I have always believed in Jesus but now that I have been studying Judaism, I wonder if he is the real Messiah?

Question

I am really having a hard time in life right now, though it could be worse. I cannot stop reading on religion b/c I feel i cant go on in life without knowing the truth of life after death. I feel I need to know Jesus is the Messiah. I wonder why Jews only believe in the Old Testament, which contains the prophecies of who the Messiah would be, which seems to be Jesus, yet they dont believe he was. They say he hasnt fulfilled everything. Can anyone help me. I spend day and nite researching and trying to find a connection to all religions and I try to understand existence, death, the spiritual realm, and God. How is one to know which religion is right when all claim theirs is right. I have the same question as Pontius Pilate, what is truth? Anyone who has seriously studied into religion and felt God, can you help me? I have felt him at times, but sometimes i wonder if its something else and not god giving me the peace. Please help me to understand life, God, death, and existence.

Answer 1

You are asking a very thoughtful question that a lot of people would be scared to ask of themselves. It sounds to me as if you are having a crisis of faith. Allow me to say that having a crisis of faith is nothing to be afraid of, for it is actually healthy once you move beyond it.

I certainly know about crises of faith because I have had several in my lifetime. When I was attending university, I was a hard-core Christian of the evangelical kind. Yet despite how much I want to have total faith in Christianity, far to many problems plagued me from the view point of reason. For example, I had to wonder why other religions existed, having many of the positive traits that Christianity had. The usual answer, that Satan was responsible for them, seemed too unsatisfactory, especially if Judaism was tossed into the mix.

I will say that this particular crisis lead to me becoming a member of the Baha'i Faith. Looking at the Jewish scriptures from the Baha'i point of view, it was easy to see how many of the aspects that Christians attribute to Christ from the Old Testament were simply incorrect. There's the beautiful line from the Book of Isaiah that proclaims

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

This is often applied to Jesus by most Christians that I have known, but if you think about it, how would Christ be the Everlasting Father when He is considered the Son? Also, did not Christ say,

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34)

This is not an attribute that would apply to the Prince of Peace. In the Baha'i Faith, it suggests that this more properly applies to Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha'i Faith. (http://www.bahai.org/ )

I'm not trying to dissuade you from your Christian Faith. I'm just trying to point out that you have definite reason to question what you might have heard before. Nevertheless, there are a lot of references to the Promised One that Jesus does fulfill from Jewish scriptures. I'm not making any conclusions one way or the other, but I suppose that's where faith comes into play.

Ultimately, the truth can be found in yourself. If your heart and mind are telling you that something isn't quite right, the worst thing you can do is to ignore that gut feeling, for that's not only blind faith, but a lie that you put upon yourself. You obviously have to explore what your mind and heart are really telling you, as I have had to do. (Another crisis of faith lead me to leave the Baha'i Faith and become a Buddhist. Go figure!) The Apostle James said that faith without works is dead, but I suppose that faith without guts is pretty much in the same boat.

I hope that helps and I wish you well as you go along your spiritual journey. May you find what you seek.

Answer 2

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.

The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write `The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."

Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

If Pilate had done anything different than exactly what took place in these scriptures History would have stood and put the death of Christ soley on this man. Do you think Pilate was a man of truth and conviction? What prompted him in His attempts to try and spare the life of Christ? What was it to him if one more Jew was put to death..justified or not? In effect, it was indeed the influence of Satan on this man..by the dream of his wife..but more so it was prophetic..Have nothing to do with the Blood of this man. Why? Because we all need to see that we each had our part in the blood shedding and death of that man. It could not be placed with just one person, Pilate, Herod, the Sanhedrin, the Jews...He was indeed...the King of the Jews and from then on be called so in every available language at that time...Read the story of Jacob and Esau...the Birthright would fall to the gentiles. Yeshua Messiah is Jehovah...the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If I were you..I would take His advice.

John 18.

37Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

What is His voice? The Word.

John 1
14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

If you want to know the truth...let me show you a key...

go to this site http://www.biblegateway.com

When you are there..using the KJV only..type in these key phrases and compare

perish
consume
destruction
destroy
abbadon
abyss
blood and wine
bread body flesh
light
darkness
sabbath
rest
commandment
laws

copy and paste these scriptures..minus the obvious literal use of the phrase or secondary use..into a Word document..and then compare?

There is more...but start with that..then if you want..email me and I'll show you some other places to look. Don't rely on me, yourself or anyone else...just on the Word of God alone. You have to understand..the early Church was comprised of many Jewish believers, the world even now has believers that are Jewish or ones that keep the commandments..embracing the Old and New Testament. That is how you know who He is...Christians don't portray Christ...Christ portrays Himself..the Word of God is your only refuge to escape the spiritual Babylon (City of Confusion) we are called to come out of. Drift from it and we are tossed by whatever wind might blow us...remain in Him and He will remain in you. I have seriously studied the Bible..not religion though some understanding of history and language are useful and I have witnessed His presence in my life time and again..and yet, who am I? No one except a child in my heart who loves Him and sees that His Word is all I need. If you don't have peace..and trust me neither do I, it is because you are on the right track..you are searching and Satan doesn't want us to do that does he? After all..you might find the truth and render him powerless. Yet, His grace is sufficient for you. You have the means necessary to find these answers to understand life, God, death and existance. Your desire to seek shows He is very real to you in your life...don't look to "religion" to save you..Only He can do that..Religion is man's invention. Remember, everything Good..comes from Him. Love in Christ, ~J~ <><

Answer 3

This can be frustrating for someone who has his or her spiritual investment in Christianity. The fact is Jesus did not fulfill any of the requirements for the Messiah (nor has anyone else yet through history).

Whatever path you choose, remember that from the Jewish perspective, God is more interested in how you act than what you "believe". And there are righteous people among all nations.

Answer 4

Don't model your life after Pontius Pilate.

There is no harm in studying Judaism, but bear in mind that the Old Testament foretells Jesus and that many of the details of the prophecies are uncanny.

Remember the story of Thomas, who doubted and said he could not believe Jesus had risen until he had seen and touched the wounds.

It is alright to seek connections to other religions, however be careful. Some are false.

Christianity is based on faith. You cannot have faith if you continue to grow your doubts. Chill out, and let Jesus work in you.

Answer 5

You have asked about Life, God, Death & Existence, let me try to tell you about the same:

(Answer's last lines are extremely useful)

1. Life: The stage show, in which you are only puppet.
2. God: The creator who has you cord in his hands and make you dance as per your doings.
3. Death: Change of character in show.
4. Existence: Your presence in the scene.

Now lets combine all the things:

We are in to this world many times, we are taking birth and dying for many centuries, sometimes we become ox, sometime rat and when the doings are very much on good side only then we get a chance to be a man or woman. We have to pay for each and everything we do in our daily life and for that we have to take birth and then die.

Life is just a mixture of the outputs of the results for the doings of your present and past births, you have to pay for everything you have done, whether in present birth or in past births. God is one who knows all about your doings and he provide you with the results for the same. When your time is up or you can say when you are not able to pay for your doings in the present birth, you die and take birth in the other state, so as to pay for that.

Now most important part, you must have a living master, who can initiate you and show you the path to the real god, the way to god is nowhere but within yourself and the same shall be shown to you by your living master. Only a living master can help you in destroying the stored doings of present and previous births. If any further help is required you can mail me, i will be glad to help you, as i think i have good knowledge on the topic

Answer 6

There are a lot of Christians here telling you that you should continue to believe in Jesus. It doesn't matter to me what you choose to believe but I suggest you look at both sides of the coin.

Did Jesus Christ even exist?
http://exchristian.net/exchristian/2003/04/did-jesus-christ-really-live.php

Ex-Christian testimonies:
http://exchristian.net/testimonies

I suggest you don't worry so much, there's no need to "search all day and all night" for answers to these unanswerable questions. Natural wonder and mystery is a beautiful part of life! I don't think an all good God would want you worrying so much. Anyways, good luck!

Answer 7

Dont lose faith. Jesus is the Messiah. I cant prove it all. I am no philosopher or anything like that, but i am sure that the Old Testament predictions are linked directly to Jesus. The Old Testament is proved by DNA. I can tell you how, but it takes a long time. Trust me. Trust God. Trust Christ. The Bible predicted all of this. The doubt, the wars, the famines, all of it... You will see!

Answer 8

The jews were looking for a messiah like Moses!
One that would save them from this world, or out of there situation in this world.

Christ came not for this world but for the world to come.

Last if you do not know what truth is, you may never know!

Answer 9

Sometimes, it isn't enough to rely on books alone. Approach someone who could counsel you........and, do that to someone spiritually grown(priests or pastors maybe) who believes in the same faith-as in CHRISTIANS. You might be in the process of "getting close to God" but also "being pulled by the Devil- that is thru your DOUBT TO WHAT IS THE TRUTH". and, let me ask........... if Jesus isn't the messiah then who else when he proved everything? Is his sacrifice and death for our sins not enough? ......If n doubt, pray...

Answer 10

You need more balance, honey. You must live life and not worry so much. You have wavering FAITH. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11) You are a Christian, but what has happened to your prayer life and your trust in GOD? Ask Jesus Himself to help you and He will. Pray for what you have just asked for here. I know the LORD will make a way for your to understand. You are one of His precious chosen ones! I love you and so does the LORD. I pray for your peace.
Psalm 46:10 BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.