the law, until all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever
therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so,
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do
and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven."
The Jesus that is taught
in most churches is the Jesus of Dispensational Theology, whereby the
Dispensation of Law has been abolished, and replaced by the Dispensation of
Grace. This is much like the fickle Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, keeping
their followers nervous, never knowing what is expected of them each day. My
Bible tells me that God never changes in Malachi 3:6, and that Yeshua is the
same yesterday, today, and forever in Hebrews 13:8. There was grace in the
Tanakh (OT), as was demonstrated after the sins of Abraham and King David. And
there is Law in the Newer Testament. Yeshua commends those who keep his commandments
in John 14:21.
Moshe gave us great instructions
on how to determine who is a true prophet, and who is a false prophet in Dt.
12:32 to Dt. 13:10:
Deut. 12:32: "Whatever I command you,
you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to nor take away from it. Deut.
13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a
dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2And the sign
or the wonder comes to pass, whereof he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after
other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them,' 3 you shall not hearken to the
words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for YHWH your God is testing
you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all
your soul. 4You shall walk after YHWH your God, and fear Him, and keep
His commandments, and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him, and cleave
to Him. 5And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put
to death, because he has spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage,
to thrust you out of the way which the LORD your God commanded
you to walk in. So you shall put the evil away from
the midst of you.
6 If your brother, the son of
your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your
friend, which is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, 'Let us
go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, you, or your fathers; 7Namely,
of the gods of the people which are round about you, near to you, or far
off from you, from the one end of the earth even unto the other
end of the earth. 8You shall not consent to him, nor hearken to him;
neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you
conceal him. 9 But you shall
surely kill him; your hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and
afterwards the hand of all the people. 10And you shall stone him
with stones, that he shall die; because he has sought to thrust you away from
the LORD thy God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
from the house of bondage."
The above passage from
Moses warns us about false prophets that will try to get us to worship false
deities, or who try to get us to disobey God's commandments. This would also
apply to false Messiahs (or Christs if you prefer). Any Jesus who is anti-Torah
would also be an anti-Messiah (or anti-Christ). Earlier, Moshe gave similar
warnings in Deuteronomy 4:1-2:
"Now
therefore, O Israel, hearken to the statutes and to the judgments, which I am
teaching you, for to do them, that you may live, and go in and
possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers gives to
you. 2
You
shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take
away from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHWH your God which I
command you."
The beginning of verse 2 may pertain primarily to Judaism, which
tends to add to the instructions given to us through Moses, often making it a
burden to try to walk in obedience to God. Judaism also gives us the Talmud, an
immense encyclopedic commentary on Torah made up of many volumes. In addition,
many great rabbis have written huge commentaries on the Torah. Many Jews spend
far more time on the Talmud and commentaries than they do with the actual
Scriptures. In addition, there is Midrash, which is a collection of Rabbinic
stories often loosely based on the Bible. I'm not saying that this is all
garbage. There are many jewels in the pages of these books. I also prefer
Rabbinic commentary to Christian commentary. However, it can be maddening to
see how so many man-made precepts have made Judaism into a difficult religion
to follow.
But then Moses warns us
about those who take away from the commandments. This, of course, would pertain
primarily to Christianity. Most Christians have no desire to observe the biblical
Sabbath, which is the seventh day of the week, not the first. Most Christians
do not believe in the dietary laws of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. When you
quote passages from the Tanakh, they will often say, "Well, that's just
the Old Testament." Very sad. During the First Century, the only Bible
that the early believers had was the "Old Testament," which they
loved and treasured. On the other hand, Christians also add to the Word, with
some man-made commandments and holidays of their own which are not in the Bible.
1 John 2:3-6 had some harsh
words to share with us: "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we
keep his commandments. 4 He that says, 'I know Him,' and does not
keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. 5 But
whoever keeps his word, in him truly is the love of God perfected: hereby know
we that we are in Him. 6 He that says he abides in Him ought himself
also to walk, even as He walked."
We know, of course, that
Yeshua walked as a Torah-observant Jew, and we are expected to walk as He
walked. And if we say that we love Him, but refuse to keep his commandments,
then we are called liars. Wow! Very harsh words indeed!
Will the real Jesus
please stand? I believe He already did stand. We must, however, avoid the
counterfeit Jesus presented to us in 2 Corinthians 11:4. There are many who
have swallowed some terrible theologies who will one day be surprised. In
Matthew 7:21-23, Yeshua said:
"Not
everyone that says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many
will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name have done many wonderful
works?' 23And then will I
declare to them, 'I never knew you: depart from Me, you who practice
Lawlessness.'"
These people sound like those I would like to see in my congregation! They cast out demons and do many wonderful works. Yet Yeshua said, "I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice Lawlessness."
"He that turns away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer shall be an abomination." (Proverbs 28:9)