Observing Tisha b'Av as a Messianic Jews

Tisha b'Av is upon us again and around the world Jewish people mourn on the saddest day of the Jewish calendar.

Not only were both temples destroyed on this day, many other atrocities were carried out. From the First Crusade launching on the 9th of Av to the Holocaust beginning, this day carries heavy weight.

Rabbinical teachings say the 10 spies returned from the Promised Land on Tisha b'Av. in This day ended in doom for the adult Israelites who chose the bad report over Joshua and Caleb's and would never see the promised land. Read the story

One can feel the collective sadness on such a heavy date. For those who have observed the three weeks leading up to Tisa b'Av of minimizing joy by abstaining from meat, music and other pleasantries, the day feels like a pinnacle of grief.

How should Messianic Jews observe Tisha b'Av?

For those who believe in the Messiah of Israel and the world, the day is different. We know Israel is a target of evil, has always been, and will always be until Yeshua's return, but we also have a living hope knowing the One Isaiah 53 prophesied about is here and lives.

In Sha'ul's letter to the congregation in Rome, he tells the people to "rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep."

As we mourn a day that has historically cost Israel so much, we can also let the light of Yeshua burn in us as we, living testaments of Moshiach proclaim, "For unto us, is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior who is Messiah the L-rd."

For someone who believes the house of G-d is still dust, the 9th of Av has no joy. But for one who believes that Yeshua, the final living temple stands and rules, it is a day of solemn remembrance and gratitude. A day of seeing all that has been lost, but knowing there redemption lives through the living Son of God.

Every messianic Jewish person will approach this day differently based on their family's history and their own spiritual journey.

But the truth of the matter is, there is no body in the tomb. The Temple is alive.

"So the Judeans confronted him by asking him, 'What miraculous sign can you show us to prove you have the right to do all this?' Yeshua answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.' The Judeans said, 'It took years to build this Temple, and you’re going to raise it in three days?' But the “temple” he had spoken of was his body. 22 Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his talmidim remembered that he had said this, and they trusted in the Tanakh and in what Yeshua had said."

Yochanan (John) 2: 18-22

May G-d comfort you among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.