whoever Isaiah predicted in 53, it could not have been Jesus.
Either Deuteronomy 24:16, "Every man must be put to death for his own sin," does not mean that 'every man must be put to death for his own sin,' and the Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53 is correct, or the Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53 is not correct, and Deuteronomy 24:16 means exactly what it says.
Jews read Isaiah up to (and including Isaiah 53) and Isaiah repeatedly refers specifically to the Jews as Gd's servant. Read Isaiah 41:8; Isaiah 44:21; Isaiah 45:4; Isaiah 49:3; Isaiah 44:1; Isaiah 48:20 and Isaiah 49:7
Lets concentrate on Isaiah 43:10::
Isaiah 43:10
"You are my witnesses, saith the Etrnl, and my
servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know
and believe me, and understand that I am he:
before me there was no Gd formed, neither
shall there be after me."
The above verse refers to the Jewish People in the plural, when Gd uses the term "witnessES," but the Jewish People are also referred to in the singular, in the same verse, in the word, "servant," the same word that we find in Isaiah 53! Furthermore, this verse states that there will be no Gd formed, and that includes in a woman's womb.
Jews also read Isaiah 53 and it describes someone who could not have been Jesus!
Two verses in the Isaiah passage describe the Servant as having been either too ugly to be human in appearance, or too plain-looking to make us notice him. See Isaiah 52:14 and Isaiah 53:2
But every single picture painted of Jesus shows a man who was both handsome and tall and generally muscular, as any carpenter would be. These texts from Isaiah are not referring to The Servant at only a single time and place, like after a scourging, or crucifixion, but rather it refers to the way The Servant looks, in general, to the non-Jewish world.
There is also evidence in the Christian's New Testament that indicates that Jesus was a handsome man, whose company was desired by others, which is not what we read in Isaiah:
Luke 2:52
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature,
and in favor with God and man."
One verse in the Isaiah passage describes the servant as a loner, without anyone to call a friend. See Isaiah 53:3
But in many places within the Christian's New Testament, like the above quotation from Luke 2:52, Jesus is described as having a huge following, from the beginning of his ministry all the way to the scene at the crucifixion. See Matthew 21:46; Luke 23:26-27; Mark 14:1-2; Matthew 4:24-25; 21:9,11; Luke 4:14-15; 7:11,12,16; 8:4,19,45; and John 12:11,42
Two quotations from the Isaiah passage describe someone who remains silent when accused by his captors, one who is innocent of any wrongdoing: See Isaiah 53:7 and Isaiah 53:9.
But there is one quotation in the Christian's New Testament that states that Jesus did rebuke his captors and in so doing did in fact "open his mouth."
John 18:22-23
"When he had said this, one of the officers
standing by struck Jesus with his hand,
saying, 'Is that how you answer the high
priest?' Jesus answered him, 'If I have spoken
wrongly, bear witness to the wrong; but if I
have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?'"
In the above quotation, Jesus rebukes his captors for what he considers mistreatment. In so doing he contradicts his own idea of "turning the other cheek," found in Matthew 5:39.
One of the verses in the Isaiah passage describes an innocent man of peace. See Isaiah 53:9
But most people are familiar with at least one of the many acts of violence that Jesus did, in the "cleansing of the Temple":
Matthew 21:12
"And Jesus entered the Temple of God and drove
out all who sold and bought in the Temple, and
he overturned the tables of the money--
changers and the seats of those who sold
pigeons."
Furthermore, in the version of this act of violence in John 2:15, it states that Jesus made for himself a scourge or whip, with which he beat the people in the Temple. See John 2:15
Although a Christian might say that the violence done by Jesus in the Temple might have been justified, the verse in Isaiah describes one who had done no violence AT ALL. Furthermore, those who "bought and sold in the Temple," were there because of Gd's command, showing that the violence Jesus did was, indeed, Unjustified:
Deuteronomy 14:24-26,
"And if the way be too long for thee, so that
thou art not able to carry it; or if the place
be too far from thee, which the Etrnl thy Gd
shall choose to set his name there, when the
Etrnl thy Gd hath blessed thee: 25 Then shalt
thou turn it into money, and bind up the money
in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place
which the Etrnl thy Gd shall choose: 26 And
thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever
thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for
sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or
for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou
shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and
thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine
household."
There are other places in the New Testament that describes Jesus's violence. Here are a few more examples.
In Mark 11:12, Jesus condemns a fruit tree to death because it did not have any figs on it for Jesus to eat, even though it was not even the fruit season for figs.
Jesus also stated that his purpose in coming to earth was not for the sake of peace: See Matthew 10:34-36 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
In Luke 19:27, Jesus tells his disciples to slay in front of Jesus, those who would not have Jesus reign over them.
Perhaps the verse above from Luke 19 has been the Christian justification for the slaying of so many Jews throughout the centuries, simply because we still reject Jesus?
And in Luke 22:36, Jesus tells his disciples to go and buy swords.
Finally, there is one verse in the Isaiah passage which describes the servant as living a long life and having children, Isaiah 53:10 "he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days;"
But quite obviously, Jesus was never married and had no children. He also died in his thirties, at a young age. Christians may respond by saying that Isaiah meant Jesus's disciples by the word, "offspring," or that the Christians themselves are like his children, but the word in the Hebrew is "Za-Ra," which means seed, and can only refer to one's blood-line descendants, his children.
So we see that, from the Jewish reading of Isaiah 53, Jesus did not fulfil the description, he was no Messiah, and ex-Jews that believe this anyway are no longer Jews.
2006-08-09 07:46:31
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answer #1
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answered by sfederow 5
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FAQ: What books are in the Word and what are apocrypha?
"The books of the Word are all those which have the internal sense; but those books which have not the internal sense, are not the Word. The books of the Word, in the Old Testament, are the five Books of Moses, the Book of Joshua, the Book of Judges, the two Books of Samuel, the two Books of Kings, the Psalms of David, the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: and in the New Testament, the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; and the Apocalypse. The rest have not the internal sense" (Arcana Coelestia n. 10325 or Heavenly Doctrine n. 266).
FAQ: Why different testaments and books in the Word?
"As regards the Word particularly, it has existed in every age, though not the Word we possess at the present day. Another Word existed in the Most Ancient Church before the Flood, and yet another Word in the Ancient Church after the Flood. Then came the Word written through Moses and the Prophets in the Jewish Church, and finally the Word written through the Evangelists in the new Church. The reason why the Word has existed in every age is that by means of the Word there is a communication between heaven and earth, and also that the Word deals with goodness and truth, by which a person is enabled to live in eternal happiness. In the internal sense therefore the Lord alone is the subject, for all goodness and truth are derived from Him" (Arcana Coelestia n. 2895).
2006-08-09 14:49:06
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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