Do Jews think Jesus is the Messiah?

Answer 1

No, Jesus plays no role in Judaism whatsoever. Additionally, the Christian concept of messiah doesn't exist in Judaism.

The word messiah is the anglicised version of the Hebrew 'moshiach'. Moshiach literally means anointed and was a title given to any person who was properly anointed with oil as part of their initiation to their service of HaShem (The Creator). Historically, we had many valid moshiachim (pl): kings, priests, prophets, judges. There is a prophecy of a future moshiach, however, there is nothing supernatural about him, he'll be a religious Jew who will lead from the country of Israel. The idea of the moshiach is a relatively minor subject in Judaism.

Answer 2

No. Judaism does not recognise Jesus as the messiah; Jews believe he did not fulfill prophecies nor prove he himself was a prophet, and that his claims of divinity and as God's son were heresy.

Answer:

For the most part, as a people... no.

However... Jesus' disciples were Jews. The rich man, Joseph of Arimathaea, and Nicodemus the Pharisee were Jews who "believed" on Jesus [but in secret, for fear of the Jews].

But, for individuals from any nation in the world [including the Jews]... as God "calls people out of the world and gives them to His Son" [see John 17:6] and builds His church; some Jews have, some Jews do, and some Jews shall come to "believe in Jesus" until He returns to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

At which time... when the "Consuming Fire" that is Jesus Christ [Heb.12:29]stands on the earth once more -- there won't be anyone left on earth who doesn't"believe."

So, until Jesus performs the SIGN OF THE CENTURY and "comes with clouds" and returns with the Kingdom... the vast majority of the nations in the world [including the Jews] will not believe.

"Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks [Gentiles] look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God." (I Cor.1:22-24 NIV)

Answer 3

Jews believe that Jesus was a preacher and a good man, but not the son of God.

AnswerSome Jews believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. These are refered to as Messianic Jews.

Jewish Answer:

No Jew believes that Jesus is the literal son of HaShem because that concept of an abomination according to HaShem's words in the Torah. Any Jew who chooses to convert to Christianity is a Christian, full stop, and has turned their back on Judaism. Contrary to what the messianics will tell you, it is not possible to believe in Jesus and remain Jewish.

Furthermore, the messianic movement was created by Christian groups, primarily the Southern Baptists, as a concerted effort to convert Jews to Christianity.

Answer 4

No. The messiah is an individual with unique spiritual qualities who will usher in the

Messianic age. As predicted in the Old Testament the world will enter a new age of

global cooperation and spiritual perfection.

Answer

The word 'messiah' is from the Hebrew 'moshiach'. The word

moshiach translates to 'anointed'. The title of moshiach was given to any person

who was appropriately anointed with oil as part of their initiation to their service of

God. We have had many meshichim (pl) in the form of kings and priests. There is absolutely nothing supernatural about a moshiach.

Additionally, the idea of God becoming a man is an abomination

according to the teachings of the Tanach (Jewish Bible) and Judaism.

This being said, there is a prophecy of a future moshiach, who, by the way, will be

a mortal man, completely human, born of two human parents and well known to

the folks around him. However, this is a relatively minor topic in Judaism and the

Tanach.

Answer 5

Jesus plays absolutely no role in Judaism and doesn't even qualify as a prophet for Jews. Additionally, the Christian concept of Messiah is not a Jewish concept and doesn't enter into Jewish teachings in any way.

Answer 6

NO. Not only is Jesus completely irrelevant to Judaism and Jewish teachings, the idea of God becoming incarnate in a physical person is an anathema to Judaism. Jesus is as important in Judaism as Muhammad is in Christianity, which is to say that he has no importance at all, save as the founder of a different faith. Judaism simply sees Jesus as another false Messiah in the long history of Messianic Candidates stretching from Zerrubabel in the 500s B.C.E. to Menachem Mendel Shneersohn who died in 1994 and does not see him as a prophet or other saintly figure.

Please also see these Related Questions which clarify the Jewish position on Jesus:

• Why do Jews not believe in Jesus?
• How does the Old Testament understand the Messiah?

Answer 7

YES. Messianic Judaism is a form of PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY. Its beliefs and views are practically indistinguishable from most forms Protestantism and line up relatively well with Baptist Groups, Seventh Day Adventists, and other similar churches. They believe in a triune God, composed of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah who was Sacrificed on the Cross for the Sins of All Humanity. They use well-accepted Protestant Bibles, instead of the Masoretic Text, for the Old Testament. They have the same eschatology as Protestant sects of Christianity. And, most importantly, they use the Christian definitions of key Jewish terms like Messiah, Sheol, and the Suffering Servant.

Answer 8

NO. Jews do NOT believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

First off, the concept of the "Son of God" is a purely Christian concept. It does not exist anywhere in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible). The Jewish Messiah is to be an Earthly King, not an incarnation or union with God. As a result, a person claiming to be God himself is instantly recognized as not being the Messiah. John 5:16-18 asserts that Jews clearly believed that Jesus was articulating that he was the physical progeny of God. As a result, even if Jews were to accept the claim that Jesus was the Messiah (which they reject), they would still reject the claim that he was the "Son of God".

Second, Jesus fails across the board at being the Messiah according to Jewish understanding. There are several relevant prophecies that Jesus fails to fulfill such as:

• The Messiah will reign over Earth as an actual Righteous King on Earth (Jeremiah 23:5-6)
  
• The Messiah or God will rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and make the services operate properly (Ezekiel 37:26-28) (Obviously, since the Temple in Jerusalem was already built when Jesus was alive, only the latter part would have applied.)
  
• All Jews, living or dead, will be gathered back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6)
• The Messiah's ascendance to power will usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)
• Because of the righteousness of the Messiah universal knowledge of the God of Israel will spread across the world, 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 His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9)
• The Messiah must have direct paternal lineage from King David via Solomon and Rehoboam (Genesis 49:10 and Isaiah 11:1) - which Jesus could not have if he was sired from a virgin woman.
  
• Foreigners will help rebuild Israel and help serve it (Isaiah 60:10)
• The Natural Order will be abrogated, with a cessation of all predation and violence within the animal kingdom (Isaiah 11:6-8) and with the sun never setting (Isaiah 60:19-20)
  
• The Messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance. Any person who comes in an effort to abrogate laws, alter laws, or add new laws is clearly not the Messiah, but a false prophet. (Deut. 13:1-4)
• The Dead will rise from their graves and resume life among the living (Isaiah 26:19)
• Death shall be abolished for eternal life (Daniel 12:2)

It is quite clear that Jesus fails all of these requirements. There is also no Old Testament scriptural reference for a number of concepts Christians associate with Jesus in their claim that he is the Messiah. While some of them may appear to have Old Testament sources, they are read out of context from the original Jewish understanding of those texts. They include the following concepts without proper reference:

• The Messiah is to be a blood sacrifice
• The Messiah is to be born of a virgin
• The Messiah is to face bodily torture of any sort
• The Messiah is to die
  
• The Messiah is to have a second coming
• The Messiah is supposed be a form of expiation
• The Messiah is supposed to be a demi-god or divine in some way
• The Messiah is supposed to oppose the Temple structure
• The Messiah is supposed to vague or speak in riddles/parables

Answer 9

NO. Jews reject the claim that Jesus is the Messiah as promised by the Old Testament prophets. There are two ways to deal with this question: from a present evidential perspective and from a biblical evidential perspective.

Present Evidential Arguments
Some of the most common Jewish arguments against their accepting Jesus as the Messiah are the following:

• No Kingdom of God on Earth: Firstly, Jesus did not bring about the most important prophecies that the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) ascribes to the Messiah. He did not establish the Kingdom of God on Earth (otherwise God would actually oversee the world on a day-to-day basis).
• Wars Have Continued: He did not end all wars; in fact, after his death, numerous wars were fought in the name of Christianity, religious divisions in Christianity, and attempts to Christianize non-Christians. If anything, it is a reversal of the prophecy.
• Violence in Nature: He failed to fulfill the prophecy of the lion and the lamb, where the lion and the lamb are supposed to live harmoniously without predation.
• Destruction of Jerusalem: The Messiah is also supposed to make the Temple at Jerusalem a beacon for all of the nations, not portend its destruction.
• Dead Are Still Dead: Finally, the Messiah is supposed to resurrect the dead en masse (not just himself and a few random people who had been dead for a few days). The entire world is to be resurrected (except the wicked) and brought to the Kingdom of God. In this, Jesus also failed.

Biblical Evidential Arguments
The assumption that the Christian ascription of Jesus' redemptive qualities (i.e. He is the Christ, the truth, and the way) accords with Jewish principles or understandings of the Messiah is false. It is on account of this major issue that Jews opposed what Jesus was saying and doing, even assuming that the Gospels are accurate or historical materials.

The Jewish Messiah is to be an Earthly King, not an incarnation or union with God. As a result, a person claiming to be God himself is instantly recognized as not being the Messiah. John 5:16-18 asserts that Jews clearly believed that Jesus was articulating that he was the physical progeny of God. Additionally, John 3:16 is at fundamental odds with the Torah's prohibition on Human Sacrifice, its prohibition of blood consumption, its prohibition on cannibalism, and its prohibition on expiation for another's sins. There is no verse in the Old Testament that explains that one of the purposes of the Messiah is to die for sin at all (never mind for the sins of other people).

Jesus failed to perform requirements to be the Messiah and additionally performed actions contrary to the established Commandments. The Bible makes clear that one of the defining marks between a True Prophet and a False Prophet is that no True Prophet will ever deviate from the Law as it was established (Deuteronomy 13:1). A Messiah must also comport to this standard since he is to be a Holy King. Lists of several of these actions continue below.

Functions of the Jewish Messiah that Jesus failed to fulfill (this list is not exhaustive):

• Setting up a lasting and Eternal Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28) -- Especially important since, seeing as the Temple was extant during his life, he should have been able to "keep it going eternally" if he were the Messiah. There wouldn't even have been any need to rebuild it. By contrast, Jesus explicitly claimed that the Temple would be completely destroyed in Matthew 24:1-2, betraying his duty to make it lasting and eternal.
• Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6) -- This should have been relatively easy since most Jews at that time were still in the Middle East (Judea and Babylon). After his death, (for unrelated reasons) the Jews were scattered all across the Roman Empire and later the entire world. Jesus did not facilitate any migration of Jews to Israel.
• Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4) -- More wars have been fought in the name of Christianity and Islam since the time of Jesus than for any almost any other single cause and both claim him to be the Messiah (even though they define that term differently). Additionally, Jesus claims specifically that he did not come to bring peace but a sword in Mark 10:34.
• Spread universal knowledge 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 His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9) -- When Jesus died, no larger population knew about God than when he was born. Still today, after many centuries of missionizing, only half of the world professes to believe in one God.
• The Messiah must be descended on his father's side from King David (Genesis 49:10 and Isaiah 11:1) -- While the Christian scriptures may allege this, they also allege that Jesus' Earthly father played no part in making him, so to speak. Therefore, he has no patrilineal lineage to speak of (save for God himself) and cannot, therefore be descended from King David.
• The Messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance. -- Since the Messiah is the resolution of the problems of this world and nothing can be added or detracted from the Law, people will naturally follow the Law.
• The dead shall rise from their graves and death shall be abolished for eternal life (Isaiah 26:19 and Daniel 12:2). -- Jesus allegedly rose a few individuals from the dead, but did not raise all of the dead nor did he abolish death for everlasting life.

Commandments that Jesus actively violated (all quotes from the NIV). This list is not exhaustive:

• Matthew 15:11: "That goes into someone's mouth does not defile them; but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them." -- This is a blanket denial of some of the laws of ritual purity and all of the Laws of Kashrut, which tell us foods to eat and which foods not to eat in Leviticus ch. 11. This is an abrogation of the Law.
• Matthew 19:8-9: Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery." -- Jesus specifically rebukes the Mosaic Law and denies the permissibility of divorce which is expressly permitted according to Deuteronomy ch. 24.
• Matthew 19:29: "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." -- Jesus actively supports the break-up of families, which runs counter to an entire tradition of family unity and tribal unity throughout Israelite and Jewish history. This also runs counter to the Messianic Prophecy that the Messiah will bring bickering families back together in Malachi 4:6.
• Mark 1:43-44: Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." & John 18:20-21: "I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said." -- These verses show that Jesus lies (not to mention the issue with absconding truth in parables). If he said everything openly, he would not tell people to be quiet and secretive about who he was. Lying is prohibited in Leviticus 19:11. The Law being clear and accessible, not secretive, is stated in Deuteronomy 30:10-14 and Deut. 31:9-13.
• Mark 14:24-25: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them. "Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God." -- The consumption of blood is specifically forbidden in the Torah because it is the life-source of all creatures. This is made clear in Leviticus 17:10-12.

Additionally. Judaism makes clear that there are those who can perform wondrous deeds even though they lack faith in God at all (see also Deuteronomy ch.13). The Magicians in Pharaoh's Court are a perfect example. They are able to replicate (Exodus ch.7-8) some of the early plagues. If God had stopped after the second plague, who could say that these Magicians were not Prophets, revealing the words of Amon Ra? Additionally, Balaam is recounted as a wicked prophet who was able to see the Will of God and prophesy. In Numbers ch.25 (see also Numbers ch.31), he cleverly devises a plan to get the Israelites to sin against God and incur His wrath. The plan succeeds and results in a pestilence afflicting the people. On account of these individuals and others sprinkled throughout the Bible, it is clear that being able to hear God's voice and/or perform miracles does not necessarily make someone a True Prophet.

Answer 10

No. Jews are still waiting for the messiah, whose identity is not yet known. In Judaism, Jesus was a regular human being who lived in olden times, and is not part of Jewish religious belief.
See:

Why didn't the Jews believe in Jesus?