Why don't the Jewish people believe that Jesus was the Messiah?
I went to the web site, www.aish.com, where Rabbi Shraga Simmons addressed this issue specifically. He listed four main reasons for the Jewish rejection of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.
- "Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies."
Several prophecies were listed as unfulfilled under this point. The fact is, they are unfulfilled. They are clearly in reference to the second coming of Christ; they have very clear end-times implications. For example, Ezekiel 37 prophesied the building of the third temple. This prophecy is not to take place until the final days of the Church Age, the end times; it is not pertaining to the birth of the Messiah.
- "Jesus did not embody the personal qualifications of the Messiah."
The claims found under this heading are that Jesus was not a prophet, He did not descend from the line of David, and He did not observe the Torah. But, clearly Jesus was a prophet (Matthew 24); He did descend from David (see the genealogy in Matthew 1); and He didn't observe the Torah because He completely fulfilled it!
- "Biblical verses 'referring' to Jesus are mistranslations."
Under this point, the writer claims that the prophecies relating to the virgin birth, the crucifixion and the suffering servant are all incorrectly translated from the original Hebrew text. I would ask, then, what about the rest of the Old Testament? It is a little too convenient that only the verses pertaining to the coming Messiah were mistranslated.
- "Jewish belief is based solely on national revelation."
Judaism relies on God revealing himself or His truth to the entire nation, not just to select individuals. I would argue that is exactly what He did by prophesying for centuries about the coming Messiah, perfectly fulfilling every prophecy,
and then recording it in His Holy Word, giving every person access to it. (See the answer to the FAQ, "How many prophecies did Jesus fulfill?")
