Christianity over Judaism

[PeteZaHut]

I was curious about why Jews do not believe in Christ as the Messiah. I found this website. aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/Why_Jews_Dont_Believe_In_Jesus.asp
I don’t want to be questioning my faith, but I was wondering if someone could give me the Catholic explanations for some of the things on that website.

1. JESUS DID NOT FULFILL THE MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

What is the Messiah supposed to accomplish? The Bible says that he will:

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

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

C. 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)

D. 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 historical fact is that Jesus fulfilled none of these messianic prophecies.

Christians counter that Jesus will fulfill these in the Second Coming, but Jewish sources show that the Messiah will fulfill the prophecies outright, and no concept of a second coming exists.

1. JESUS DID NOT EMBODY THE PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF MESSIAH

A. MESSIAH AS PROPHET

Jesus was not a prophet. Prophecy can only exist in Israel when the land is inhabited by a majority of world Jewry. During the time of Ezra (circa 300 BCE), when the majority of Jews refused to move from Babylon to Israel, prophecy ended upon the death of the last prophets – Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

Jesus appeared on the scene approximately 350 years after prophecy had ended.

C. TORAH OBSERVANCE

The Messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance. The Torah states that all mitzvot remain binding forever, and anyone coming to change the Torah is immediately identified as a false prophet. (Deut. 13:1-4)

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus contradicts the Torah and states that its commandments are no longer applicable. For example, John 9:14 records that Jesus made a paste in violation of Shabbat, which caused the Pharisees to say (verse 16), “He does not observe Shabbat!”

 

[SyCarl]

I am not a Catholic but I will try to give a Christian response.

1A

"I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. “And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’”
(Ezekiel 37:26-28)

The mistake is that the sanctuary is a spiritual one, not a physical one. We are the temple.

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
(1 Peter 2:4-5)

1Co 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

1B

"Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, And gather you from the west. "I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth, (Isaiah 43:5-6)

I do not know that this is a Messianic prophecy to start with but Jesus did fufill it. He has called people from the fours corners of the world to unite them as the people of God, His sons and daughters. It should not be taken as a literal return to geographical Israel.

1C

And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. (Isaiah 2:4)

Again I don’t know that this is a Messianic prophecy. I think that it mores describes the universality of the Church, and the end days.

1D

Zec 14:9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.

God has always been the King of the earth. But I believe this is a prophecy of the end, not a Messianic prophecy. It is a prophecy of what will be when the Kingdom is fully established.

2A

There is nothing that arbitrarily says that there can only be a prophet when most of the Jews are in Israel. This appears to be a man made requirement not God imposed. For example, both Haggai and Zechariah prophesized in the second year of Darius reign. This would be well after the Babylonian and Assyrian captivities so if there was not a majority of the Jews in Israel after the return from Babylon, these two could not be recognized as prophets either. Neither did it stop the Jews from hoping for the Messiah during Jesus’ time.

2B Jesus did not do away with the Torah.

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)

He emphasized and stressed the Torah but the spirit of it, not the letter.

I hope this helps some.

 

[PeteZaHut]

It does. Thank You.

 

[paarsurrey]

I was curious about why Jews do not believe in Christ as the Messiah.

Hi
The Jews are wrong, in my opinion, JesusYeshuaIssa fullfilled all prophecies mentioned in Torah, those which are not fullfilled in fact did not belong to be fullfilled by him, their perceptions were wrong. The Jews could not be real Jews if they don’t accept JesusYeshuaIss as a true ProphetMessenger, they missed the train they will now never catch it up, they may wait for their Messiah till eternity, no body would come, as the one destined to come had already come and they denied him. The only course left for them is to accept him now.It is never late.
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi – a peaceful faith in Islam bridging gaps between faiths/denominations/religions/agnostics
The West, as I understand, due to certain disinformation has seen only MullahIslam or MullahShariah; the true face of Muhammad’sIslam and PromisedMessiahImamMahdi’sIslam is yet hidden from their eyes, which is truly speaking only peaceful.
GodAllahYHWH is All-Knowing; one should invariably give Claim and Reason on all important issues from one’s Revealed Book; one shouldn’t try putting one’s own words into God’s mouth.