Why do Jewish people beleive in Yeshua?

Why would a Jewish person want to believe Yeshua(Jesus) is the Messiah?

Well the fact is that for many Jewish people, it is not a question of ‘want to’. Once one becomes certain that Yeshua is the Messiah, they feel compelled to make their lives demonstrate the obedience which that fact requires. There are actually many Jewish people who believe that the Biblical texts(Tanakh) demonstrate that Yeshua must be the Messiah of Israel. Still they do not proclaim that they believe this or feel the need to make a significant change in their lives. The reasons for this could be many. They may say the Biblical texts clearly indicate Yeshua is the Messiah, but perhaps they do not trust or believe the Biblical texts. There is also the possibility that they are afraid of the ostracization which they may experience from their families or the Jewish community for saying so. So, the fact that makes a Jewish person a Messianic Jew is that they believe Yeshua is the Messiah, and also that fact causes real change in their lives which includes repentance. So all that remains is the question, is Yeshua the Messiah of Israel?

Is Yeshua the Messiah of Israel?

The following will be broken down into sections with different types of information, so the reader can jump from one section to another based on the type of information which they are interested in.

In this section we will examine the major arguments made by anti-missionary organizations (Organizations of Jewish people who are dedicated to leading Jewish people NOT to believe that Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel).

Anti-missionary assertion…One of the fundamental beliefs of Judaism is the hope of the Messiah still today.

What do the ancient Rabbis have to say?

“R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in the name of R. Jonathan: Blasted be18 the bones of those who calculate the end.19 For they would say, since the predetermined time has arrived, and yet he has not come, he will never come…Rab said: All the predestined dates [for redemption] have passed, and the matter [now] depends only on repentance and good deeds. But Samuel maintained: it is sufficient for a mourner to keep his [period of] mourning.28 This matter is disputed by Tannaim: R. Eliezer said: if Israel repent, they will be redeemed; if not, they will not be redeemed. R. Joshua said to him, if they do not repent, will they not be redeemed! But the Holy One, blessed be He, will set up a king over them, whose decrees shall be as cruel as Haman's, whereby Israel shall engage in repentance, and he will thus bring them back to the right path.29 Another [Baraitha] taught: R. Eliezer said: if Israel repent, they will be redeemed, as it is written, Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.30 ” Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 97b.

Hence the Early Rabbis all understood the time of the Messiah to be past. Their interpretation is that He was supposed to have come before the second temple was destroyed (70 AD). They interpret that He did not come (unless He was Yeshua), which must have been due to the unrighteousness of Israel. The only thing left to do is to repent and get all Israel to repent. PERHAPS then the Messiah will come anyway, even though that is NOT how it was prophesied to happen.

Anti-missionary assertion “We do not believe that it is prophesied that the Messiah will be crucified… We do not believe that he will be raised from the dead any more than anyone else… We do not believe that the Messiah will be our "savior" in the sense that he will redeem us from our sins…”

It is often stated that Judaism does not believe in a suffering servant Messiah, It is said that the Hebrew scriptures only speak of a reigning king Messiah. However the ancient Rabbis interpreted Yeshayahu (Yeshayahu) 52:13-53:12, which is a suffering servant passage, as referring to the Messiah. The modern Rabbis interpret this passage as “having nothing to do with the Messiah”, and referring to Israel as the suffering servant.

What do the ancient Rabbis actually have to say about the matter?

The Aramaic translation of this chapter, ascribed to Rabbi Jonathan ben Uzziel, a disciple of Hillel who lived early in the second century C.E. “Behold my servant Messiah shall prosper; he shall be high, and increase, and be exceeding strong: as the house of Israel looked to him through many days, because their countenance was darkened among the peoples, and their complexion beyond the sons of men. “(Targum Jonathan on Yeshayahu 53, ad Iocum)

Babylonian Talmud: "The Messiah --what is his name?...The Rabbis say, The Leper Scholar, as it is said, `surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God and afflicted...'" (Sanhedrin 98b)

Midrash Ruth Rabbah: "Another explanation (of Ruth ii.14): -- He is speaking of king Messiah; `Come hither,' draw near to the throne; `and eat of the bread,' that is, the bread of the kingdom; `and dip thy morsel in the vinegar,' this refers to his chastisements, as it is said, `But he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities'"

Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimonides: "What is the manner of Messiah's advent....there shall rise up one of whom none have known before, and signs and wonders which they shall see performed by him will be the proofs of his true origin; for the Almighty, where he declares to us his mind upon this matter, says, `Behold a man whose name is the Branch, and he shall branch forth out of his place' (Zech. 6:12). And Yeshayahu speaks similarly of the time when he shall appear, without father or mother or family being known, He came up as a sucker before him, and as a root out of dry earth, etc....in the words of Yeshayahu, when describing the manner in which kings will harken to him, At him kings will shut their mouth; for that which had not been told them have they seen, and that which they had not heard they have perceived." (From the Letter to the South (Yemen), quoted in The Fifty-third Chapter of Yeshayahu According to the Jewish Interpreters, Ktav Publishing House, 1969, Volume 2, pages 374-5)

Could the ancient Rabbis be wrong in their interpretation that Yeshayahu 52:13-53:12 call the suffering servant the Messiah? The modern Rabbis often say that this passage refers to Israel as the suffering servant, is this possible? Come, let us reason together…

2For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,

And like a root out of parched ground;

He has no stately form or majesty

That we(Israel) should look upon Him,

Nor appearance that we(Israel) should be attracted to Him.3He was despised and forsaken of men,

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

And like one from whom men hide their face

He was despised, and we(Israel) did not esteem Him.4Surely our griefs He Himself bore,

And our sorrows He carried;

Yet we ourselves(Israel) esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten of God, and afflicted.5But He was pierced through for our(Israel) transgressions,

He was crushed for our(Israel) iniquities;

The chastening for our(Israel) well-being fell upon Him,

And by His scourging we(Israel) are healed.6All of us(Israel) like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us(Israel) has turned to his own way;

But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all(Israel)

To fall on Him.7He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth.8By oppression and judgment He was taken away;

And as for His generation, who considered

That He was cut off out of the land of the living

For the transgression of my people(Israel), to whom the stroke was due?9His grave was assigned with wicked men,

Yet He was with a rich man in His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.10But the LORD was pleased

To crush Him, putting Him to grief;

If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,

He will see His offspring,

He will prolong His days,

And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

Is it possible that Yeshayahu would have called someone other than Israel as “my people”? The suffering servant and Israel are represented in the same sentence as different entities. The case is quite closed. It seems rather obvious that the suffering servant is someone other than Israel.

The Rabbis, the Mashiach ben David and the Mashiach ben Yosef.

10“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Yerushalaim, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. Zechariah 12:10

The Rabbis in Bavl’I Suk. 52a call this passage a description of the Messiah son of Yosef (suffering servant Messiah)(Zechariah 9:9, Yeshayahu 52-53). There was an understanding from ancient days on the part of the Rabbis that there would be a suffering servant Messiah and/or a reigning king Messiah. These days the Rabbis speak only of a reigning kind Messiah as the only Messiah. In those earlier days the Rabbis had questions regarding these Messiahs. Some thought if the Messiah came when the people (Israel) were unfaithful they would receive the suffering servant Messiah, and if while they were faithful the reigning king Messiah. Some thought the suffering servant Messiah would come and then afterward the reigning king Messiah. The reason they thought this was because the death of the suffering servant Messiah is foretold, thus it seemed he could not also be the reigning king Messiah. Only Yeshua (Yeshua) taught that He would fulfill the passages regarding the suffering servant Messiah (Mashiach ben Yosef), die, and then be resurrected and prophesied that He would fulfill the passages regarding the reigning king Messiah at a later time. As that he prophesied his resurrection and was then witnessed to be alive after witnessed being dead, He passed the test of a prophet and his prophecy regarding the fulfillment of the king Messiah passages are thus trustworthy.

Why would the Modern Rabbis change the interpretations regarding the Messiah to only the reigning king Messiah?

The answer is simple, but how it works out is not easy. In response to the incredibly apostate “church” which was observed by Rashi (1040-1105 CE), he concluded that Yeshua could not be the Messiah of Israel. The actions of the church were blatantly against the basic tenants of belief in the G-d of Israel and H-s Messiah, thus Yeshua could not be the Messiah. As a result of concluding that the Messiah could NOT be Yeshua, then the rabbis had a responsibility to keep Jewish people from becoming believers in him. Also, many passages of the Bible had to be reinterpreted( Yeshayahu 52-53). The obvious meaning of the passages (a suffering servant Messiah) could not be the case, because that would lead people to believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. Rabbi Yosef ben Kaspi (1280-1340 CE) agreed with Rashi, and wrote “"those who expounded this section of the Messiah give occasion to the heretics (Christians) to interpret it of Yeshua." Therefore a secondary interpretation, even though far less obvious than the suffering servant Messiah, had to be the answer. The entire argument is based on a false assumption however. The apostate church does not automatically mean that Yeshua is not the Messiah. The conclusion does not follow the argument.

Even though the argument is faulty it is frequently used.

Other Rabbis later wrote regarding this interpretation,” May God forgive him for not having spoken the truth.” Rabbi Saadia (1500s).

"The right view respecting this portion is to suppose that by the phrase ‘my servant’ the whole of Israel is meant….As a different opinion, however, is adopted by the Midrash, which refers it to the Messiah, it is necessary for us to explain it in conformity with the view there maintained. The prophet says, The Messiah, the son of David of whom the text speaks, will never be conquered or perish by the hands of his enemies. And, in fact the text teaches this clearly….’And by his stripes we were healed’ — because the stripes by which he is vexed and distressed will heal us; God will pardon us for his righteousness, and we shall be healed both from our own transgressions and from the iniquities of our fathers." Nachmanides(1200s).

“ I am pleased to interpret the passage in accordance with the teaching of our Rabbis of the King Messiah … and adhere to the literal sense. Thus shall I be free from forced and far-fetched interpretations of which others are guilty.” Rabbi Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin (1300s).

“Our Rabbis with one voice accept and affirm the opinion that the prophet is speaking of the King Messiah, and we shall ourselves also adhere to the same view.” Rabbi Moshe el Sheikh (1500s).

Let’s take a look at the scriptural requirements of the Messiah…

The seed of a woman, Breshit (Genesis) 3:15 ”And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

The seed of Avraham, Breshit (Genesis) 12:3 “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

Descended of yehudah, Breshit (Genesis) 49:8-10 yehudah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's sons shall bow down to you. yehudah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? "The scepter shall not depart from yehudah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

Descendent of David, 2 Shmuel (Samuel) 7:12-14 “"When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. "He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. "I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”

Matityahu (Matthew) 1:16 Ya’acov was the father of Yoseph the husband of Miriam, by whom Yeshua was born, who is called the Messiah.

Matityahu 1:1 1A record of the genealogy of Yeshua Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham

So Yeshua was descended from David and Yehudah by way of Yosef, some note that Yosef was not his biological father. However, that is a modern stipulation which we place on an ancient construction. If the people of that day considered that to be the pattern of descendance, how can we read back into history a more modern definition in order to disqualify it? If G-d calls it of the lineage of David, then who are we to argue with G-d? We don’t actually know the lineage of Miriam his mother. Hers may or may not have been of the lineage of David. But according to census data of that day, he would have been called son of Yosef, son of David.

Messiah will be a prophet “like Moshe” Deuteronomy 18:15-19 15“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. 16“This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17“The LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19‘It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him

Moshe had special status with G-d. He was more than a prophet, more than a high priest even though not of the high priestly line, spoke with G-d “face to face”.

“For the Law was GIVEN through Moshe, grace and truth were realized through Yeshua HaMashiach”. Yochanan 1:17

That is to say that the work which was begun by the hand of Moshe was REALIZED (brought into real actualization) by Yeshua. They participate in the same work.

Acts 3:22-23 “Moshe said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you. 23‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

Yochanan 5:45-49 45“Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moshe, in whom you have set your hope. 46“For if you believed Moshe, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. 47“But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Son of G-d tehillim(psalms) 2:7 7“I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD:

He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,

Today I have begotten You.

Matityahu 3:16-17 16After being emersed, Yeshua came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him,17and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

Mark 1:11 10Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; 11and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

Luke 3:22 22and the Ruach hakodesh(Holy Spirit) descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

Will be raised from the dead tehillim 16:10-11 10For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

Matityahu 28:5-9 5The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Yeshua who has been crucified. 6“He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7“Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

Mark 16:6 6And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Yeshua the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.

Luke 24:4-7 4While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing;5and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 6“He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, 7saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

Yochanan 20:11-16 11But Miriam was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Yeshua had been lying. 13And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Yeshua standing there, and did not know that it was Yeshua. 15Yeshua said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16Yeshua said to her, “Miriam!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).

Acts 1:3 3To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Acts 2:32 32“This Yeshua God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.

Zechariah 11:12-14 12I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

13And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of theLORD to the potter.

Matityahu 27 3Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,4saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” 5And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. 6The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.” 7And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. 8For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

Messiah will be sneered and mocked tehillim 22:7 7All who see me sneer at me;

They separate with the lip, they wag the head,

Luke 23:11 11And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate. 12Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.

Messiah will be pierced through hands and feet tehillim 22:16 16For dogs have surrounded me;

A band of evildoers has encompassed me;

They pierced my hands and my feet.

Luke 23:33 33When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.

Luke 24:36-39 36While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be to you.” 37But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. 38And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

Yochanan 19:18 18There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Yeshua in between.

Yochanan 20:19-20 19So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Yeshua came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Yochanan 20:24-27 24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Yeshua came. 25So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

26After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Yeshua came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

Bones not broken tehillim 22:17 17I can count all my bones.

They look, they stare at me;

tehillim 34:20 20He keeps all his bones,

Not one of them is broken.

Yochanan 19:33-36 33but coming to Yeshua, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 36For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.

Men will gamble for Messiah’s clothes tehillim 22:18 18They divide my garments among them,

And for my clothing they cast lots.

23Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Yeshua, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. 24So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; this was to fulfill the Scripture: “THEYDIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.”25Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Messiah will be accused by false witnesses tehillim 35:11 11Malicious witnesses rise up;

They ask me of things that I do not know

Matityahu 26:59-60 59Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Yeshua, so that they might put Him to death. 60They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward,

Mark 14:56-57 56For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent.57Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying,

Messiah will be hated without a cause tehillim 35:19 19Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me;

Nor let those who hate me without cause wink maliciously.

Tehillim 69:4 4Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;

Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies;

What I did not steal, I then have to restore.

Yochanan 15:23-25 23“He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24“If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. 25“But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’

The Messiah will be betrayed by a friend tehillim 41:9 9Even my close friend in whom I trusted,

Who ate my bread,

Has lifted up his heel against me.

Yochanan 13:18-21 18“I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’ 19“From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.20“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

21When Yeshua had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.”

The Messiah will ascend to heaven tehillim 68:18 18You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives;

You have received gifts among men,

Even among the rebellious also, that the LORD God may dwell there.

Luke 24:51 51While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

Acts 1:9

9And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

Messiah will be given Vinegar and Gall to drink tehillim 69:21 21They also gave me gall for my food

And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink

Matityahu 27:34 34they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.

Mark 15:23 23They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it.

Yochanan 19:29-30 29A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. 30Therefore when Yeshua had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

Kings will pay homage and tribute to Messiah tehillim 72:10-11 10Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents;

The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.

11And let all kings bow down before him,

All nations serve him.

Tehillim 2

12Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,

For His wrath may soon be kindled.

How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Matityahu 2:1-11 1Now after Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Yerushalaim, saying, 2“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

The Messiah is a stone the builders rejected which will become the chief corner stone tehillim 118:22-23 22The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief corner stone.

23This is the LORD’S doing;

It is marvelous in our eyes

Yeshayahu 28:16 16Therefore thus says the Lord GOD,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,

A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.

He who believes in it will not be disturbed.

Matityahu 21:42-43 42Yeshua said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,

THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone;

THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD,

AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?

43“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.

Acts 4:11 11“He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone.

Jeremiah 33:15-16 15‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. 16‘In those days Yehudah will be saved and Yerushalaim will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’

Zechariah 6:12-13

12“Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch (Heb. Netzer), for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD. 13“Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”’

Matityahu 2:23

and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: "He shall be called a Nazarene (branch)."

The Messiah will be born of a virgin Yeshayahu 7:14 14“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

Matityahu 1:18-25 18Now the birth of Yeshua Christ was as follows: when His mother Miriam had been betrothed to Yosef, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Ruach hakodesh.

Antimissionary assertion: the “virgin” passage should be interpreted “young lady”, and always has been by Jewish scholars.

The semantic range for the Hebrew ‘alma’ which is here in Yeshayahu 7:14 translated as ‘virgin’ also includes the English ‘young woman’ or ‘maiden’. The antimissionaries make note of this as the ‘more reasonable’ interpretation, and that those who already believe Yeshua to be the Messiah read virgin into this passage instead of taking out what is plainly there. However, The counters to this argument are far stronger. First of all it is called “a sign”, and how much of a sign would it be from G-d if a young woman came to be with child as all young women do and have since the creation of the world? Also it is noted that the word ‘alma’ is used in the Tanakh (entire Hebrew Bible) with ABSOLUTELY NO instance in which it does not refer to a woman who is a virgin. But just as strong as these evidences is the evidence of the Jewish translators of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Tanakh by 70 Jewish Scholars BEFORE the time of Yeshua which yields a translation of ‘Alma’ from the Hebrew to ‘Parthenas’ (virgin) in the Greek. The Greek language, notoriously narrow in its semantic range in contrast with Hebrew, forced the translators to make a choice between possible words to use. This body of Jewish scholars agreed upon the use of virgin, which means the chosen, authorized Jewish interpretation of this Yeshayahu 7 passage BEFORE the days of Yeshua was that of a virgin-birth sign.

Yeshayahu 9: 6For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;

And the government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Side note: JPS (Jewish Publication Society) translators previously left the names in this passage intentionally untranslated. Some of the Jewish people who took the time to look up the translation of this passage were becoming believers in Yeshua, Thus it is now very poetically translated in the newer JPS versions. The newer JPS translations avoid calling the Messiah mighty G-d, but unavoidably refers to him as Eternal Father. (The Mighty God is planning grace; The Eternal Father, a peaceable ruler

7There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,

On the throne of David and over his kingdom,

To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness

The Messiah will make the blind see the deaf hear Yeshayahu 35:5-6 5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened

And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

6Then the lame will leap like a deer,

And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.

For waters will break forth in the wilderness

And streams in the Arabah.

Matityahu 11:3-6 3and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” 4Yeshua answered and said to them, “Go and report to Yochanan what you hear and see: 5the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. 6“And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

Yochanan 11:47

47Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs.

The Messiah will be beaten, mocked, spat upon Yeshayahu 50:6 6I gave My back to those who strike Me,

And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;

I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.

Matityahu 26:67 67Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him

Matityahu 27:26-31 26Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Yeshua scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

27Then the soldiers of the governor took Yeshua into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. 28They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.29And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. 31After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

People will hear and not believe the arm of the L-rd Yeshayahu 53:1 1Who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

The Messiah will be rejected Yeshayahu 53:3 3He was despised and forsaken of men,

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

And like one from whom men hide their face

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Yochanan 12:37-38 37But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 38This was to fulfill the word of Yeshayahu the prophet which he spoke: “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?”

The Messiah will be killed Yeshayahu 53:5-9 5But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

And by His scourging we are healed.

6All of us like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all

To fall on Him.

7He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth.

8By oppression and judgment He was taken away;

And as for His generation, who considered

That He was cut off out of the land of the living

For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

9His grave was assigned with wicked men,

Yet He was with a rich man in His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

Matityahu 27:20-25 20But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Yeshua to death. 21But the governor said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Yeshua who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!” 23And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”

24When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” 25And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”

Mark 15:8-14 8The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. 9Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. 12Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” 14But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!”

Luke 23:18-23 18But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” 19(He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city, and for murder.) 20Pilate, wanting to release Yeshua, addressed them again, 21but they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” 22And he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” 23But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail.

Yochanan 19:14-15 14Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” 15So they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

Matityahu 27:50 50And Yeshua cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

Mark 15:37-39 37And Yeshua uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. 38And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Luke 23:46 46And Yeshua, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last.

Yochanan 19:30 30Therefore when Yeshua had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

The Messiah will be silent in front of his accusers Yeshayahu 53:7 7He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth.

Matityahu 26:62-63 62The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” 63But Yeshua kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.”

Matityahu 27:12-14 12And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer. 13Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” 14And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed.

The Messiah will be buried with the rich Yeshayahu 53:9 9His grave was assigned with wicked men,

Yet He was with a rich man in His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

Matityahu 27:59-60 59And Yosef took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.

Mark 15:46 46Yosef bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

Luke 23:52-53 52this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Yeshua. 53And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.

Yochanan 19:38-42 38After these things Yosef of Arimathea, being a disciple of Yeshua, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Yeshua; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. 39Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight.40So they took the body of Yeshua and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Yeshua there.

The Messiah will be crucified with criminals Yeshayahu 53:12 12Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,

And He will divide the booty with the strong;

Because He poured out Himself to death,

And was numbered with the transgressors;

Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,

And interceded for the Matityahu 27:38 38At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.

Mark 15:27 27They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left.

Luke 23:32-33 32Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.

33When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left

The Messiah is part of a new and everlasting covenant Yeshayahu 55:3-4 3“Incline your ear and come to Me.

Listen, that you may live;

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

According to the faithful mercies shown to David.

4“Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

A leader and commander for the peoples.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 31“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Yehudah, 32not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. 33“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34“They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Matityahu 26:28 28for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

Mark 14:24 24And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

Luke 22:20 20And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

Hebrews 9:15 15For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Messiah will be our intercessor Yeshayahu 59:16 16And He saw that there was no man,

And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;

Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,

And His righteousness upheld Him.

The Messiah will come at a specific time Daniel 9:25-26 25“So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Yerushalaim until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26“Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.

The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2 2“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Too little to be among the clans of Yehudah,

From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.

His goings forth are from long ago,

From the days of eternity.”

Matityahu 2:1 1Now after Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Yerushalaim, saying,

Luke 2:4-7 4Yosef also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5in order to register along with Miriam, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Messiah will enter Yerushalaim riding a donkey Zechariah 9:9 9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout in triumph, O daughter of Yerushalaim!

Behold, your king is coming to you;

He is just and endowed with salvation,

Humble, and mounted on a donkey,

Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Matityahu 21:1-11 1When they had approached Yerushalaim and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Yeshua sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3“If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

6The disciples went and did just as Yeshua had instructed them, 7and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. 8Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road.

9The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David;

BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;

Hosanna in the highest!”

The Messiah will be sold for 30 pieces of silver Zechariah 11:12-13 12I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. 13Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

Matityahu 26:15 15and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.

Matityahu 27:3-10 3Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to thatyourself!” 5And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. 6The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.” 7And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. 8For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “AND THEY TOOK THE THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER, THE PRICE OF THE ONE WHOSE PRICE HAD BEEN SET by the sons of Israel; 10AND THEY GAVE THEM FOR THE POTTER’S FIELD, AS THE LORD DIRECTED ME.”

The Messiah will be forsaken by His disciples Zechariah 13:7 7“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,

And against the man, My Associate,”

Declares the LORD of hosts.

“Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;

And I will turn My hand against the little ones.

Matityahu 26:31 31Then Yeshua said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BESCATTERED.’

Matityahu 26:56 56“But all this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures of the prophets.” Then all the disciples left Him and fled.

The Messiah will enter the Temple with authority Malachi 3:1 1“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts

Matityahu 21:12 12And Yeshua entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.

Luke 19:45 45Yeshua entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling,

3.3 Now there was about this time Yeshua, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.—Flavius Yosefus.

Conslusions?

Whom should we believe? Is Buddha reported to be alive after being dead? How about Krishna? Both Yosef Smith and Muhammad are uncorroborated sources of information, the only ones to verify the truth of their “revelations”. Yeshua was observed by 500 witnesses as being alive after being verified dead. Even a source who is not his follower records this in Josefus. Those followers pass the test of motive in that they stood to gain nothing by saying so, and only to lose their livelihood and even their lives. It is recorded by non-scriptural sources that they did in fact give their lives. Thus we know they really believed what they said. So, if they believed it, the only possible explanations of these events are that 500 plus people had the exact same dillusional experience at the same time, or He really was raised from the dead as they say. If he was really raised from the dead he passed the test of a prophet. If he passed the test of a prophet what he says holds more claim to truth than any person who has ever lived. Did we mention all the messianic prophecies he fulfilled and prophesied to fulfill? Who are you going to believe?

“Major arguments” Why Jews Don't believe in Jesus