Jewish View of the Messiah
USING RELEVANT BIBLICAL SCRIPTURES DISCUSS HOW JESUS FITTED THE JEWISH EXPECTATIONS OF THE MESSIAH
The messiah is described as the agent of God’s salvation (Isa 52: 13-53:12). In the New Testament salvation is from God and centered on Jesus: in includes physical and spiritual healing, forgiveness of sins, the gift of eternal life, adoption as a child of God and the gift and the gift of the indwelling spirit. Salvation is what God has done in the death of and resurrection of Jesus, is doing now in the work of the spirit, and will do in creating the new world of the kingdom of God (Mt 1:21; 19:25; 24:22; Lk 1:77; Rom 13:11; Tit 3:5; 1pe 2:2). The idea of a Messiah is one that is found throughout the Hebrew Bible. Similarly, the Bible tells us the expectations of the Messiah. His ethnic background, place of birth, time frame of his arrival and other identifying characteristics are given. These prophecies enable us to identify the Messiah, and to recognize imposters. To understand this, one must realize that by the time of Jesus, the Messianic hope had become greatly politicized in the minds of the people. They were seeking deliverance from the tyranny of Rome. Although the Scripture spoke both of the sufferings and of the victories of the Messiah, the victorious aspect had become uppermost in the minds of the common people because of the Roman domination. This "lopsided" view of the Messiah has stuck with Jewish people, and the politicization of the Messianic hope has continued. Thus the hope of a political rather than a spiritual Messiah contributes to the rejection of Jesus in his role as a Messiah.
This does not mean that all Jews subscribe to this idea. In fact, the first followers of Jesus were all Jews. The Jews were all aware of the many messianic prophecies which Christians claimed were fulfilled by Jesus. The following were recognized by the early rabbis who were Jews: the messiah was to; * Be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:1 * Come from the tribe of
The messiah is described as the agent of God’s salvation (Isa 52: 13-53:12). In the New Testament salvation is from God and centered on Jesus: in includes physical and spiritual healing, forgiveness of sins, the gift of eternal life, adoption as a child of God and the gift and the gift of the indwelling spirit. Salvation is what God has done in the death of and resurrection of Jesus, is doing now in the work of the spirit, and will do in creating the new world of the kingdom of God (Mt 1:21; 19:25; 24:22; Lk 1:77; Rom 13:11; Tit 3:5; 1pe 2:2). The idea of a Messiah is one that is found throughout the Hebrew Bible. Similarly, the Bible tells us the expectations of the Messiah. His ethnic background, place of birth, time frame of his arrival and other identifying characteristics are given. These prophecies enable us to identify the Messiah, and to recognize imposters. To understand this, one must realize that by the time of Jesus, the Messianic hope had become greatly politicized in the minds of the people. They were seeking deliverance from the tyranny of Rome. Although the Scripture spoke both of the sufferings and of the victories of the Messiah, the victorious aspect had become uppermost in the minds of the common people because of the Roman domination. This "lopsided" view of the Messiah has stuck with Jewish people, and the politicization of the Messianic hope has continued. Thus the hope of a political rather than a spiritual Messiah contributes to the rejection of Jesus in his role as a Messiah.
This does not mean that all Jews subscribe to this idea. In fact, the first followers of Jesus were all Jews. The Jews were all aware of the many messianic prophecies which Christians claimed were fulfilled by Jesus. The following were recognized by the early rabbis who were Jews: the messiah was to; * Be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:1 * Come from the tribe of