Jews; Who is your Messiah?

Question

Correct me if I'm misinformed, but the majority of Jews in Jesus' time didn't think he was the Messiah because he was overly passive, right? If the TRUE Messiah was suddenly walking among us, how would you recognize him?

Answer 1

I am a Jew and I can say that my people are blind to most things.

I don't mean that as an insult, but that is just the way my people are and I have never understood that.

If you lok at what is going on in Israel, it seems like they are blind to danger of the policies that many in the government have for Israel's future. If Israel has a future at all, I say that with a heavy heart.

If you look at the Jews in America almost all belong to the liberal or Democratic party and they don't seem to realize that the people who hate them the most in America happen to be the people they seek to identify with (the liberals and democrats). Did you see some of the protests the liberals organized against Israel. The Judeophobic rhetoric was simply monstrous and evil.

As one can see blindness is a problem my people seem to constantly suffer from much to our own detriment.

Answer 2

thank you once again Christians for answering a question directed at Jews.

first of the reason why Jesus was rejected had nothing to do with him being passive. Contrary to popular belief the accepted position is that the Messiah will be passive aka he will be like Solomon not David.

as for how to recognize the Messiah

Maimonides spells it out

"Do not imagine that the anointed King must perform miracles and signs and create new things in the world or resurrect the dead and so on. The matter is not so: For Rabbi Akiva was a great scholar of the sages of the Mishnah, and he was the assistant-warrior of the king Bar Kokhba, and claimed that he was the anointed king. He and all the Sages of his generation deemed him the anointed king, until he was killed by sins; only since he was killed, they knew that he was not. The Sages asked him neither a miracle nor a sign..."
"And if a king shall stand up from among the House of David, studying Torah and indulging in commandments like his father David, according to the written and oral Torah, and he will coerce all Israel to follow it and to strengthen its weak points, and will fight Hashem's [God's] wars, this one is to be treated as if he were the anointed one. If he succeeded {and won all nations surrounding him. Old prints and mss.} and built a Holy Temple in its proper place and gathered the strayed ones of Israel together, this is indeed the anointed one for certain, and he will mend the entire world to worship the Lord together, as it is stated: "For then I shall turn for the nations a clear tongue, to call all in the Name of the Lord and to worship Him with one shoulder (Zephaniah 3:9)."
"But if he did not succeed until now, or if he was killed, it becomes known that he is not this one of whom the Torah had promised us, and he is indeed like all proper and wholesome kings of the House of David who died. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, only set him up to try the public by him, thus: "Some of the wise men will stumble in clarifying these words, and in elucidating and interpreting when the time of the end will be, for it is not yet the designated time." (Daniel 11:35)."

Answer 3

My opinion.The religions we have in the world are ALL man's honest attempt to understand our origin and praise what we have. Your Jesus was a loving man who would never challenge any man's honest attempt at honoring the Father. I'm sure He loves the Jews as much as He loves anybody else whether they recognize Him or not. Your Jesus was all about love, tolerance and understanding. The Jews do a great job of all three in my book. Loving is difficult isn't it? But that is the challange, Jesus presented. We can all leave people alone who choose to worship differently. God brings people to Him in His own way. He always has and always will. Whatever the culture, God, recognizing the great and wonderful diversity He created, sent a man in His image to speak to the people. I think Jesus was one among many. Love and peace to you.

Answer 4

You'll recognize him because he'll be sitting on a royal throne in Jerusalem ruling over everyone else. And everyone will bow down to him as his subjects.

That's what Jews are waiting for, they aren't waiting for God or his son.

Answer 5

bats_fanfilm,
I'm not a Jew, but if you'll allow me to make a distinction?

They might have thought Him passive in a sense, because they expect it to be the whole passage of Isaiah 61:

"Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;"

But that's not what Jesus came to do, at least the last part:

"and the day of vengeance of our God;"

Jesus read that very passage, omitting the day of vengeance:

"Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book,"

They expected Him to keep reading, but he stopped, and they looked at Him expectantly:

"Luke 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears."

They expected Him to either be false at what He was saying, or continue the passage.

They are right, they will know Him on " the day of vengeance", that's in Zechariah 14.

But in another sense (to finish the distinction), He was agressive. He claimed things about Himself that drove them into frenzies. To call Himself "I AM", and to claim that no one could get into heaven except by Him, and to claim that God is His Father, and to do miracles on the Sabbath. He was totally agressive with those things! He would make sure that they were watching at times!

Answer 6

i had wondered about the same thing. i am not a jew, but i have thought that over. i think i would react like the pharisees and wouldn't recognize Him at all.

Answer 7

Most jewish humans worship Carl Sagan or Harlan Ellison.

I know I do.