… it is stuff and nonsense that the Messiah must be a biological Jew …
The belief in the Messiah’s background is scriptual. You can disagree with it. But calling it nonsense is nothing more than saying “Jews are wrong and we are right.” That may be a belief of yours, but it doesn’t do much for discussion. ANd you seem to be ignoring the fact that the Jewish belief in the Messiah is very different than the Christian belief. And not just that you are saying he’ll we return and we are saying he hasn’t shown up yet. The very definitions are different.
And there’s nothing “racist” about our requirements of the Messiah, because there’s nothing in our beliefs that say non-jews will suffer at our hands. On the contrary, we believe that the Messiah will usher in a age of world peace, and that all the world will worship GOd and acknowledge Him as the one true God (not, as someone on another thread suggested, that all the world will be Jewish). and BTW, is it not your belief that Jesus was a Jew and you not rely on scripture to show that he fullfilled the lineage requirements???
Anyway, our beliefs on the Messiah’s lineage are based on the following:
Deu. 17:15: 15 you shall set a king over you, one whom the Lord, your God, chooses;** from among your brothers**, you shall set a king over yourself;
you shall not appoint a foreigner over yourself, one who is not your brother. (We read this to mean that the Messiah must be a jew.)
Gen. 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the student of the law from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him will be a gathering of peoples. (We read this to mean the Messiah must be a member from the tribe of Judah. We also believe that to be a member from the tribe of Judah, the biological father must have been a member…)
Sam.II, 7:12-13: When your days are finished and you shall lie with your forefathers, then I will raise up your seed that shall proceed from your body after you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (the “you” here is King David).
Again, what I don’t understand is that, given the fact that Christians have historcaily relied on the same passages for their belief, why are you arguing that Jews are wrong for doing the same?