The Christmas Story Through a Messianic Rabbi’s Eyes

 
TRANSFORMED BY THE MESSIAH

Rabbi Jason, as he likes to be called, grew up in a devout Jewish family in New Jersey.  Noting the contrast between the faith practices in his home and the worldly perspectives in his neighborhood, he says, “I became fluent in the culture, even learning how to ‘rap with my homies,’ (but) I remained faithful to our Jewish tradition.” Teenaged Jason kept trying to figure out life in a world that was constantly drawing him away from spiritual things.  Jason’s own spiritual perspective changed forever one day when he was sixteen. He then had what he calls an encounter with Yeshua, the Hebrew word for Jesus.  “This was the first time I’d ever felt as though the Lord was speaking directly to me.  It was so unbelievable and yet so real, and I will never forget His words.  He said, ‘Many are called, but few are chosen.’”  Jason asked the Lord if he were chosen, and the answer was, “Yes,” which elated him.  

Soon after, his best friend, John, convinced Jason to go with him to a Messianic synagogue led by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn.  The message resonated with him and when an invitation was given to be “born anew,” Jason stood up and was led in a prayer to receive Yeshua.  Before leaving, he received a New Testament, the first he’d ever laid eyes on, and began reading it at home.  Though he tried to hide it from his parents, his mother later found it and confronted him: “What is this?  Don’t tell me you’re a Jew thinking about believing in Jesus!”  She then called their rabbi to meet with her son.  Jason prepared diligently for the meeting, by making a list of the many promises and prophecies of the Messiah from the Hebrew Scriptures.  He had a good conversation with the rabbi, though they disagreed about Jesus fulfilling those Messianic prophecies.  Today, Rabbi Jason says that his father has come to believe in Yeshua and his mother is “in process.”

THE INCARNATION 

“The incarnation, God taking the form of a man, was about identification (who He was),” Rabbi Jason says.  “But it also involved a uniquely human creation. He was born as a poor pauper, not in a palace. He was born in a lowly manger because “there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). He came to those in need and understood their pain and weakness like no other.  What did His coming accomplish? God, the King of kings, stepped out of time and eternity so He could enter time and space to rescue, redeem, and identify with us. That is a beautiful reality.  And because of the incarnation, God can feel and know what we feel.  But it was also for redemption, freedom, and sanctification, to make a way for sinful humankind to be reconciled to a holy God.”

THE VIRGIN BIRTH

Rabbi Jason brings out the striking connections between Old Testament prophecies and the way that Jesus entered the world, such as the words used to describe His birth.  The Hebrew word mem, for example, refers to a closed womb, indicating Mary’s conception was divine. “He was conceived like no other person before or after 
him because He is matchless.  He is Immanuel.  He is the Divine Word that became flesh and dwelled among us. 

The Messiah is the One who reunites and reconnects heaven and earth.  He aligns the two together,” Sobel says.  God used both Jews and Gentiles in the line of the Messiah. The responses of those whom the Lord called to be part of His birth revealed a mixture of fear and faith; Mary showed us the way of faith and trust, even amid confusion and an incomplete picture. We can rest assured that Jesus, who lived on earth as a master Craftsman, is faithful to build each of us uniquely “for blessing, purpose, and identity.”

WHY BETHLEHEM?
     
“The profound historical and spiritual significance of the city of Bethlehem, and even the name itself, is evident in the fact that Jacob buried Rachel in Bethlehem.  Ruth and Boaz lived in Bethlehem, and David was born in Bethlehem.  Yeshua could not have been born in any other city,” Sobel maintains.  “His birth in Bethlehem fulfilled the messianic prophecy of Micah 5:1: “but you, Bethlehem Ephrathah – least among the clans of Judah – from you will come out to Me One to be ruler in Israel, One whose goings forth are from of old, from days of eternity.  But in addition, in Hebrew, then city’s name (Beit Lechem) means “house of bread.”  Biblically, bread equals sustenance, the staple of life,” he explains.  

SWADDLING CLOTH AND SALT

Rabbi Jason draws his readers’ attention to a number of fascinating facts about Christ’s birth.  One is the “swaddling clothes” that we read about in the biblical Christmas story.  It relates to lambs being protected in their birth caves in order to be perfect sacrifices.  “Newborn and little lambs are clumsy because they don’t have their balance.  The caves are very rocky; they have a lot of jagged edges.  To prevent these precious baby sacrificial lambs from being cut –a blemish that would disqualify them from being used as a temple sacrifice – they would wrap them in swaddling cloth.  It’s incredible to think that Yeshua, like one of the Passover lambs born in a cave, was swaddled.”   

“One of the key aspects of swaddling in this time period included salting,” Sobel explains.  “When a human baby was born, they came from a controlled environment into a world filled with bacteria.  Salt is naturally antibacterial, so it was rubbed on the skin.  There’s a more profound spiritual significance concerning salt.  Not only did salt represent the permanence of the covenant between God and Israel, but salt also had to accompany the temple sacrifices.  Yeshua, swaddled in a cave in the same manner as one of the lambs of Passover, was also salted, symbolizing He would be the acceptable sacrifice.”       

WHY THE WISE MEN CAME  

“The journey to Bethlehem wasn’t an easy day trip for the wise men, the magi who came from another part of the Ancient Near East.  Their pilgrimage to visit the Jewish King, the King of Israel, was long and probably arduous.  Why would they embark on such an expensive and challenging expedition?  And because many previous kings had been born, why would they be concerned about this particular birth, the birth of the King of the Jews?” Sobel posits.  Part of the answer lies in the meaning of the word Shiloh in Scripture, he says.  “In 1 Samuel 1:24-25, we find a deeper connection to the term Shiloh.  The word can be understood as “gifts to Him,” meaning the nations will come and bring gifts to Him.  Commentators Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch gave an example: Hannah brought [Samuel], although still a … tender boy, to Shiloh, with a sacrifice of three oxen, and ephah of meal, and a pitcher of wine, and gave him up to Eli when the ox (bullock) had been slain, i.e. offered in sacrifice as a burnt offering (emphasis added).  The wise men coming with gifts from the East were the fulfillment of this messianic prophecy of the nations bringing tribute unto the Messiah, unto the One who is known as Shiloh, as Jacob prophesied thousands of years earlier.    
 

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CREDITS

New York Times Bestselling Author, latest, Transformed by the Messiah (Thomas Nelson, 2025) / Founder, Fusion Global (2011), a teaching ministry which seeks to bring people into the full inheritance of the faith by connecting truths of the Old and New Testaments / Co-author with Kathie Lee Gifford of bestselling The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi / Spiritual Advisor for 
The Chosen TV series / Host of TBN teaching segments on The Chosen / Rabbinic ordination from Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations / MA, Intercultural Studies, Southeastern Seminary / BA, Jewish Studies, Moody Bible Institute / Married, two sons