Why did the Jewish religious leaders reject Jesus as their messiah?

Answer 1

Answer 1

Because they feared a loss of power & wanted a King, who would adhere to their Old Testament Laws!

Answer 2

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.