About
Mission Statement: Teaching and living a vision of Jewish life renewed in Yeshua.
Messianic Jewish Theological Institute (MJTI) seeks to be
- a prophetic sign of Israel’s destiny by exemplifying and advancing Jewish life renewed in Yeshua;
- a Messianic Jewish school rooted in a contemporary Jewish experience of Yeshua and a Messianic interpretation of Judaism;
- a vision center for the Messianic Jewish community;
- a dialogue center for theological encounter between faithful Christians and Jews; and
- an international learning community born in the Diaspora but oriented to Israel.
Prophetic Sign
To live out a vision of Jewish life renewed in Yeshua is to become a prophetic sign. Israel’s prophets presented scenarios of Israel’s final destiny accompanied by signs that validated their prophetic vision. Ezekiel envisions a promised future for the people of Israel under the reign of its Messianic King, who unifies the nation and brings Israel to covenant faithfulness (Ezek. 36-37). That vision points to an Israel renewed by the Spirit of the crucified and risen Yeshua, a renewal in which God gathers Israel to the Land, unites them as one people, brings them to Messiah, gives them a responsive heart and spirit, and enables them to keep the statutes and ordinances, reflecting God’s justice. In every aspect of its operation, MJTI seeks, as a representative portion of our people, to live out today this vision of Israel’s national tomorrow and make it a reality in this world.
Messianic Jewish School
At the heart of MJTI is a community of scholars and leaders who teach Jewish followers of Yeshua to live as Jews faithful to Torah and to see Yeshua through the lens of over twenty-five hundred years of Jewish thought and experience (Acts 21:20-24; Acts 7). At the same time, the Judaism through which the community sees Yeshua is transformed by the crucified and risen Messiah whom they find revealed at its center. This living process manifests the truth that Yeshua is key to understanding Judaism, and that the historical reality of Jewish life through the centuries is key to understanding Yeshua. MJTI works towards this fulfillment of Jewish life and tradition in Yeshua that reaches its end when all Israel acknowledges Messiah as the Renewer of Jewish life (Acts 3:21).
Vision Center
Every Jewish movement has at its heart a center of learning that provides it with both the trained leaders and the theological vision needed to grow and thrive. As a school affiliated with the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations and in harmony with its understanding of Messianic Judaism, MJTI aims to be that center for the larger Messianic Jewish community in the twenty-first century. MJTI seeks to articulate and exemplify a vision of Jewish life renewed in Yeshua. This vision is shaped by the past and pulled forward by God’s future encountered now through Israel’s risen Messiah. Guided by the vision of Jewish life renewed in Yeshua, the Messianic Jewish community can fulfill its calling amidst a century filled with promise and challenge. The ever deepening relationship between Israel and her Messiah already signals this new era (Rom. 11:12).
Dialogue Center
Jewish life renewed in Yeshua is of importance not only to Jews. According to the Apostle Paul, the renewal of the entire creation hinges on Israel’s renewal (Rom. 11:15). In particular, the Christian Church cannot express its true universality nor fulfill its mission of reconciliation apart from its bond with the Jewish people (Eph. 2:11-22). MJTI aspires to serve the Christian Church by pointing the way to a new relationship between Christians and Jews, different from the patterns of antagonism developed during the preceding nineteen centuries. This new relationship enables Christians to honor the Jewish people and their tradition while developing a deeper understanding of the Messiah to whom they remain radically faithful. For Jews, the new relationship encourages greater respect for the integrity of the Christian faith, its connection to historical and contemporary forms of Judaism, and its role in bringing knowledge of the God of Israel to the nations of the earth. The faculty, staff, and students of MJTI recognize as family both the Jewish community and the Christian Church. This connection to the wider Jewish and Yeshua-believing communities allows MJTI to function as a doorway to a new relationship between Christians and Jews, a relationship of covenantal partnership.
International Learning Community
As a people scattered throughout the world and finding its home in a sacred text, the Jewish people have always been an international learning community. This community has its geographical center in the Land promised to it in its sacred text, but its spiritual dynamism has often come from its geographical periphery. Thus, while most Jewish movements that have transformed Jewish life have begun in the Diaspora, they have always been oriented to the promise of Israel’s life in the Land. Likewise, MJTI’s vision of Jewish life renewed in Yeshua, conceived in the Diaspora, anticipates the future fulfillment of God’s promises to the people of Israel in the Land of Israel. In confident hope of that future fulfillment, MJTI seeks the welfare of those who dwell in the Land, and stands with all Jews and Christians who pray and labor for the peace of Jerusalem. (Ps. 122:6). MJTI also aims to promote the vision of Jewish life renewed in Yeshua throughout the world but especially in the Land where it will be realized in its fullness.