Why don't Jews recognize Jesus Christ?

Answer 1

First off, Jesus is not God he is Gods son read Proverbs 8:22, proverbs 8:30, and Mark 13:32, John 14:28. Depending on what denomination you are in, in the Judaism faith you have mixed answers. Some believe that Christ never came, and some believe that Jesus is a hoax.

Answer 2

Christian answer: One reason is because they believed that "the Christ" would be sent by God to establish Israel as an earthly kingdom. Because of the uphill battle it would have been to accomplish this, they figured "the Christ" would be a powerful grand king who would come with authority. Jesus grew up as a carpenter and not a prince; he spent his time teaching common people about faith and not fighting political battles; and he rode into town before his crucifixion on a donkey instead of being escorted in a chariot. The fact that Jesus lived like the common person and not as a king didn't match their vision of him. Plus he spent his time fighting a spiritual battle and building his kingdom in heaven instead of fighting a physical battle on earth for Israel. This isn't what they expected either.

The second major reason is because the Jews believed that the 10 commandments were delivered to give us laws that we must obide by. Jesus taught that these laws were given to show us how far short we fall from pleasing God. They thought we must follow all these laws in order to be saved. Jesus taught that no matter how hard we try, we can't earn our own salvation. He earned our salvation for us, and he will give it to us if we have faith in him, are baptized and live/repent for him. They didn't agree with his teachings, so they rejected him.

However, times have changed. There are many Jews today that practice Judaism and accept Jesus as "the Christ".

Jewish answer:

According to our tradition, the vast majority of the Jews at the time didn't hear of him. The Torah-sages (Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel, Chanina ben Dosa, Bava ben Buta, Shimon ben Hillel, Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Akiva, and hundreds of others) were active at that time and their yeshivot (Torah-academies) were flourishing. Their tens of thousands of disciples and hundeds of thousands of sympathizers were active in the Jewish world in that generation; they were the leaders and the forefront of Judaism. As Josephus (Antiquities book 18) writes, "the cities give great attestations to them." The great majority of Jews loved their sages and their Torah.

The unlearned class of the Amei-haaretz (ignoramuses) was a small fringe of society, but even they would and did lay down their lives in order not to violate anything of the Torah. As one ancient historian famously wrote:

Hecateus declares again, "what regard we (Jews) have for our laws; and we resolve to endure anything rather than transgress them." And he adds: "They [Jews] may be stripped on this account, and have torments inflicted upon them, and be brought to the most terrible kinds of death, but they meet these tortures after an extraordinary manner, beyond all other people, and will not renounce the religion of their forefathers."

No one (even any who did hear of Jesus) - would have given heed to what was and is considered unacceptable for us. The few who came in contact with him soon lost interest, and the early Christians felt the need to turn to non-Jewish centers of population in order to gain adherents, while the Jews remained Jews.

We do not believe that Jesus is or was anything other than a regular human being. We may also note that according to our tradition, prophecy ceased about 340 years before the birth of Jesus; and public miracles stopped even earlier.

Here is a related topic:

The word "messiah" is the transliterated form of 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 (plural) in the form of kings and priests. There is absolutely nothing supernatural about a moshiach.

This being said, there is a prophecy of a future moshiach; however, this is a relatively minor topic in Judaism and the Tanach.

The Jewish requirements of the messiah are:

* Build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28)

* Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6)

* 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 any more." (Isaiah 2:4)

* 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)

* The messiah must be descended on his father's side from King David (Genesis 49:10 and Isaiah 11:1)

* The messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah-observance. The Torah states that all of its mitzvot (commands) remain binding forever.

Answer 3

There are a number of reasons why Jews don't believe in Jesus.

The first is that the Christian concept of messiah simply does not exist in Judaism. The word 'messiah' is the anglecized version of the Hebrew 'moshiach'. The word 'moshiach' literally translates as 'anointed' in reference to how a person would be anointed with oil when they were initiated into the service of HaShem (G-d). The title of moshiach was given to many many people including kings, priests, and others.

From the Jewish perspective, based on the claims of the Christian Bible, Jesus would not have qualified to be a moshiach of any sort because he did not have the lineage to be a king, did not have the lineage to be a priest, and attempted to lead people away from the teachings of HaShem.

Answer 4

Answer 1

Jews do generally accept that Jesus was a man who probably once lived in Galilee and taught great moral truths. They do not recognise him as the longed-for messiah of the Jews because he did not fit the expectations for a messiah. Perhaps one reason Judaism does not recognise him as the Son of God is that the first century Jews knew nothing about Jesus that suggested that he was more than just a wandering preacher. The gospels attribute great miracles to Jesus Christ, but the Jews relied on their own personal experience and the experiences of those around them.

Answer 2

Jesus, as described in the New Testament, made a number of assertions which violate tenets of Judaism. The easiest one to note is when he approached the Pharisees when they were washing their hands before eating and claimed that "it does not matter what goes in, but only what comes out". This is to claim that the laws of kashrut, eating certain foods and not others, is not relevant. This is considered an abrogation of Jewish law. If Jesus was to be the Messiah, he would complete the law, not remove it or abrogate it. There were also a number of messianic prophecies which Jesus did not even attempt to perform in his lifetime, such as: bringing universal peace, establishing the World to Come, reinstating the Davidic Kingdom, ending human suffering, and many other prophecies. Finally, Jews do not hold to the notion that the Messiah will also be partially divine. The Messiah in Judaism would not claim to be the "son of God" in the sense of literally being a god or demigod or partially divine entity. The Messiah in Judaism would be someone like Zerubbabel, who was of the Davidic line and entirely human. (Note: Zerubbabel was the first failed Messianic Candidate and he had the genealogical qualifications to have been a Messiah.) Jews in the modern era are well aware of who Jesus was and what his accomplishments were and still refuse him on these grounds.

Answer 5

The concept of a trinity (including the Christian one, in which Jesus is identified with God), and the concept of a son of God, are forbidden in Jewish belief. See:

Why didn't the Jews believe in Jesus?

What do Jews believe about God?

Answer 6

First of all, Jesus is not the Messiah as far as Judaism is concerned and more about that can be found at this Related Question: Why do Jews not believe in Jesus Christ?

However, even if Jesus were the Jewish Messiah, this would not imply him being divine in any way. Judaism has a number of relevant prophecies that describe the Messiah in detail, 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, if the Temple in Jerusalem was already built, only the latter part would apply.)
  
• 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)
• 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 whoever this person is, he has not come yet. There is also no Old Testament scriptural reference for a number of concepts Christians associate with their Messiah. While some of them may appear to have Old Testament sources, they are read out of context or are based on mistranslations, so the concepts in the Old Testament do not support the argument given. 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

The Jews, as of yet, recognize no historical figure (past or present) who qualifies as a Messiah, even though there has been a Messianic Candidate that has shown up roughly every 150 years starting in 530 B.C.E. The most famous of these include Zerrubabel, Jesus of Nazareth, Bar Kochba, Shabbetai Tzvi, and Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Answer 7

Messianic Jews don't reject Jesus Christ. Any person who really is Jewish can become a Messianic Jew if they love God and want to receive their savior.

Answer 8

Judaism teaches that God is one and incorporeal. Jews therefore reject any claim that God, or even one third of God is, was or will ever be incarnate. Judaism teaches that only God is to be worshiped, and that worshiping any physical object, living or dead, is idolatrous. Judaism teaches that prayers may only be addressed to God, and not to any intermediary, including saints. Praying to any such intermediary is seen as idolatry. All of that rejects Christian doctrines that mostly developed after the time of Jesus. With a few significant exceptions, the Jesus portrayed in the Gospels was largely consistent with the Judaism of the Pharisees as we know it from the Talmud.