Messianic - What's In A Name?

What's In A Name?

There are actually two ways to write this descriptive adjective - with a lowercase m or an uppercase M, and the there is a world of difference between them. The frustrating thing is that there is really only one way to vocalize it, which can be confusing to the listener. For example, we use the word south, with lowercase s, to describe which part of the country in which we can find peach trees. But we write South, as in 'South America', with an uppercase S, to indicate a continent by its proper name. If we instead wrote, south America, then it is no longer referring to South America, but somewhere in the southern region of America - America presumed to be either North America or the U.S.A. So without additional specification you can see how easily two very opposite things can become confused.

Now take for example the difference between messianic and Messianic. We might refer to a passage in the scriptures, which prophesies about the messiah, as a 'messianic prophecy'. Messianic is ordinarily written in lowercase, except when it is used as or part of a proper name - and at the beginning of sentences just in this one. The only instances where it is used as part of a proper name is in reference to Christian denominations which express some kind of Jewish styling. Thus 'Messianic Judaism' is used to describe this movement within Christianity and often forms part of the proper denominational names thereof. Take for example how the church, The Hebrew Christian Alliance of America, in order to help mask their identity, changed their name in 1974 to The Messianic Jewish Alliance of America - swapping the terms "Christian" for "Messianic". A similar pattern followed among all such groups until today, when "Hebrew Christian" is all but unheard of.

The terms christian and messianic translate each other very well, and have almost exactly the same meaning - to be anointed or rubbed with the glistening oil. Therefore Messianic is the Hebrew word for a Christian in the most literal sense, and as you can see, in practice as well. Jews have traditionally not described themselves as messianic for two reasons, and now three.

1. It is generally understood that all Jews have a messianic expectation so it is not necessary to explicitly state it.

2. If certain Jews were to start referring to themselves as messianic, it might imply a belief that messiah has come.

3. Since certain Christians have dominated the use of this term for themselves, it would cause confusion to share it.

Our objection to referring to ourselves as 'Messianic Jews' is primarily for reason #3. We have been called many things over the centuries, but we have never been known as 'Messianic Jews', neither by ourselves nor outsiders, nor our enemies. Besides this, nowhere in the scriptures are any group of people, nor the followers of Yeshua the messiah ever called "Messianics" but rather "Natzraya" (Nazarenes). Christians only began to increasingly use Messianic in the past two centuries to describe missionary movements directed at converting Jews to Christianity, and to sometimes describe those missionaries or converts themselves. That has given the term a newly acquired negative tone among Jews and now serves as a red flag to warn of wolves in sheepskins. Messianic has become synonymous with Christian.

The title messiah is a beautiful one, and there is nothing inherently wrong with expressing oneself as a messianic. But in order to avoid confusion with some form of the Christian religion we avoid it in the proper sense (uppercase) and even limit it's use in the ordinary sense, especially in speech among those who might not readily pick up on the nuances and semantics of the term. If someone were to ask if we are Messianic or messianic, We could reply that, Yes, we are small m messianic, but not big M Messianic. And we would still have to explain ourselves further.

Now you might be thinking, What about that Christian denomination referred to as "Nazarenes"? This actually a misnomer or colloquialism for members of The Church of the Nazarene, who are properly "Christians" as they have no relation to the historical sect called the Nazarenes or Natzraya. One way in which we differentiate is to refer to ourselves by the non-Anglicized truer to the Aramaic form of "Natzraya". While nearly every descriptive term has probably been hijacked Christian sects already we choose to maintain and defend the most specific, original, historical and scriptural demonym - Natzraya - a name we have had for 1900 years before the identity thieves seized upon it.