Jews for Jesus

A lot of times when the subject of messianic Jews has come up, even my Christian friends say, "What's the difference? Aren't those Christians?" Today's class cleared up a bit of the confusion, although obviously some contradictions remain. I think one of the parts that is most puzzling for me is what the point of Jesus is to messianic Jews. Whenever someone has been trying to convert me or explaining Christianity to me, they always say that they think Jesus died for everyone's sins and that is why no one has to follow Jewish law anymore. And didn't someone (maybe Saint Augustine?) say that it was actually a bad thing to follow Jewish law after Jesus's death? (I'm trying to remember what I learned in Con West.)

That was a good point about the acceptance of Chabad versus the acceptance of messianic Jews. Maybe it's because Jews have been persecuted for so long in the name of Jesus that the idea of bringing Jesus into Judaism seems antithetical to the religion. I think another reason is that when Jews say they believe in Jesus, there is a feeling that they have given in to social pressure. Unlike people who think the Lubavitch Rebbe is the messiah and thus become part of an even smaller social group, Jews who believe in Jesus become part of the American majority. It can be seen as an easy way out, giving up some of their "specialness" to fit in more with the crowd.