Refuting @offgridlife: Correcting Misconceptions About Yeshua’s Identity and Language

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Authored by @greywarden100
Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2025

My friend @offgridlife posted 4 days ago claims about Catholic beliefs, Yeshua’s (Jesus’) divinity, and the necessity of Aramaic to understand His teachings, asserting that “Catholics are the only ones I know that believe that Jesus is God,” “Jesus is The one and Only God who created everything,” and “Catholics only worship Jesus … Yeshu in Aramaic and Hebrew,” while insisting that Aramaic is the key to His words. He also references Mary as “Mother of God” and Aramaic-speaking villages like Maaloula. These statements contain significant errors. This blog refutes @offgridlife’s post from a Messianic Hebraic Torah-based perspective, highlighting the languages on Yeshua’s cross (Hebrew, Latin, Greek), His Galilean Hebrew accent, and theological inaccuracies, supported by Scripture and scholars like Tim Hegg.

Claim 1: "Catholics are the only ones I know that believe that Jesus is God."

• Refutation: @offgridlife’s claim is factually incorrect. The belief that Yeshua is divine, rooted in John 1:1 (“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the Eternal, and the Word was the Eternal”), is shared by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and many Protestant denominations (e.g., Lutherans, Anglicans). Some groups, like Oneness Pentecostals, align with @offgridlife’s view of Yeshua as the sole God, but Catholics uphold a Trinitarian framework, distinct from this. In Messianic Jewish movements—such as First Fruits of Zion and the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America—we affirm Yeshua as God, not merely an agent, fulfilling the Torah’s promise of a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15). While on earth, He lived as a man, pleading to His deity (e.g., Matthew 27:46, “Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani”), with His human nature dying on the cross, not His divinity. We do not philosophize on how this works, as the Eternal’s nature is incomprehensible to our limited minds.

Claim 2: "Jesus is The one and Only God who created everything."

• Refutation: @offgridlife’s assertion that Yeshua is the “one and only God who created everything” oversimplifies our faith. Colossians 1:16 states, “all things were created through him and for him,” reflecting the Eternal King of the Universe’s work through Yeshua. In Messianic thought, Yeshua is God, the very expression of the Eternal’s thoughts, the Word (Davar) that became flesh (John 1:14), tabernacling among us as Creator. His human nature, not His divinity, died on the cross. We avoid Greek philosophical debates on His nature, trusting the Tanakh’s monotheism (Deuteronomy 6:4, “שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד”) and the mystery of His dual nature.

Claim 3: "Catholics do not worship Mary... Catholics only Worship the One and Only True God … His Name is Jesus … Yeshu in Aramaic and Hebrew."

• Refutation: @offgridlife correctly notes that Catholics do not worship Mary, recognizing her as “Mother of God” (Theotokos, Council of Ephesus, 431 CE) due to Yeshua’s divinity, but as an honored figure, not divine (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 971). However, the claim that Catholics “only worship Jesus” misaligns with their Trinitarian belief in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). The name “Yeshu” (a variant in some Talmudic texts) is less precise than “Yeshua” (יֵשׁוּעַ), meaning “salvation” (Matthew 1:21), rooted in Hebrew. In Messianic faith, Yeshua is God, the Word made flesh, not a replacement for the Eternal. Regarding “Mother of God,” this Catholic doctrine has flaws: Mary birthed Yeshua’s human nature, not His eternal divinity, which existed before creation (John 1:1). Logically, a created being cannot be the mother of the uncreated Eternal, as this implies she predates or creates God, a contradiction. Biblically, Mary is the “handmaiden of the Eternal” (Luke 1:48), not His mother, and elevating her risks idolatry, a concern Messianic Jews reject, focusing on Yeshua’s divine-human role.

Claim 4: "If you want to understand the Word of God (Jesus) you need to learn and read Aramaic the language spoken by Jesus (God) … You will never understand a single word of Jesus (God) teaching unless you learn the Aramaic Aleph-Bet."

• Refutation: @offgridlife insists that Aramaic, which he claims was Yeshua’s language, is essential for understanding His teachings. The cross inscription (John 19:19-20, “written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek”) excludes Aramaic, suggesting its lesser role. Matthew 26:73 notes Peter’s “speech” (lalia, accent) marked him as a Galilean, pointing to Hebrew with a Galilean accent, not Aramaic, as Yeshua’s primary tongue. Tim Hegg, a Messianic scholar, affirms Hebrew’s vitality in first-century Judea, used in synagogues (Luke 4:17-21, reading Isaiah 61:1-2), supported by the Dead Sea Scrolls. Aramaic phrases (e.g., “Talitha koum,” Mark 5:41) are exceptions; the Greek New Testament, rooted in Hebrew Tanakh citations (e.g., Psalm 22:1), suffices.

Claim 5: "Maaloula, Bakh'a and Jubb'adin in Syria are the only places on Earth where the Western Aramaic language of Jesus (Yeshu) is still spoken … According to scholarly consensus, the language of Jesus was a Western Middle Aramaic variety, Galilean Aramaic."

• Refutation: @offgridlife claims these villages preserve Yeshua’s language. They speak Western Neo-Aramaic, evolved over 2,000 years, differing from first-century Galilean speech. Scholarly consensus (e.g., Sebastian Brock, “The Aramaic of Jesus,” in The Aramaic Bible) notes Galilean Aramaic’s use, but Matthew 26:73’s accent evidence favors Hebrew. David Bivin and Roy Blizzard Jr. in Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus highlight Hebrew’s role in Galilee, with the cross’s trilingual inscription (John 19:19-20) diminishing Aramaic’s prominence. These villages are significant but not exclusive Aramaic remnants, and their dialect is not Yeshua’s.

Claim 6: Addressing the Cry and Linguistic Context

• Refutation: @offgridlife’s general assertion that Aramaic was Yeshua’s language contrasts with evidence suggesting Hebrew primacy. The cry “Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34), derived from Psalm 22:1 in Hebrew (“אֵלִי אֵלִי לָמָה עֲזַבְתָּנִי,” Eli Eli lamah ‘azavtani), may reflect Yeshua’s Galilean Hebrew accent, blending regional pronunciation with Aramaic influence as He lived as a man. The bystanders’ mishearing as a call to Elijah (Matthew 27:49) likely stems from this accent, not a different language. Tim Hegg in The Letter and the Spirit and Brad Young in Jesus the Jewish Theologian suggest Greek scribes approximated this sound, supporting Hebrew as Yeshua’s primary tongue, with His human nature’s plea reflecting His earthly experience.

Conclusion

@offgridlife’s post from 4 days ago misrepresents Yeshua’s identity and language. The cross’s languages (Hebrew, Latin, Greek) and Matthew 26:73 indicate Hebrew with a Galilean accent, not Aramaic, as His primary tongue. “Eli, Eli” reflects this accent, explaining the crucifixion confusion. Theologically, Yeshua is God, the Word made flesh (John 1:14), Creator through the Eternal’s will, with His human nature dying on the cross, not His divinity—a mystery we do not unravel. The “Mother of God” title for Mary contradicts her role as mother of Yeshua’s humanity, not the uncreated Eternal, risking idolatry and logical inconsistency. Scholars like Tim Hegg, David Bivin, and Brad Young affirm Hebrew’s role, refuting @offgridlife’s errors, which echo Oneness Pentecostal views but not Catholic or Messianic Torah-based beliefs.

References:

• Torah: Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 6:4, 18:15 (Tanakh).
• New Testament: Matthew 26:73, 27:46, 27:49; Mark 15:34; Luke 1:48, 4:17-21, 23:38; John 1:1, 1:14, 19:19-20; Colossians 1:16 (Greek New Testament).
• Catechism of the Catholic Church: Paragraph 971.
• Council of Ephesus: 431 CE, Ecumenical Council Records.
• Scholarly Works:
  • Bivin, David, and Roy Blizzard Jr., Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus (Clie Publishers, 1994).
  • Brock, Sebastian, “The Aramaic of Jesus,” in The Aramaic Bible (T&T Clark, 1992).
  • Hegg, Tim, The Letter and the Spirit (TorahResource, 2007).
  • Young, Brad, Jesus the Jewish Theologian (Hendrickson Publishers, 1995).
• Historical Documents: Dead Sea Scrolls (Qumran Texts, 3rd century BCE–1st century CE).