Why did the Jews decide that Jesus was not the Messiah they had been waiting for?

Answer 1

That's a hard question, and the answer depends a lot on what you believe. For those who believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah foretold in ancient scripture, the answer is that some of them did. The Jews who accepted the Messiah when Christ came are what started Christianity all over the world... many, many people did accept that he was the Messiah, and they became the Christians that spread the religion all over the world. For other people who didn't accept him, there is no way to tell as an entire people, but generally, he probably wasn't what they were expecting (ancient scripture also foretells a time when a Messiah will come as a mighty leader in terms of political and military strength, and it is hard to distinguish when prophecy will be fulfilled.), or it was hard to accept such a big change. People wanted someone to come and save them, not just in a spiritual way, but in a way that would free them from other countries and restore them to greatness. ... I think all of us want God to step into our lives like that from time to time, and when He lets us solve our own problems and learn things in what we think is the "hard way," it can be discouraging. Another reason could be that it is hard to accept new revelation or scripture... we have a hard time accepting that God continues to speak, and that we need to continue to listen. ... It definitely isn't something that only one nation or people has a tendency to do. We all want things to make sense and when confronted with such a huge change to beliefs and laws and a way of life, it challenges us all.

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The Jews reacted as any normal human beings would. Their once-independent nation was now a conquered vassal state of a despised conquering all-powerful empire, whose soldiers polluted the Jewish soil by their very presence; this despised empire had appointed a man as king over them from the even-more-despised [if that is possible] enemy nation of Idumea, or Edom, which they had long hated and had many wars with. Their religious prophets had for hundreds of years foretold of one of their own people, called the Messiah. Some of their religious and political leaders interpreted these prophecies as meaning that the Messiah would come as their all-conquering warrior and leader who would destroy their enemies, and make Israel a great nation. Christians view this as only a partial truth: we believe that prophecy will yet be fulfilled... that Christ will return again in his full power, as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

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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 the country of Israel. The idea of the moshiach is a relatively minor subject in Judaism.

There are several reasons as to why Jesus didn't qualify as hamoshiach, however, the most obvious one was that, according to the lineages listed in the Christian Bible, he did not have the correct lineage to be a king according to the requirements specified in the Tanach (Jewish Bible).

Answer 2

Many Jews did not believe Jesus fulfilled the criteria of the Messiah as described in the Hebrew Bible, such as bringing about world peace and uniting the Jewish people. They also did not see Jesus as a political savior who would liberate them from Roman rule. Additionally, the concept of a crucified Messiah was seen as contradictory to Jewish beliefs about the nature of the Messiah.