Jewish Beliefs AboutJesus And Jews For Jesus
For 2,000 years, Jews have rejected
the Christian idea of Jesus as messiah. Why?
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It is important tounderstand why Jews don’t believe in Jesus. The purpose is not to disparageother religions, but rather to clarify the Jewish position. The more datathat’s available, the better-informed choices people can make about theirspiritual path.
JEWS DO NOT ACCEPT JESUS AS THE MESSIAH BECAUSE:
Intro:
(What exactly isthe Messiah?)
1. Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies.
2. Jesus did not embody the personal qualifications ofthe Messiah.
3. Biblical verses "referring" to Jesus aremistranslations.
4. Jewish belief is based on national revelation.
5. Christianity contradicts Jewish theology
6. Jews and Gentiles
7. Bringing the Messiah

What exactly is theMessiah?
The word “Messiah” isan English rendering of the Hebrew word “Mashiach”, which means“Anointed.” It usually refers to a person initiated into God’s service by beinganointed with oil. (Exodus 29:7, I Kings 1:39, II Kings 9:3)
Since every King andHigh Priest was anointed with oil, each may be referred to as “an anointed one”(a Mashiach or a Messiah). For example: “God forbid that I [David] should stretch outmy hand against the Lord’s Messiah [Saul]...” (I Samuel 26:11. Cf. II Samuel23:1, Isaiah 45:1, Psalms 20:6)
Where does the Jewishconcept of Messiah come from? One of the central themes of Biblical prophecy isthe promise of a future age of perfection characterized by universal peace andrecognition of God. (Isaiah 2:1-4; Zephaniah 3:9; Hosea 2:20-22; Amos 9:13-15;Isaiah 32:15-18, 60:15-18; Micah 4:1-4; Zechariah 8:23, 14:9; Jeremiah31:33-34)
Many of theseprophetic passages speak of a descendant of King David who will rule Israelduring the age of perfection. (Isaiah 11:1-9; Jeremiah 23:5-6, 30:7-10,33:14-16; Ezekiel 34:11-31, 37:21-28; Hosea 3:4-5)
Since every King is aMessiah, by convention, we refer to this future anointed king as The Messiah. The above isthe only description in the Bible of a Davidic descendant who is to come in thefuture. We will recognize the Messiah by seeing who the King of Israel is atthe time of complete universal perfection.

1) JESUS DID NOTFULFILL THE MESSIANIC PROPHECIES
What is the Messiahsupposed to accomplish? The Bible says that he will:
A. Build the ThirdTemple (Ezekiel 37:26-28).
B. Gather all Jewsback to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6).
C. Usher in an era ofworld peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says:"Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learnwar anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)
D. Spread universalknowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says:"God will be King over all the world—on that day, God will be One and HisName will be One" (Zechariah 14:9).
The historical factis that Jesus fulfilled none of these messianic prophecies.
Christians counter that Jesus will fulfill these in the Second Coming, but Jewish sourcesshow that the Messiah will fulfill the prophecies outright, and no concept of asecond coming exists.

2) JESUS DID NOTEMBODY THE PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF MESSIAH
A. MESSIAH AS PROPHET
Jesus was not aprophet. Prophecy can only exist in Israel when the land is inhabited by amajority of world Jewry. During the time of Ezra (circa 300 BCE), when themajority of Jews refused to move from Babylon to Israel, prophecy ended uponthe death of the last prophets—Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
Jesus appeared on thescene approximately 350 years after prophecy had ended.
B. DESCENDENT OFDAVID
According to Jewish sources, the Messiah will be born of human parents andpossess normal physical attributes like other people. He will not be a demi-god, (1) nor will he possess supernatural qualities.
The Messiah must be descended on his father’s side from King David (seeGenesis 49:10 and Isaiah 11:1). According to the Christian claim that Jesus wasthe product of a virgin birth, he had no father—and thus could not havepossibly fulfilled the messianic requirement of being descended on his father’sside from King David! (2)
C. TORAH OBSERVANCE
The Messiah will leadthe Jewish people to full Torah observance. The Torah states that all mitzvot(commandments) remain binding forever, and anyone coming to change the Torah isimmediately identified as a false prophet. (Deut. 13:1-4)
Throughout the NewTestament, Jesus contradicts the Torah and states that its commandments are nolonger applicable. (see John 1:45 and 9:16, Acts 3:22 and 7:37) Forexample, John 9:14 records that Jesus made a paste in violation of Shabbat,which caused the Pharisees to say (verse 16), "He does not observeShabbat!"

3) MISTRANSLATEDVERSES "REFERRING" TO JESUS
Biblical verses canonly be understood by studying the original Hebrew text—which reveals manydiscrepancies in the Christian translation.
A. VIRGIN BIRTH
The Christian idea ofa virgin birth is derived from the verse in Isaiah 7:14 describing an"alma" as giving birth. The word "alma" has always meant ayoung woman, but Christian theologians came centuries later and translated itas "virgin." This accords Jesus’ birth with the first century paganidea of mortals being impregnated by gods.
B. CRUCIFIXION
The verse in Psalms22:17 reads: "Like a lion, they are at my hands and feet." The Hebrewword ki-ari (like a lion) is grammatically similar to the word "gouged."Thus Christianity reads the verse as a reference to crucifixion: "Theypierced my hands and feet."
C. SUFFERING SERVANT
Christianity claimsthat Isaiah chapter 53 refers to Jesus, as the "suffering servant."
In actuality, Isaiah53 directly follows the theme of chapter 52, describing the exile andredemption of the Jewish people. The prophecies are written in the singularform because the Jews ("Israel") are regarded as one unit. The Torahis filled with examples of the Jewish nation referred to with a singularpronoun.
Ironically, Isaiah’s prophecies of persecution refer in part to the 11thcentury when Jews were tortured and killed by Crusaders who acted in the name of Jesus.
From where did these mistranslations stem? St. Gregory, 4th century Bishopof Nazianzus, wrote: "A little jargon is all that is necessary to imposeon the people. The less they comprehend, the more they admire."

4) JEWISH BELIEF ISBASED SOLELY ON NATIONAL REVELATION
Of the 15,000 religions in human history, only Judaism bases its belief on national revelation—i.e. God speaking to the entirenation. If God is going to start a religion, it makes sense He’ll telleveryone, not just one person.
Throughout history,thousands of religions have been started by individuals, attempting to convincepeople that he or she is God’s true prophet. But personal revelation is anextremely weak basis for a religion because one can never know if it is indeedtrue. Since others did not hear God speak to this person, they have to take hisword for it. Even if the individual claiming personal revelation performsmiracles, there is still no verification that he is a genuine prophet. Miraclesdo not prove anything. All they show—assuming they are genuine—is that he hascertain powers. It has nothing to do with his claim of prophecy.
Judaism, unique amongall of the world’s major religions, does not rely on "claims ofmiracles" as the basis for its religion. In fact, the Bible says that Godsometimes grants the power of "miracles" to charlatans, in order totest Jewish loyalty to the Torah (Deut. 13:4).
Maimonides states (Foundations of Torah, ch. 8):
The Jews did notbelieve in Moses, our teacher, because of the miracles he performed. Wheneveranyone’s belief is based on seeing miracles, he has lingering doubts, becauseit is possible the miracles were performed through magic or sorcery. All of themiracles performed by Moses in the desert were because they were necessary, andnot as proof of his prophecy.
What then was thebasis of [Jewish] belief? The Revelation at Mount Sinai, which we saw with ourown eyes and heard with our own ears, not dependent on the testimony of others…as it says, "Face to face, God spoke with you…" The Torah alsostates: "God did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us—whoare all here alive today." (Deut. 5:3)
Judaism is notmiracles. It is the personal eyewitness experience of every man, woman andchild, standing at Mount Sinai 3,300 years ago.

5) CHRISTIANITYCONTRADICTS JEWISH THEOLOGY
The followingtheological points apply primarily to the Roman Catholic Church, the largestChristian denomination.
A. GOD AS THREE?
The Catholic idea ofTrinity breaks God into three separate beings: The Father, the Son and the HolyGhost (Matthew 28:19).
Contrast this to theShema, the basis of Jewish belief: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, theLord is ONE" (Deut. 6:4). Jews declare the Shema every day, while writingit on doorposts (Mezuzah), and binding it to the hand and head (Tefillin). Thisstatement of God’s One-ness is the first words a Jewish child is taught to say,and the last words uttered before a Jew dies.
In Jewish law,worship of a three-part god is considered idolatry—one of the three cardinalsins that a Jew should rather give up his life than transgress. This explainswhy during the Inquisitions and throughout history, Jews gave up their livesrather than convert.
B. MAN AS GOD?
Roman Catholicsbelieve that God came down to earth in human form, as Jesus said: "I andthe Father are one" (John 10:30).
Maimonides devotesmost of the "Guide for the Perplexed" to the fundamental idea thatGod is incorporeal, meaning that He assumes no physical form. God is Eternal,above time. He is Infinite, beyond space. He cannot be born, and cannot die.Saying that God assumes human form makes God small, diminishing both His unityand His divinity. As the Torah says: "God is not a mortal" (Numbers23:19).
Judaism says that theMessiah will be born of human parents, and possess normal physical attributeslike other people. He will not be a demi-god, and will not possess supernaturalqualities. In fact, an individual is alive in every generation with thecapacity to step into the role of the Messiah. (see Maimonides - Laws of Kings11:3)
C. INTERMEDIARY FOR PRAYER?
The Catholic beliefis that prayer must be directed through an intermediary—i.e. confessing one’ssins to a priest. Jesus himself is an intermediary, as Jesus said: "No mancometh unto the Father but by me."
In Judaism, prayer isa totally private matter, between each individual and God. As the Bible says:"God is near to all who call unto Him" (Psalms 145:18). Further, theTen Commandments state: "You shall have no other gods BEFORE ME,"meaning that it is forbidden to set up a mediator between God and man. (seeMaimonides - Laws of Idolatry ch. 1)
D. INVOLVEMENT IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD
Catholic doctrineoften treats the physical world as an evil to be avoided. Mary, the holiestwoman, is portrayed as a virgin. Priests and nuns are celibate. And monasteriesare in remote, secluded locations.
By contrast, Judaismbelieves that God created the physical world not to frustrate us, but for ourpleasure. Jewish spirituality comes through grappling with the mundane world ina way that uplifts and elevates. Sex in the proper context is one of theholiest acts we can perform.
The Talmud says if aperson has the opportunity to taste a new fruit and refuses to do so, he willhave to account for that in the World to Come. Jewish rabbinical schools teachhow to live amidst the bustle of commercial activity. Jews don’t retreat fromlife, we elevate it.

6) JEWS ANDGENTILES
Judaism does notdemand that everyone convert to the religion. The Torah of Moses is a truth forall humanity, whether Jewish or not. King Solomon asked God to heed the prayersof non-Jews who come to the Holy Temple (Kings I 8:41-43). The prophet Isaiah refersto the Temple as a "House for all nations."
The Temple serviceduring Sukkot featured 70 bull offerings, corresponding to the 70 nations ofthe world. The Talmud says that if the Romans would have realized how muchbenefit they were getting from the Temple, they’d never have destroyed it.
Jews have neveractively sought converts to Judaism because the Torah prescribes a righteouspath for gentiles to follow, known as the "Seven Laws of Noah."Maimonides explains that any human being who faithfully observes these basicmoral laws earns a proper place in heaven.

7) BRINGING THEMESSIAH
Maimonides statesthat the popularity of Christianity (and Islam) is part of God’s plan to spreadthe ideals of Torah throughout the world. This moves society closer to aperfected state of morality and toward a greater understanding of God. All thisis in preparation for the Messianic age.
Indeed, the world isin desperate need of Messianic redemption. War and pollution threaten ourplanet; ego and confusion erode family life. To the extent we are aware of theproblems of society, is the extent we will yearn for redemption. As the Talmudsays, one of the first questions a Jew is asked on Judgment Day is: "Didyou yearn for the arrival of the Messiah?"
How can we hasten thecoming of the Messiah? The best way is to love all humanity generously, to keepthe mitzvot of the Torah (as best we can), and to encourage others to do so aswell.
Despite the gloom,the world does seem headed toward redemption. One apparent sign is that theJewish people have returned to the Land of Israel and made it bloom again.Additionally, a major movement is afoot of young Jews returning to Torahtradition.
The Messiah can comeat any moment, and it all depends on our actions. God is ready when we are. Foras King David says: "Redemption will come today—if you hearken to Hisvoice."

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