To speak of “The A to Z Mission of Jewish Disciples of Yeshua” is to step into a calling that is as rich and textured as the history of Israel itself. The mission entrusted to Jewish followers of Yeshua cannot be reduced to a slogan or a single priority; it spans covenant and community, witness and worship, identity and unity. In what follows, I offer an alphabet-shaped framework for understanding that calling, not to simplify it, but to display its full scope—from Age to Come to Zion—so that Jewish believers and the wider body of Messiah alike can see the depth, responsibility, and hope woven into our shared story.
A number of years ago my wife and I walked into a Jewish deli in Skokie, Illinois. I remember sitting at the table and thinking, “I love being in this environment. It’s like we’re in New York City.” The waitress came over to take our order and, glancing at the menu, I said, “I’ll go with the brisket sandwich. But instead of rye, I’d like to have it on a kaiser roll with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and lots of onions, preferably red onions. Oh, and on the side, do you have kosher pickle spears instead of the little round pickle slices?” I still remember the waitress leaning down and saying to me, “Why are you so complicated?” My first thought was, “Isn’t this a Jewish deli?”
Sometimes things are complicated, especially when it comes to my people, the Jewish people. And so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that articulating the mission of Jewish disciples of Yeshua (Jesus) is a complicated matter.
Minimalist vs. Maximalist Approaches
There are various ways of approaching the question of what constitutes the mission of Jewish disciples of Yeshua. One way forward is a minimalist approach that attempts to identify the most important elements of this mission—for example, one, two or three elements that stand out from the rest—and then to focus on these. A strength of the minimalist approach is that it attempts to highlight God’s priorities in order that we might not miss the forest from the trees.
Another way to tackle the question of what constitutes the mission of Jewish disciples of Yeshua is to take a maximalist approach.
Here the goal is not to limit ourselves to one, two, or three key elements of our mission but to survey the landscape and identify as many distinct elements of the mission as possible. There might be dozens of related mini missions that together comprise the overall mission. A benefit of the maximalist approach is that it avoids reductionism. It keeps us from leveling down missions that we might think are less important but are in fact critical to the overall mission.
There is a place for both approaches to the question of what constitutes our mission as Jewish followers of Yeshua—minimalist and maximalist. That said, I have chosen to adopt a maximalist approach.
Our A to Z Mission
To provide a mnemonic for remembering the many aspects of our manifold mission, I have organized the mini missions in a way that follow the letters of the English alphabet. I call it “The A to Z Mission of Jewish Disciples of Yeshua.” My hope is that this mnemonic can be used for discipling Jewish believers to better understand the mission that we have received from the God of Israel, and to give vision to our Gentile brothers and sisters in the Lord for how they can come alongside us.
In surveying the many mini missions that make up our overall mission, my goal is not to unpack each one but to name it, briefly describe it, and then move on to the next one so that we can capture a panoramic view of the variously colored threads that form the rich tapestry of our common mission as Jewish disciples of Yeshua. I write as one who has been part of the Messianic Jewish community for fifty years, whose children identify as Messianic Jews, and whose grandchildren are being raised as fourth-generation Messianic Jews. So, let’s begin with A.
A stands for Age to Come. We have a mission to serve as an eschatological sign that the Age to Come is drawing near. Like the resurrection of the nation of Israel in our day, the resurrection of our community of Jewish followers of Yeshua points to the soon return of the Messiah.
B stands for Bridges. We have a mission to be a bridge between the Jewish people and the Church, a bridge that facilitates communication and relationship.
C stands for Covenant. We have a mission to keep the covenant that God made with our forefathers and to walk out our covenantal responsibilities.
D stands for David. We have a mission to help the Church see Jesus as the son of David, the king of the Jews.
E stands for Ecclesial. We have a mission to establish and strengthen ecclesial communities of Jewish disciples of Yeshua.
F stands for Fight. We have a mission to fight antisemitism in the Church and in the public square.
G stands for Gentiles. We have a mission to bless our Gentile brothers and sisters, and the wider Gentile world, even as Israel is called to be a light to the nations.
H stands for Healing. We have a mission to contribute to healing the schism between the Church and the Jewish people caused by centuries of conflict.
I stands for Intercession. We have a mission to intercede for Israel even as Daniel did (e.g., Dan 9). We will accomplish nothing without heartfelt prayer for our people.
J stands for Jewish. We have a mission to demonstrate through our existence and testimony that Jewish people can believe in Yeshua and remain faithful Jews.
K stands for Kingdom. We have a mission to help our people realize our national calling to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation as God says in Exodus 19.
L stands for L’dor vador (Hebrew for “From generation to generation”). We have a mission to pass on Jewish identity to our children and children’s children.
M stands for Messiah. We have a mission to walk in the ways of Yeshua the Messiah, to imitate him, and to keep the Torah of Messiah.
N stands for Nexus. We have a mission to be a nexus within the body of Messiah, even as the first-century Jerusalem congregation served as a geographic and relational center within the ekklesia.
O stands for One New Man. We have a mission to contribute to the One New Man. The One New Man is a table fellowship of Jews and Gentiles in Messiah who are called to relate to one another in a spirit of interdependence, mutual blessing, and mutual humbling.
P stands for Pastoral. We have a mission to love and care for our people Israel (Mat 10:5-8, 23; 15:24). This pastoral mission involves being part of the Jewish world, knowing our people’s physical and spiritual needs, and humbly doing what we can to address these needs.
Q stands for Qualifications. We have a mission to show our people how Yeshua fulfills the qualifications for being the Messiah described in the Hebrew Scriptures and in other Jewish literature.
R stands for Remnant. We have a mission as the remnant of Israel to perform a priestly service representing our people Israel and the nations before God.
S stands for Scripture. We have a mission to be guardians of the oracles of God, the Scriptures. This includes understanding and teaching God’s Word in a way that brings together treasures old and new (Rom 3:1-2; Mat 13:52).
T stands for Theology. We have a mission to influence Christian theology so that Israelology informs every aspect of Christian theological reflection. Part of this mission involves explaining the problem of replacement theology so that it can be reassessed.
U stands for Unity. We have a mission to work toward unity in the global community of Jewish disciples of Yeshua, and in the body of Messiah as a whole. Yeshua expresses his heart about this in John 17 when he prays, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me.”
V stands for Voice. We have a mission to contribute to Jewish-Christian relations. This involves having a voice at the table, a voice that has been absent for nineteen centuries.
W stands for Witness. We have a mission to bear witness to Yeshua’s resurrection and his abiding presence in our lives as Meshichenu Adonenu Morenu v’Rabenu (Hebrew for “Our Messiah, our Lord, our Teacher, and our Rabbi”).
X stands for X. We have a mission to proclaim through social media and all other means of communication that we are back, that the community of Jewish followers of Yeshua today is a global movement, and that we have an A to Z mission.
Y stands for Yeshua. We have a mission to lift up the name of Yeshua within the Jewish world so that our people may be drawn to him. This involves sharing the besorah (the gospel) with our people, which is the story of Yeshua at the heart of the story of Israel.
Z stands for Zion. We have a mission to contribute to the realization of the biblical vision of Zionism and to see a strong and vibrant community of Jewish disciples of Yeshua in the Land.
The Depth and Breadth of Our Manifold Mission
As we can see from this brief survey, there is a depth and breadth to the manifold mission that the Lord has given us as Jewish disciples of Yeshua. One benefit of the maximalist approach to mission is that it helps us to see the different ways that each of us can personally get involved in walking out our multidimensional mission. Some of us may be called to serve the pastoral needs of the Jewish world. Others may be more called to build bridges with Gentile churches and work toward realizing the One New Man, while others may be more called to strengthening the community of Jewish believers in the land of Israel. Fulfilling our common mission requires working together on the A to Z mission that we have been given as Jewish disciples of Yeshua.
May we humbly partner together and support each other in this exciting endeavor, looking forward to the day when Yeshua the son of David returns to Jerusalem, invites us into his presence, and says to our community of Jewish disciples:
המשימה הושלמה
Hamesima hushlema
Mission accomplished!
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May we faithfully embrace The A to Z Mission of Jewish Disciples of Yeshua, walking together in covenant loyalty, bold witness, and enduring hope until the Messiah’s purposes are fully revealed. If the biblical themes of redemption and God’s faithfulness to Israel captured your attention, explore The King’s University’s Messianic Jewish Studies program. The MJS program offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees tailored to your calling.
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