For 2,000 years, Jews have rejected the Christian idea of Jesus as a messiah. Why?

Thought you would enjoy this little explanation. Go to this link.

http://www.aish.com/jw/s/48892792.html

Any comment?

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—-Original Message—-
To: Jacob
From:  Robert Fawcett
Subject: Why Jews Don’t Believe In Jesus
Sent: Wednesday, 10:13 AM

Dear Jacob –

Nothing like throwing a little curve in there just to see what will happen. As I was reading this, some advice I received in my early years started to ring in my ears. While in college, the sound advice was to avoid any debate regarding either the Jewish religion or the Christian religion or both where your Jewish brothers and sisters are on the other side of that debate — you will surely find yourself on the losing side of that little situation.

But, what the heck, I’ll try, anyway. As you know I am a “reader” of the Bible and not a “student” of the Bible, but I am fairly well versed in the major religions — their overall beliefs and teachings, and the role/purpose of each. So, a few comments.

As to the general statement of Jews not believing in Jesus, there is a misconception regarding the acceptance of Jesus by the Hebrew people. As I point out in my book, “while is it is very true the the religious and political leaders rejected Jesus as the Messiah, Jewish people did embrace Jesus in the early years of the church, ….and continue to do so today.”

Think about it: the Apostles were all Jewish, and they spoke/taught in the Jewish synagogues — for all pratical purposes, the entire Christian movement was Jewish. Yes, there were some early Gentile converts, but for goodness sake, it was some 10+ years later that the Christian message was even taken to the Gentiles. For instance, the Book of Romans in the New Testament; this letter was written to the Christians in Rome some 20+ years after the death and resurrection of Jesus; these were Jewish Christians who moved to Rome that started that church.

As to the charge that “throughout history, thousands of religions have been started by individuals attempting to convince people that he or she is God’s prophet,” that is true. Heck, it’s even true today — look no further than either Mormonism or Islam. Even in modern times involving Christianity, there are religious movements declaring their founder as a special individual by some revelation, or even the 2nd coming of the Messiah, using selected Biblical verses, taken out of context, to justify that position.

But the difference, contrary to popular belief, is that Jesus did not start Christianity. He never intended on starting a new religion, …at all! Christianity was not started as Moses gave a jump-start to Judaism, or Buddha started Buddhism, or Muhammad started Islam. Jesus was around for about 3 years bringing the Good News, and trying to straightened-out Judaism. As the record shows, early Christianity was really a sect of Judaism, and  spun-off later by his followers — Jesus didn’t have anything to do with it. No guidelines, no instructions — nothing!

As to Jesus being the son of God and his purpose, go to this link on my website:
http://www.majorreligionsoftheworld.com/christianity_trinity_father_son_holy_spirit_who_is_son.php

The point by Rabbi Simmons in this piece that “Jewish belief is based solely on national revelation” is a tad mishandled. This Jesus program was a national revelation — he was speaking to the entire nation! People tend to forget that Christianity is a continuation of Judaism — they just kinda just skip over that point.

I continue to be amused by people reading other people’s commentary to find answers/meaning versus just reading the Bible themselves. Kinda surprising, isn’t it? The Hebrew people are the “chosen people,” as I say in my book, “to bring all the nations of the world to Him — they will spread the word, be the evangelists.” And that’s all explained in the Bible, written, I might add, at about a 5th grade reading level. As I have recommended in the past, the NLT (New Living Translation) version is the best for the new reader.

At that time, however, the record shows that the Jewish religious leaders were zealously following the Laws of the Torah (Torah Observance), as well as their own religious traditions. The legal extremes of the Law where it was a myriad of rules/regulations — scores, well over 100.

Certain foods, for instance, were banned by these legal extremes. Jesus said, “All of you listen, and try to understand. You are not defiled by what you eat; you are defiled by what you say and do” (Bible, Mark 7:14). It was legalism in its finest hour. It was a mess! God doesn’t so much judge your actions, he judges our motives, Jesus said.

Because of his popularity due to the authority of these kinds of teachings and his actions, Jesus threatened their status in the community. Further, Jesus challenged their political motives, as well. As I point out in my book, “they lost sight of their goal as religious leaders — to point people to God.”

As to Jesus not fulfilling the Messianic prophecies, not having the personal qualifications of a Messiah, mistranslated verses referring to Jesus, or not being a descendant of David, I leave that to others who are qualified. However, I will say that this is well explained in the Bible: Book of Hebrews which was written to Jews who were evaluating Jesus, or who were struggling with this new faith. Read, by the way, chapters 9 thru 11 Book of Romans written by the Apostle Paul, recognized as an extremely well educated Jewish theologian.

Suffice to say, however, that I would venture a guess that there are more formally educated Christian theologians, with world class intellect (many in the PhD arena) that have studied these very subjects more than half the total population of the Jewish people on earth. At 2 billion strong, there is easily 7+ million. And after some 2,000 years, I think ……

Well anyway, old friend, that’s my “try.”  Have a nice day.

Robert

More important, communities of faith — including our own — do not necessarily rely on the historicity of the narratives that are at the center of faith — but rather they function as compelling stories — that woven together create symbols which command belief and adherence. To place one’s faith on the presence or absence of an historical record is to make one’s faith community subject to refutation based on history. Real history in the Bible starts with Kings — there we have independent historical confirmation of history. Most of what comes before — myth. But it shouldn’t dissuade you from Jewish allegiance.

Bert
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First, while I disagree with your brother’s general view of the historical record, the real point is that the vast majority of students studying Jewish history/theology get tangled-up in the shortcomings of history. The real story is that of Abram, or Abraham, and therefore, what God was trying to do.

Second, there is a quote in my book by D. L. Moody that says it all: “The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change lives.”

Why don’t you send him a copy of my book, and have him review the book. Either you or he can order off of the website: www.MajorReligions.com.

You just need to remind him that this is a book written by a lay person for lay people — it is offering some common sense to a very simple subject that most folks tend to complicate.

My best to you,

Robert

P.S. Your Jewish allegiance, by the way, has to give way to Jewish belief, and therefore, faith in the Jewish religion (there’s a definition of “faith” on the website — bottom of page on “Is There A God — Overview“. Go to this link: http://www.majorreligionsoftheworld.com/god_is_there_a.php

It isn’t about allegiance — it’s about study and belief and faith.