It was my intention when I wrote 777 to illuminate how an observant Jew could recognize the living Messiah present in the world today. I elucidated how the Lord’s Prayer contains the 7 days of creation, 7 Noahide Laws and 7 Sacraments. In my Christological and Judaic observation it is my opinion that the Rabbinic case is quite weak for the objection of Jesus as Messiah. I do think the main obstacles for an observant Jew who is willing to open himself to Christ are primarily culture and politics. Christianity, particularly Catholic Christianity, simply does not seem very Jewish.
There have been large movements of identified Jews proclaiming Christ in the 20th century most commonly called Messianic Jews. They seem to have been mainly aligned with Protestantism. I believe it’s a movement made up mostly of Jews with little memory of fully traditional Jewish praxis (like myself and family). From my own distance, Messianic Judaism resembles the subjective, de jour character of non-Catholic Christianity. They may not be fully conscious of the particular quality of the traditional Jewish yearning for Messiah, although they feel it within as any Jew (although it is sometimes labeled as “the Jewish drive”).
For Jews with the hunger for a living and truly present Messiah, I see no other option but the Eucharist which can only be received by full initiates of the Catholic Church. This is the point where I believe culture (with politics in tow) to be the primary obstacle for an Observant Jew to come into Communion. In our time Catholicism is the last place most Jews would look to satiate their Messianic yearning. It certainly was the case for me and I was never even observant.
I wanted to demonstrate with 777 where the priest, prophet and king Messiah can be found, experienced and communed with. I tried to show how the 7 days of creation are nested within the Lord’s Prayer. With another leap of interpretation I demonstrated how the 7 Noahide commands correlate to each day. Finally I showed how the 7 sacraments are the flowering of the 7 Noahide Laws into holiness. The Noahide Laws were given for the old creation. The sacraments were instituted by Jesus to usher in the New Creation.
What I find most intriguing about this connection is that Jesus put his glorified form, the sought for Messiah, inside the last place a Jew would look. He sanctified the 7 natural Noahide laws and transformed them into the 7 sacraments of the New Creation where he is present.
According to Rabbinic tradition there are 620 commands given to mankind (I have heard there are 1000 in total and perhaps the remaining 380 are for angels or Jesus himself). 613 of these commands (mitzvot) are for Jews and 7 are for Gentiles. A good frum Jew might be careful not to observe Gentile laws as he is also obliged to prevent Gentiles from fully observing some mitzvot.
An esoterically inclined observant Jew would be well aware that the Messianic light (Yechidah) is not confined to Israel. He would know that when Israel is in disunity and disobedience Messiah resides among the Goyim (nations).
Observant Jews, Messianic Jews and Protestants have one thing in common. They are all waiting for the Messiah. Some believe he hasn’t come yet and some believe he came and left. What’s the difference if he’s not here now?
As for this Catholic Jew, he has found him—manifest, real, material and present in this time—our time. He is in me and I in him and we are in the Father. No more waiting. I am on the Way, I know the Truth and The Life is in me.
