Who do Jews think that Jesus was?

Question

Is there a rabbi or Jewish scholar that can explain who the Jews believe Jesus was? If Jews do not believe Jesus was the Messiah then who was he and are they still waiting for the true Messiah?

Answer 1

Who was Jesus? well, in our view - nothing, a nobody, somebody of no consequence of all. The bottom line is that he is meaningless to Jews, he taught nothing new. Also, unlike some like to say- Jesus was NOT a Rabbi. In those times, the title Rabbi was rare- granted by the Nassi (Leader) of the Sanhedrin- and only rarely to those who were acknowledged Masters of all aspects of Torah, Mishnah, Agadah and Midrash, and who also had large followings and were recognised and acknowledged as teachers.

As for why he wasn't recognised as messiah

1) The dead were not resurrected
2) The Jews did not beome priests to the other nations
3) There is no world peace
4) The temple is not standing
5) There is no temple service
6) There is no parah adumah or its ashes to render us tahor
7) The messiah is from the House of David. your house/tribe is inherited from your father. Your father is your BIOLOGICAL father- there is no adoption in Judaisim to another father- if God is the father of Jesus- then Jesus cannot be from the House of David as God is not frm the House of David.
8) Human sacrifice is completely forbidden in Judaism- remeber God stopping the sacrifice of Isaac? The idea of a human being sacrificed is the opposite of anything from Judaism!
9) You have to atone for yourself! An essential part of the atonement process is being repentant. Someone cannot be repentant for you- you have to do it for yourself. Only communal sins can be forgiven communally- not individual, private sins!

And no- the messiah does NOT proclaim himself- he will be recognised by his deeds- not by his claims- in other words, through doing the above he will be recognised as the messiah. On top of that- mashiach is a HUMAN being, with HUMAN parents- the idea of an anthropomorphised God going around and impregnating young woman is completely alien to Judaism- though it fits very nicely into the pagan religions of the time which had their heroes being fathered by gods (ala Hercules and his daddy Zeus)

Answer 2

Well, Jews actually don't think about Jesus that much. When we do think about him, it's generally along the lines of "some guy who was killed by the Romans, along with thousands of other Jews. End of story."

And, yup, we're still waiting for the Messiah.

The criteria:
A) He has to be descended from David, through his father's side.
B) He has to be a righteous man. While we're on the subject, I'd like to emphasise the word MAN. As in, a real human being.
C) He has to be a prophet. He also has to prove he is a prophet.
D) Things on the Messiah's to-do list: reastablish the Sanhedrin (Supreme Court of Jewish law), re-build the Temple, bring about world peace, usher in a utopian age of peace, righteousness, prophecy, Eden on earth, and possibly immortality (there's a debate on that)

As you can see, when the Messiah come there's gonna be no maybes about it. It will be abundently clear whether he is or he isn't.

Answer 3

I used to be a Pastor at an Evangelical Bible believing church in Skokie, Illinois, the most Jewish suburb of Chicago back in the 60's and 70's.

I know lots and lots of Rabbis.

Ask 3 Rabbis this question and you'll get at least 4 if not 5 answers.

Pastor Art

Answer 4

Jesus, if he existed, was one of a thousand itinerant, self-styled rabbis living in Roman Palestine at the time. The rabbinical movement grew out of Pharisaism but did not reach any kind of maturity until some time after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Before that, anyone with the will and support could declare himself an interpreter of the Law and dispute with other rabbis/Pharisees. Now that tends to take place in yeshivas rather than the street. Usually.

Jews continue to await the coming of the Messiah, but most Jews now believe it will be some kind of spiritual transformation of the world, rather than an Israel-centered military or monarchical figure. Most of them.

Answer 5

Jews believe that Jesus was a holy man, a prophet, and some even think of Him as a Rabbi. But since they reject Him as Messiah, they are still awaiting their Messiah to come.

And when Jesus comes again?

Answer 6

You will not find an "official Jewish opinion" on jesus any more than you will on Hamlet, or Han Solo, or the Lady of the Lake. All of these folks have two things in common; nothing to do with Judaism, and bring fictional characters.. Why would we need an official opinion on a fictional character?

Answer 7

They believe Jesus was a man, period. They believe he was a Jew who was born in Bethlehem, raised in Galilee and killed in Jerusalem. They think he was later given messiah status by the Christian church. And yes, they are still waiting for the "true" messiah.

Answer 8

They believe him to be a learned man. A prophet. Some rank him as a Rabbi or scholar.

Answer 9

A hippy peace-nik


Many a teacher has had his disciples misinterpret, misunderstand, or misuse the most sublime of teachings. So, let's not blame the teacher for the student's failure until we examine whether or not the student has learned his lessons well and is, indeed, following the teacher's instructions.

Answer 10

while reading the bible I found out that the jews heard thro gossip that a man existed who performed miracles and challenged the old laws. His disciples called him the son of god although jesus never admitted to anything.

the jews got angry that jesus became popular with the common people and jesus upset the elders by overturning the tables in church where the jew were collecting money in the church.

the jews considered jesus to be someone who committed blasphemy and demand that he be put to death. the executioner washed his hands of the ordeal and let the jews put him to death themselves