What is the Messianic Jewish movement? Who is the Wandering Jew? Are these concepts linked in any way?
The Messianic Jewish Group
The Messianic Jewish group is a religious sect whose members believe in Jesus as their saviour. They call Jesus Yeshua, and consider him to be the true Jewish Messiah. Because of the Messianic Jewish faith in Jesus as the savior, people belonging to the Messianic Jewish sect are often considered to be more Christian than Jewish. However, the Messianic Jewish religious movement is quite different from regular Christianity in many ways.
The Messianic Jewish sect leans towards Jewish customs such as following Jewish Law, observing the Jewish Sabbath on Friday, keeping Jewish holidays and avoiding forbidden foods such as pork and shellfish.
The Followers Of Messianic Judaism
The followers of Messianic Judaism consider themselves to be Jews. However, they follow the customs and ideas of early Christian thought and pursue and Evangelical Christian philosophy as far as religion is concerned. Messianic Jews disagree with other Jews on aspects such as the Trinity, the concept of sin and salvation, in addition to disagreement about the identity of the true Messiah and many other points. There are more than 400 Messianic Jewish synagogues across the globe today with close to four hundred thousand Messianic Jewish adherents of the religion. Here, the Rabbi is the leader, as in Judaism, and the synagogues are constructed like regular Jewish synagogues.
The Legend Of The Wandering Jew
The legend of the Wandering Jew really has nothing to do with Messianic Judaism. The Wandering Jew is a legendary character whose tale has been told from medieval Christian times. The story goes that while Jesus was walking the path to his crucifixion, there was a Jew called Ahasverus or Buttadaeus who mocked his struggles and sneered at him. As punishment, this Jew was cursed to wander the earth until the Second Coming of Christ, and thus he gained the name of Wandering Jew. Details of the legend of the Wandering Jew vary. In some versions, the situation is different; in other stories, the occupation of the Wandering Jew differs. Some believe that the Wandering Jew was Pontius Pilates' doorman or porter; others say he was a shoemaker, still others believe that the Wandering Jew was a priest. All versions of the legend, thoug, agree that the Wandering Jew regretted his rudeness and became a Christian. It is commonly believed that the Wandering Jew would age normally until he became a hundred years old, at which point he goes back to the age of thirty and continues wandering on, waiting for Christ to return again.
Sightings Of The Wandering Jew
There were many 'sightings' of the Wandering Jew during the Middle ages, and the legend has had some influence on literature and art. Examples of this influence include the novel called Le Juif Errant, written by Eugène Sue in 1844, Fromental Halévy's1852 opera of the same name and woodcuts by Gustave Dore in 1856 called The Legend of the Wandering Jew
Interestingly, the Wandering Jew is also a plant, but this has nothing to do with the Messianic Jewish faith or the Messianic Jewish people either.