Why do Jewish people not believe Christ was the Messiah?

Question

This is a serious question. I know my family will ask this if I convert, and I need facts. Jewish people please answer. Christians who just want to rant, save it.

Answer 1

completely serious answer.

this is really staggeringly simple.

Jesus did not do the things, that the messiah's entire purpose, was to do.

he fulfilled only a couple of the prophecys that were actually important, did some things that were entirely not even appropriate, and ENTIRELY NEGLECTED to do the most crucial things.

for example, christianity in general belives that Jesus did not have a biological father.
... the messiah must qualify to sit in the throne of david, through the bloodline of solomon. this can *ONLY* be obtained by a DIRECT blood lineage from solomon, to the "candidate". without this biological lineage (the mother must be appropriately heritage-ed as well) this is ABSOLUTELY impossible.

the two big things that are empirically provable to have not occured, that are part of the entire point of the jewish messiah:
1) Universal Knowlege of God. ... the mere fact this is a question, proves this to have not yet occured.
2) World Peace. ... turn on the news, does that look like world peace to you?

additionally, the reconstruction of the temple, the gathering and re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel, and world support for that nation, are also lacking.

things that some/most of christianity sees jesus to be that is absolutely contrary to jewish belief and the purpose of the messiah:
1) God incarnate. this by jewish standards is idolotry and polytheism.
2) more divine than a regular person. the jewish messiah is really just a guy. a special, important leader, but still just a man.
3) a sacrifice. this is especially absurd to judaism. the messiah's point is not to be a sacrifice, thats simply absurd, unneeded, and pointless.
4) the savior. ... God alone is the savior, as per appropriate to need one. none other.

even if one does not dispute any of the authenticity of what christians believe jesus to have been or done, who that describes, is NOT the Messiah of Judaism, nor in most cases, the God of Abraham, Isacc and Jacob.

the fact that he DID those miracles contributed to the proof that he was NOT the messiah. there are old testament scriptures specifically warding against following "Dreamers of dreams" who preform "signs and wonders".

Cathy beat me to the link. read that page!

and remember, there is ABSOLUTELY no such thing as a jewish person who belives in Jesus. if a jewish person comes to belive that, they have forsaken their God, and betrayed their heritage, and are No Longer Jewish!

Answer 2

Good question with a simple answer.

1) J*sus did not do anything the messiah is supposed to do. (One of these includes the fact that he cannot die before completing ALL of the tasks, which we all know J*sus did. There is no "second coming.")

Here is a short list of some prophecies:
Is there universal knowledge of one G-d? (Jeremiah 31:33, Zechariah 8:23, 14:9, 14:16,
Isaiah 11:9, Isaiah 40:5, Zephaniah 3:9)
Were all Jews returned to Israel? (Isaiah 43:5-6, Isaiah 11:12, Isaiah 27:12-13)
Did he bring world peace? (Isaiah 11:6, Micah 4:3)
Were all weapons destroyed? (Ezekiel 39:9)
Did all warfare cease? (Isaiah 2:4)
Was the Temple rebuilt in it's place? (Ezekiel 37:24-28 Ezekiel 40-48, Isaiah 33:20, Micah
4:1)
Did he bring physical restoration to all who are sick or disabled in any way? (Isaiah
35:5-6)
Was he preceded by Elijah? (Malachi 3:23-24-- 4:4-5 in KJV)
Did the nations help the Jews materially? (Isaiah 60:5, 60:10-12, 61:6)
Does eternal joy and gladness characterize the Jewish nation? (Isaiah 51:11)
Are Jews sought for spiritual guidance? (Zechariah 8:23)
Is the Egyptian river dry yet? (Isaiah 11:15)
Do trees in Israel yield new fruit every month? (Ezekiel 47:12)
Did each tribe receive it's inheritance? (Ezekiel 47:13-14)
Is the enemy buried? (Ezekiel 39:12)
Did he accomplish these tasks without tiring or failing? (Isaiah 42:4)
Did death cease? (Isaiah 25:8)
Are the dead resurrected? (Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:2, Ezekiel 37:12-13)

Then no, J*sus is not messiah.

2) J*sus did everything contrary to what a Messiah would do. Most importantly, he did magic tricks/'miracles.' It is written that the messiah will not need to do them to prove he is messiah, and that the one who tries to claim he is messiah by doing those kind of tricks is a FALSE prophet.

Here is some good literature on the subject:
http://www.messiahtruth.com/response.html
http://www.moshiach.com/questions/topten/jesus_as_the_messiah.php
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/

Peace

Answer 3

Allonyoav has the right answer. The first place to start however is with the meaning of the word messiah (in Hebrew: mashiach).

As was alluded to elsewhere, mashiach does not refer to a spiritual/religious leader, but rather a human king. "Anointed" as kings were during that time by oil to the head, NOT 'anointed by G-d as the Christian misinterpretation would have you believe.

Most simply, Jesus did not fulfill the prophecies of the expected "human" king of the house of David.

If you are considering conversion, here are two suggestions:

What Do Jews Believe? David Ariel
Choosing a Jewish Life Anita Diamant

Answer 4

I'm not Jewish, but Jewish people don't accept Jesus as the Messiah because he didn't fulfill all of the necessary prophecies. Check out Jews for Judaism, they have a website that goes through the issue point-by-point, and it's really easy to understand that way.

Answer 5

God's word talks about Him harden people's heart. In Romans 10,11 is some good reading on this subject of God's will for the Jewish people. I am not Jewish and I am a Christian. I have meet some wonderful Jewish Sisters that convert to Christianity. I had wish I has more time to talk with them about their conversion. It is a hard decision to make for all of us no matter our background.

One thing you might ask you family is do they serve God or the law. Abraham believed and it was credit to Him as righteousness. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord? Is their heart circumcised? Hope this helps you out some.

Answer 6

In brief:

No Jew accepts Jesus as the Messiah. When someone makes that faith commitment, they become Christian. It is not possible for someone to be both Christian and Jewish.
Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah because he didn't fulfill Jewish expectations of the Messiah.
The Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament by the non-Jewish world) is not proof for anything in the New Testament regarding a Messiah.
The Hebrew Bible describes the Messiah as a national savior who would arrive at the time of the Babylonian exile (hundreds of years before Christianity) and restore the nation of Israel with a capital at Jerusalem.

The original "messianic" aspirations of the Jewish People was to return from Exile and to restore the Davidic dynasty and the Jewish nation. While there was partial fulfillment of those hopes, given the return from Babylonia and the rebuilding of the Second Temple, new ideas were arising in that part of the world.

In fact, it's hard to "dissect" out the incredibly varied and related philosophical, religious, theological ideas that individuals and communities began to develop from 515 BCE - roughly the time of the beginning of the Second Temple - through the year 200 CE which was the editing of the Mishna, following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the failures of several revolts, especially that of Bar Kochba in 132 CE.

The major questions began to shift under Greek influence (Plato's idea of two entities - body and soul, material and spirit) and the Zoroastrian dualism of two competing forces, good and evil. When you complicate that mixture with the "obvious" reality of an unfair world in which the majority of people simply tried to survive, let alone hope for justice, equity and reward for their piety or their good deeds even though they witnessed many evil people "succeed" at least materially - there "had to be a better way." Enter the notion of a world after this one, or perhaps a time period after this present, where the good would be rewarded and the bad punished.

Hmmmm. That's a problem if you are dead. Soooo, we now have new theories of eternal spiritual selves awaiting a Day of Judgement or a theory of resurrection after which God would sort out the good from the bad people.

I hope you understand by now it's far from simple. In the middle of all this, some Jews began to look for a national leader - not unlike the restored kings of the Second Temple, the military leaders and kings, not unlike the Hasmoneans or Maccabbees (who turned out not to be what they started out being), perhaps even Bar Kochba - who would restore a Jewish country where Jews could live, worship and practice their own tradition. If and when you believe this, then the idea of a Messiah becomes part of the mix.

The various political and religious parties disagreed over such ideas, including that of a Messiah, and those who did believe in a future Messiah - not Jesus or any of the other messianic figures running about at that time - they survived and kept the belief and hope for a Messiah in our tradition such that Maimonides himself includes it in his essential principles of Jewish belief.

In sum, today some do and some don't believe in a personal Messiah or a person as a Messiah, and others speak of a messianic period when life is good for all humanity.

I don't preach to anyone what I believe, but I wouldn't object to a world at peace with families living free from terror and having all of their needs met.

For more information, please read "Judaism and Christinity: The Difference" by Dr. Trude Wesi Rosmarin. Best Wishes,

Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner

Answer 7

I' am the messiah of Judaism and Islam and Jimmy Carter will replace into the Anti-Christ after the dying of Obama! in accordance to Bible prophecy the Anti-Christ will replace into our next President after the dying of Obama (Dan. eleven:20)! The Anti-Christ would be next and is between the 7 kings in Rev. 17:10. And there are seven kings: 5 are fallen, and one is, [and] the different isn't yet come; and whilst he cometh, he would desire to proceed a short area. those 7 kings have been; one million. Gerald Ford 2. Jimmy Carter 3. Ronald Reagan 4. George H. W. Bush 5. bill Clinton 6. George W. Bush.... is spoken of interior the present stressful (and one is) simply by fact till Reagan died (June forty 5, 2004) all 7 have been alive whilst George W. replace into in place of work! 7. Barack Obama....... [and] the different isn't yet come; and whilst he cometh, he would desire to proceed a short area. Obama is likewise in.. Daniel eleven:20 Then shall arise in his components a raiser of taxes [in] the appreciate of the dominion: yet interior few days he would be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in conflict. The angel Gabriel informed me whilst i replace into in Phillipsburg, Montana in Aug. 1973 that Jimmy Carter replace into the Anti-Christ and that he will replace his call and divorce his spouse! I additionally observed the dying of President Obama in a imaginative and prescient, and returned in a dream!

Answer 8

Jews do not believe that Christ was the Messiah because he did not lead the Jews out of bondage. He did not fulfill all the prophecies from the old Testament. He did fulfill some, but left many behind, claiming his church would finish his work, or that the rest would be fulfilled on his "second comming."

Answer 9

It can be hard, when you're steeped in a religion, to accept a single man's claim to fulfill prophesy of that religion. We would certainly, today, be doubtful of anybody who were to claim to be the second coming of Christ.

To them, he was a carpenter. They knew his family. They doubted he was special because he came from a normal family and not from a family of the aristocracy or the priesthood.

But one has to wonder how Jesus could work all those miracles and not be believed. One also has to wonder why the many historians, living in the region and time of Jesus, didn't mention the miracles. Surely this was big news. Put another way -- if the "miracles" weren't noteworthy then, why should they be now?

So there's some question about the events attributed, in the bible, to Jesus. Perhaps he just wasn't convincing enough to the majority of Jews.

Answer 10

Here is why we don't believe that Jesus was the messiah in simple terms:
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)

NOTE ON MESSIANIC JUDAISM/JEWS FOR JESUS
Both of these are deemed as nothing more than Christian sects using deceitful means to convert Jews. EVERY Jewish denomination denounces these sects as Christians and nothing more. However, by Jewish law, once a Jew, always Jew- whether born or converted. Thus once a person is Jewish they are always judged by Jewish standards, and if they revert/convert to a different religion they are still considered Jewish by Jewish law. BUT, someone practising a religion other than Judaism is considered outside of the community, may not be a member of the community, receive any community honours, be a representative for the community, be buried in a Jewish cemetary, marry a Jew or be treated as a Jew for the purposes of the laws of mourning. However, since they never stop being a Jew- they merely have to repent, return to Judaism and go to mikveh in order to once again be a full member of the community.

Christianity is totally divorced from Judaism theologically
1) The belief that God would physically manifest to produce a child is the opposite of Jewish belief
2) The belief that God is made up of different beings is the opposite of Jewish belief in the single, undivided nature of God.
3) The belief that any being could set itself up in opposition to God (i.e. the devil) is the opposite of Jewish belief in which God is the sole and only authority and author of events in the world
4) The idea of eternal damnation for people who err (Hell), is the opposite of Jewish belief in which God is loving and always forgives.
5) The idea that God would ever cancel his convenant, after explicitly stating it was eternal, and thus turning God into a liar, is the opposite of Jewish belief
6) The idea that God could ever make a mistake (i.e. that the law he gave was too difficult to follow and was thus replaced with the sacrifice of his "son") is the opposite of the Jewish belief that God is perfect and never makes mistakes.
7) The idea that God can make mistakes is also the opposite of the Jewish belief that God is eternal and across all of time (God is, God was, God will be) and thus knows rthe consequences of every action and can tus never makes mistakes or not know the result sof something he does.