The Real Kosher Jesus by Michael Brown

Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, something we often forget.

Brown was born in a Conservative Jewish home. In 1971 he discovered who Jesus really was. It shook Brown with such a force he got his doctorate in Semitic languages and became a specialist in answering Jewish objections to Jesus.

Brown has cultivated a friendship with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and much of this book is in answer to the Rabbi's book, Kosher Jesus. For example, he shows that Boteach's image of Jesus, “...a potential Messiah who believed that the moment of liberation had come and who decided that he would inaugurate the Messianic era by force[,]” is false. (58)

He answers the critics who claim Paul introduced false beliefs about and teaching of Jesus, or that Paul wasn't even a Jew.

Brown reveals the two messiahs of ancient Jewish tradition. He shows how a suffering Messiah was written about in rabbinic literature as was the atoning power of the death of a righteous person. He also gives evidence for the Jewish expectation of a priestly Messiah and a great prophet. There is even some tradition indicating the arrival time of the Messiah, coinciding with Jesus' time on earth.

Brown shows that, without a doubt, Jesus is the promised Messiah. “The real kosher Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world.” (189)

This would be a good book for you to read if you have a Jewish friend who has not accepted that Jesus is the Messiah. You could give them this book but I think you should read it first. Brown has done a great job in showing that Jesus is the Messiah but I am not sure even a book like this will result in acceptance of the fact. Reading this book along with your Jewish friend would be a good way to stimulate discussion toward Jesus as Messiah and Savior.

Michael L. Brown holds a PhD from New York University in Near Eastern languages and literature and is recognized as one of the leading Messianic Jewish scholars in the world today.  He is the founder and president of FIRE School of Ministry, host of a nationally syndicated daily talk show and the author of more than twenty books. 

Front Line (Charisma House Book Group), 249 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Charisma House Book Group for the purpose of this review.