The days passed pretty much the same way since Jeremiah went to the Bible study. We didn’t talk, avoided each other, and stayed in our respective rooms. The court date was set; arrangements were made. This didn’t help things at our house. But I had to go forward with this. He was a Jew! I was going to make him understand that!
The morning of the trial was bright and clear outside. Jeremiah was pacing outside of the court. He was wearing a suit but had a bag of clothes with him. Out of desperation, he decided to change into something more appropriate for a Jew. He was torn between what he was, what he is, and what he should be. Michael came running to him. “Hey, man. I tried to get here as fast as I could. How are you holding up?”
“Not too good. I still can’t believe that my dad is putting me on trial! All of this just because I believe in Jesus the Messiah 
. This is crazy!”
“I know. I agree. I think all of this is going a little overboard. For Christ’s sake, you are his son!”
“Yeah, that’s the same thing I said. Now, I do admit that I am a proud Jew and unashamed of it, but he is so caught up in tradition.”
“I know, brother. But remember, when you go in there, know that God is with you. He has the final say!”
“Thanks, man!” They gave each other a short hug before walking into the courtroom.
As for me, I was still upset at this whole situation. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were. I went into the courtroom, prepared to bring my son home the way he was before the “Bible study” changed him.
We started the trial promptly. They called Jeremiah to the front of the room. There were three Rabbis 
present. The first started with the questions. “You claim that Yeshua 
is the Messiah 
?”
Jeremiah answered without hesitation. “Yes.”
“Contrary to what you have been taught all of your life?”
He stood up straighter. “The problem is what I haven’t been taught!”
The people in the courtroom observing all looked around at each other with a look of shock that he actually just said that.
“You are to prove why you believe what you believe.”
“I am not the one that’s on trial here. You have put Yeshua on trial.”
“Are you trying to be coy with us?”
“No,” Jeremiah simply said. Then he thought for a minute. “It is that you have your belief in what you have been taught. I have certainty in who I have met.”
“Do you claim then to be a prophet?”
“No, I am just a man who has met his Messiah 
through scripture and the Spirit of the LIVING God! If I may say—your way of thinking and holding on to a belief is contrary to Moses 
, the prophets, and witnesses in Jerusalem who were Jewish. This is not, and I repeat, NOT, a defense of a Christian Messiah, but a defense of a Hebrew Messiah.”
“So you claim to know this Messiah 
? And that he is Jewish?”
“Ken 
! Yes!”
The rabbi started pacing back and forth, trying to process what Jeremiah was saying before he spoke again. “Your father, a great Rabbi 
, has asked us to question you. He feels you have gone against the faith and are mad.”
Jeremiah looked over to me and spoke as if he wanted me to understand what he was saying. “I’m a Jew through and through. But my father is questioning my soul. God 
is the only one who truly knows it and can judge me. The real question should be, ‘Does my soul, which only God 
knows, acknowledge the soul of God’s 
Messiah 
?’ Either he is the Messiah 
?’ or not! With all due respect, Rabbi 
, it’s not a question of faith or belief. “It’s a question of my soul responding to God’s soul regarding the Messiah 
.”
“So, I see that you have studied some Kabbalah 
.”
“Yes.”
“Do you claim to know more than us?” the Rabbi 
asked of Jeremiah.
“No, Rabbi 
. But I do claim to know what I know based on what God 
has revealed to my soul about the Messiah 
. This can’t be lunacy or madness, but a truth, revealed not by flesh or blood or words, but by the Spirit of the Lord. This revealed truth backed by sacred writings, back up what my God’s soul has revealed to me.” Jeremiah started to get tears in his eyes now.
“How is your Hebrew?”
“It is poor, Rabbi 
. So I ask if I may have some help when necessary.”
“Yes, you may.”
Jeremiah again tried to get them to understand why he was changing his way of thought in the belief. “Rabbis 
, there are two schools of thought. One, the Messiah 
has yet to come and the one who claims to have come is a charlatan. The second is the Messiah has come to fulfill certain requirements in order to be the Messiah 
or the circumstances have to be right for His return.” He paused before continuing. “I say to you that both of these assumptions are false. One reason, our interpretation of who the Messiah 
is and His qualifications is based solely on Rabbinical interpretations, or Targums of the scriptures. Two, we can only base with certainty, His qualifications and coming, by God 
speaking what I have already said.”
The Rabbi 
looked puzzled but continued. “So you’re saying an audible message?”
“Yes, but it is also a soul-to-soul message, a message by the Ruach Hakodesh 
—Holy Spirit—to mankind individually.”
“So how do you know that you’re not hearing yourself? That these are not just your thoughts?”
“Because the Spirit of God bears witness of Himself to each man, woman, and child directly to the soul, not to the mind. He does not want to confuse the message or the messenger.”
The other two rabbis turned to each other, whispering in Hebrew. “His father has taught him well. He is very knowledgeable. It’s a shame he believes what he believes.”
Jeremiah looked to them. “I beg you, Rabbis 
, please do not murmur about what or how my father has taught me.”
“Did you hear and understand what we said?” One of the Rabbis 
.” looked shocked. Jeremiah had told them that his Hebrew was poor.
“No, the Spirit of the Living God 
revealed that to me just now. So you see, I am not mad! But you’re questioning my belief. Only God 
can do that, and only He is allowed to do so.”
The Rabbi 
looked contrite now. “I stand corrected.”
“Toda 
(Thank you).”
Jeremiah pulled a paper from his briefcase. “May I read a statement? I have brought this as a defense, written by a Jew named Gamli-el, a Parush-Pharisee, a teacher of the Torah, highly respected by all the people who addressed the court the Sanhedrin, men like yourselves.”
The rabbi agreed to let Jeremiah proceed.
“Gamli-el stated, and I quote, ‘So in the present case, my advice to your concerning followers of Yeshua, my advice to you, is not to interfere with these people, but to leave them alone. For if this idea or movement has a human origin, it will collapse But if it is from God 
, you will not be able to stop them. You might even find yourselves fighting God 
!” This is written in the book of Acts, chapter 5, verses 38 and 39. The Sanhedrin did not heed his advice. After summoning the emissaries of YESHUA 
and flogging them, they commanded them not to speak in the name of YESHUA 
, and let them go.” He paused for a moment, letting this sink into people in the courtroom. “Is this court like the Sanhedrin, fighting God 
? For every man has his belief based not only on what he has read or told, but what his soul reveals to him. If this were so, I wouldn’t be here being questioned by you.”
The rabbi asked, “So why DO you think that you are here?”
“To bear witness of what God’s 
soul has revealed to my soul. YESHUA 
fulfills all the requirements of the Messiah 
?” both scripturally and spiritually. I will wait to see what your souls reveal to you as we proceed.” He finished this as he looked around to all of the courtroom, then turned back to the rabbis. “May I add a comment?”
All three Rabbis 
agreed.
“Rabbi 
Yitzhak Kaduri, head Rabbi of Israel, at 108 years of age, had an encounter with Yehoshua, or YESHUA 
. We cannot discount this encounter. If we do, then we must also discount Moses 
’ encounter with God 
as just a figment of the imagination. I present to you that both of these men were Tzaddiks 
—righteous men. Moses Moses 
and Rabbi 
Kaduri, by definition, as Tzaddiks 
, had an encounter with God 
; one with Adonai
, the other with the Messiah 
who had come.”
“So are you questioning our authority?”
“No, Rabbi. Not your authority, just your judgment on what a man should believe or not. For who can judge a man’s soul, but only God?”
“We aren’t judging your soul. We want to question your motive and rationale.” The Rabbi looked around, focusing on the other two.
“But by questioning my motive, you question my belief based on my soul’s conviction with God. If you are questioning my rationale, then you make my decisions based on other’s beliefs, and that makes my convictions null. I am not a null person without conviction and rationale.”
The Rabbi pondered this for a moment. “This, we will see.”
Jeremiah continued after a short moment. “But to say ‘you will see,’ you put yourselves as judges, and only God can judge. Your rationale and convictions should be based on what your soul has identified with God. It shouldn’t be based on what sages have as their revealed truth determined as law.”
“So are you saying our sages are wrong?”
“No, I’m saying that they have misguided people based on human interpretations, not on Godly Spirit revelations.”
Again, the Rabbi pondered this response. “So you’re against interpretations?”
Jeremiah responded quickly. “Yes, when they are based against the truth from the scripture, written from what God has said Himself.”
“So what you’re saying is that our prerequisites of who the Messiah should be doesn’t fit into your world of interpretation?”
“My interpretation is of no value. What is of value is how the scriptures plainly tell of Yeshua’s lineage, birth, work, death, burial, and resurrection, which you deny. The sages even omit Isaiah 53; it clearly shows who Yeshua is. It is called the forbidden chapter, and never read in synagogue.”
The Rabbi seemed to be getting a little frustrated now. “So you want me to accept scripture that MIGHT fit this man’s claim?”
“He makes no claims. The scriptures tell of Him. To say one can ‘fit scriptures’ into his agenda is to say we can deceive to attain a certain favor, and this is abhorrent. What you’re saying is to twist or find something written to fit into an argument. This, too, is ridiculous. The same method can be applied in denying Yeshua’s Messiahship.”
The rabbi said, “So if an interpretation is not a valid measure of truth or a truth, then what is?”
Jeremiah was ready with his answer. “The scripture has to bear witness of truth and the soul has to recognize that truth as from God. That can only be accomplished as God’s soul in us bears witness to our earthly soul. The scriptures that speak of Yeshua bear his Messiahship. They have to bear witness with our soul as coming from God of His Oneness with the man YESHUA 
.”
The Rabbi pulled out the Bible that I had taken from him. “You believe we are afraid of these so-called allegorical scriptures?”
“No, you’re afraid of what your soul might reveal to you. That God’s truth is revealed about His oneness with this man. You’re not afraid of the truth, you’re afraid of ECHAD, the oneness of God with Himself revealed through a man named Yeshua. So basically, you’re challenging God, and how He has chosen to reveal the Messiah to mankind, through the lineage of Jesse, through King David.”
“Are you trying to convince us of these claims?”
“No, only God can do that. Only He can reveal to your soul his oneness with Himself through the man Yeshua.”
The Rabbi got frustrated again. “We cannot fight with GOD 
!”
“Correct, but you have been doing it for over 2,000 years. Accepting a Christian Messiah over a Jewish Messiah? Who has raped who? Christians made him into a blond-haired, blue-eyed Savior, while Jews in the first century neglected to defend his Jewishness. Therefore, losing the Jewishness of His sacrifice as the Messiah and accepting a Savior without his Jewishness. So I can say that what you are truly rejecting is a Christian Messiah, and not looking for a Jewish Messiah. Believing the Christian view of the Messiah, while the Hebrew scriptures of who He is are completely being ignored.”
“Are you calling us IGNORANT!?” The Rabbi was almost mad now. The beliefs of the rabbis seemed to be under attack by this high schooler.
“No, my Rabbi. I’m saying that you have allowed a non-Jewish point of view to stripping away the scriptural claims of a Jewish Messiah. For the Jewishness of YESHUA 
has never been understood by Christians. It was ignored to the point of being offensive when discussed. We, as Jews, have accepted a ‘so-called’ norm to the detriment of our belief practices and way of life. We do not have to accept a Christian Messiah. He is Jewish and Messiah for all, not Christian Messiah to Jews and some others. The offense was that we dared not question Christians. They took our Messiah and claimed Him as ‘their own.’ He belongs to all, regardless of race, social status, wealth, health, anything.”
“Are you upset at Christians?” the Rabbi asked Jeremiah now.
“Yes and no. Not Christians in general, but in the leaders. The theologians who, Sunday after Sunday, deny His Jewishness.”
“You really must love this man, to be so adamant.”
“Yes, He saved my soul and brought it back to God Almighty, without Mitzvots 
. He just brought it back as only the Messiah could.”
“So you’re saying he’s an atoner of sin?”
“Yes, that’s what I am saying. Did Moshe foretell of Him when he raised the bronze serpent on the pole for all who would look would not perish? This was a sign of Yeshua being raised on an evil cross for crucifixion. Moshe foretold; he understood.”
Again the rabbis looked at each other.
“How is that?” one of the other two asked.
“God, up on the mountain, revealed this truth to become action when Moshe came down. This was the evident sign of not just looking for a Messiah to bring peace to the world, but to redeem the world back to its creator, Adonai. You can’t have peace without redemption first.”
The three rabbis looked again to each other. The third said, “May we take a break to confer?” Jeremiah agreed. They began talking again amongst each other. “He is very convincing and knows his strengths. He can attack us on various issues of faith. If we fight against God on hearing this, must we wait another 2,000 years if this Yeshua truly is the Messiah?”
After they finished the conversation, the first rabbi returned to the questioning of Jeremiah. “How did you come to the belief of yours?”
“Once again, I will remind you. My Rabbis, this revelation was given to my soul as the soul of God became real about His oneness with the Messiah in question. Also, it came more understandable from reading the Torah and Tanakh. If my soul can’t receive God’s soul, His truths, then I am left with nothing but stories and interpretation of others. I am dead within my own belief.” Again tears were in Jeremiah’s eyes. He truly believed in what he was saying. I could only watch, part of me proud of how he was standing his ground and present his case, but the other still puzzled by this new belief.
The questioning continued once again. “It is prudent to question His scriptures of the revelation?”
The second Rabbi stood up, anger getting close to the surface. “NO, I’ve heard enough today!”
The first rabbi looked over to him. “If we deny him the privilege, we are fighting God!”
The third said, “Well then, God’s will be done.”
Jeremiah began again. “The Hasidim have their claim requirements of who the Messiah should be. My question is who gave them such authority to make such claims? And who gave Reform and Conservative Judaism the same authority to put the Messiah in such requirements made by the sages? Was being a Tzadik 
enough to burden Judaism with such Messianic requirements?”
The Rabbi turned to me. “Rabbi Jose, how did your son become so interested in the Messiah?”
All I could answer was, “Since childhood. He has continually asked and searched the scriptures. It seems to have been his life’s endeavor.”
“I see,” was the reply. “We will end for the day, for it has been a long and trying day for both sides.”
As we dismissed, Jeremiah came up to me. “Father, please tell me that you’re not ashamed of me.”
“No, son. I am proud that you have become a man of words, even though I might be convinced to believe.”
“Thank you, Father.”
The evening seemed to last an eternity. The house was quiet; the air still. I ate dinner by myself. I wasn’t hungry, but I knew that I needed to eat to keep my strength up. I went to bed early, in hopes that I could rest. But that was to no avail. I laid awake most of the night. As soon as the sun came up, I got out of bed. I put on my prayer shawl and began to pray. I got dressed and headed back to the court, hoping that today would be the end of all of this mess.
Jeremiah arrived shortly after I did. The Rabbis were already there; they were huddled together, talking in a whisper and looking between me and my son. Again, they called Jeremiah up for questioning.
The lead Rabbi began. “You may proceed with your scriptural arguments.”
“I will speak to you Rabbis as a Jew, For I AM a JEW! I am Yeshua’s Jew. For He, Yeshua is not here to defend Himself personally, but the scriptures bear witness of Himself, with no if’s or but’s. They bear witness if He has come from God. Only our souls can bear witness of this truth.”
“Are you accusing us of bias?”
Jeremiah looked at him sternly. “No, I am saying that the scriptures as I read them will bear witness of itself that Yeshua is the Messiah. Denying such truth is between man and God.” He paused for a brief moment. “If I may, there are two arguments in determining a Messiah. The first, a Messiah to bring peace to the world. Second, a Messiah to bring atonement and salvation to a sinful world. It is by these that bias has been formed into the Messiahship of Yeshua 
. For it has been determined that He did not fit into the first made by the sages’ definition of a Messiah. This, Rabbis, is where the fault lies, man determining the definition of how and who the Messiah is. So with this in mind, any scripture that I may present will have a bias of the listener. Do you agree?”
All three rabbis nodded in agreement. The lead rabbi spoke again. “Yes, but if we did not have a bias, then how are we to come to a conclusion?”
“By the witness of God Himself to our souls. Have we put God into a box? So that we can’t allow His spirit to reveal His will according to His purpose? The Messiah must come from God and BE God in order to demonstrate God’s infiniteness to a finite world.”
“So now you are claiming that Yeshua is God?” The three rabbis looked at each other again and almost laughed out loud at the thought of this declaration.
“Yes, God had to come in human form in order to bring salvation to us. God chose to manifest Himself as a man, not an angel or some other form, but He decided to come as a sinless man.”
The lead rabbi thought briefly about this. “So the sinless claim—is that possible for a man?”
“It has to be! It is God coming down in human form to save mankind.” Jeremiah leaned forward in his seat. He was very passionate about this argument.
“You know that we have a problem with that statement.”
“With all due respect, Rabbis, you have a problem with how the sages interpreted God coming to earth as a sinless man. The problem is not in what I am saying, it is in what has been taught to you from a human interpretation.”
“This all sounds like Christian doctrine.”
“My Rabbis, Christianity is not what is on trial here. God and how He has chosen to perform an atonement for sin, not truth or animal sacrifices or offerings, but through a man being sinless, that is what is.”
“Once again, that is Christian doctrine.”
Jeremiah sat very straight now; a nerve had been struck in his soul. “NO, that is fact! When the man Yeshua was crucified, it was during the morning sacrifice. When He took his last breath, it was during the afternoon sacrifice. When His spirit left and went to God, there was a great earthquake. The Parokhet in the temple was ripped in two, from top to bottom. Would a dying man say, ‘Father, into your hand, I commit my spirit’? The Roman soldiers then said, ‘Surely this man was innocent.’ Did giving up the spirit of man create such an earthquake? Yes! Atonement by the shedding of innocent blood for all had been accomplished. These are facts, not Christian theology. Atonement from a sinless man for all mankind, satisfying God’s need for redemption.”
The rabbis called for a pause in the trial to confer. Again they huddled together. “What shall we do with him? For what he presents is either facts or complete nonsense.”
The second rabbi said, “We must examine ourselves. I do not want to fight against God. And if this way were to appear again as Messiah, then all that I have believed against him makes me guilty of fighting God.”
The third chimed in, “My soul has to be at peace. I must seek the Almighty on this without prejudice.”
The three agreed that time was needed for all to seek answers. “We have heard your arguments. We will adjourn for seven days and render our decision.”
Jeremiah looked at them. “As you have determined. I pray that it will be without bias.”
The next seven days dragged out but passed quickly, as well. We went back into the court to see what the three rabbis have determined. “You believe what you believe, but you must not teach our people this belief.”
Jeremiah looked saddened. “It saddens me that once again you give the same conclusion as the high priest did over 2,000 years ago. I know that some of you now believe, but you are afraid. But would it merit for a man to gain his fellow man’s approval and lose his soul?”
With that, court was dismissed. I shook hands with the Rabbis, then headed out of the building. It had been an exhausting few weeks. I left Jeremiah in the courtroom with Michael and Tio.
Tio turned to Jeremiah. “I am proud of you. Don’t be harsh on your father. He will find out for himself. He’s proud of your defense, but he will never admit it.” With a brief hug, he left Jeremiah and Michael to talk alone.
“I am so glad that’s over, Michael. But it did feel so good to stand up for my faith. That’s all that matters at the end of the day.”
“You did the right thing, Jeremiah. You really represented, even under great pressure.”
“Yes! It was all because of my faith in God. I knew that he would see me through.”
They walked outside to head home. Michael noticed that I was still standing at the bottom of the steps. “Why is your father over there looking so defeated?”
“He’s praying,” Jeremiah said simply.
“He seems like he’s in agony.”
“He is.” Jeremiah knew that I was still struggling with what happened. He got concerned after watching me for a few minutes. He started to walk my way, but was stopped by Sabrina.
“I am so proud of you for standing for what you believe in. You are truly an inspiration to me!” Sabrina hugged Jeremiah before she walked off.
Jeremiah finally caught up to me. I struggled to find words, but eventually, they come to me. “Jeremiah 
, I’m proud that you have become a man of words, even though I might be convinced to believe.”
“I had to defend my faith. But I just don’t want you to be ashamed of me. No matter what, you are my Padre (father) and I love you.”
“Son, because of your courage and boldness in the courtroom, you have made me look deep inside of myself. I am having to reexamine my views of my faith. I’m so sorry, son.”
We hugged as we both started crying before, walking away knowing that life had been changed and that we would finally be able to heal. The trials of life, the trials of religious views, the trials of relationships had brought me closer to my son.
“Every man, woman, and child will stand before God Almighty at their time, and their beliefs, although may appear in truth, will have to stand before the Messiah and His Reality, not man’s requirements of who He should be!”