What is the difference between the Jewish Messiah and the Christian Messiah?

Answer 1

Jewish concept:

The word 'messiah' is the anglicisation of the Hebrew 'moshiach'. The literal meaning of 'moshiach' is 'anointed' and is a title given to any person who was properly anointed with oil as part of their initiation to serving HaShem (The Creator), examples of moshiachim (pl) are kings, priests, and prophets. There is absolutely nothing supernatural about a moshiach.

Christian concept:

The Christian concept of messiah is that of a saviour who will save all of humanity's souls from sin. Christianity teaches that the messiah is "the Word made Flesh".

Answer 2

The Jewish concept of the messiah (although there are volumes upon volumes on the subject) is effectively an individual (who theoretically will be a descendant of the house of King David) who arrives in the "End of Days" to help usher in and rule as a king (an "anointed" person) over all people in an age of peace where all peoples unite in recognition of God as lord and hatred and intolerance have ceased to exist;

The Jewish messiah "saves" no one as such. Jews do not believe that a function of the messiah is to act as a blood sacrifice. In fact, the story of the Binding of Isaac teaches Jews that only an animal can be a blood sacrifice. The Christian messiah is the savior. Extremely different concepts.

The other fundamental difference is that in mainstream Judaism the messiah has not come yet, whereas in Christianity the messiah has come in the form of Jesus Christ.

For a much fuller explanation of the Jewish concept of the messiah, a good reference is listed below under related links:

Answer 3

The difference between Jews and "messianic jews" is that messianic jews are actually Evangelical Christians. The messicanic jews' religious services contain quite a bit of Hebrew, they speak of certain Mitzvot (commandments) that pertain only to Jews, they take on Jewish-sounding names and ALSO say they believe that Jesus is the son of G-d, and their savior.

Jews who practice Judaism do not believe that Jesus is the son of G-d. Orthodox and some non-Orthodox Jews are, in fact, still waiting for the messiah, who they believe will be human and will usher in the messianic age.

Unfortunately, there are many, many messianic "jews" who attempt to convert Jews to their form of Christianity. They have been known to target mailings and door-to-door visits to Jewish homes. They hope that the use of Hebrew, the Jewish-sounding names, etc. will make the real Jew feel comfortable and let their guard down. Once that happens, they begin the attempt at conversion.

Answer 4

The belief for both is in the same God of the Old Testament. Where it differs though is vital. Christians believe that Jesus Christ was/is the only son of the living God. The Messiah that was promised in the Old Testament, to Christians, was fulfilled in the New Testament with the birth of Christ. His death on the cross finished to plan of the Redeemer. Every human being now has the choice to accept the sacrafice and have eternal life or to refuse Christ's payment for our sins.

Jewish people are still waited for the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. As a Christian, I hope they don't wait too long.

Answer 5

The key difference is that the Jewish Messiah has yet to come, whereas Christians say the Messiah, Jesus, has already come to earth.