The Jewish Take On Jesus

Why Jews Don't Accept Jesus As Messiah

There are several reasons why Jews do not accept Jesus as the messiah. Some of the reasons they give are that Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies nor did he embody the personal qualification of the messiah. Jews believe that there is much evidence to show that the New Testament has many mistranslated verses and the Jewish faith holds that the Biblical verses which refer to Jesus as messiah are, indeed, mistranslations. Beside all of these points, the Jewish belief is based on a national revelation, and there has been no such revelation of Jesus as the messiah of Israel to date.

Too Many Unfulfilled Prophecies

The Torah, the Old Testament, which is the foundational scriptural basis of Judaism, says that the messiah is to build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28) and he will gather all Jews back to Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6). The messiah will usher in an era of peace for the entire world in which all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease will end. Isaiah 2:4 says that "nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall man learn war anymore." There will be a spread of universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. Zechariah 14:9 say that "God will be King over all the world - on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One."

The historical fact is that Jesus did not fulfill one of these messianic prophecies.

The Christian response to this is that it will be fulfilled when Jesus comes at the Second Coming. However, Jewish sources indicate that the Messiah will fulfill the prophecies outright, and no concept of a second coming exists within Judaism.

The Last Of The Prophets Died Long Before Jesus Arrived On The Scene

According to Jewish precedent, prophecy can only exist when the land of Israel is inhabited by a majority of world Jewry. During the time of Ezra, around 300 BCE, the majority of Jews were living in Babylon and they refused to come back to Israel. It has been determined by Jewish scholars that prophecy ended upon the death of the last prophets, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. It was nearly 350 years after their deaths that Jesus appeared on the scene.

Inconsistencies and Discrepancies Concerning Jesus

There are many things about Jesus which are inconsistent with Judaism and by studying the original Hebrew text, many discrepancies in the Christian translation of the scriptures become apparent. For instance, the Christian idea of a virgin birth comes from the verse in Isaiah 7:14 which talks about a young woman giving birth. The word used here is "alma" which means young woman. Christian theologians came along and translated the word "alma" to mean virgin. This then also connects Jesus' birth with the first century pagan belief that mortals can be impregnated by gods.

In Psalms 22:17 we read: "Like a lion, they are at my hands and feet." The Hebrew word ki-ari (like a lion) has a grammatical similarity to the word gouged and which allows Christian theologians to interpret the verse as a reference to crucifixion: "They pierced my hands and feet."

There are many other references which are translated in such a fashion as to support the idea of Jesus as messiah, however, Judaism does not find them to be accurate nor valid.