I watched this youtube vid and was taken back by it. Was hoping someone could explain to me how they got this conclusion and the Christian stand point with people who make this claim about Jesus not being the messiah. What is Judaism anyway?
Jews for Judaism - YouTube
Jews for Judaism is an anti-missionary movement aimed at combating the
Jews for Jesus movement. Their whole goal is to refute the Gospel, so a video coming from them about Jesus not being the Messiah is no surprise. Judaism is a rather broad term, so it depends on who you ask. But in my opinion if there weren't any Messianic Jews the unbelieving Jews would still be arguing among their different sects who was a real Jew and who wasn't. So that part of it's nothing new. Just a few objections they have that can be easily defeated:
1. The Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53 is Israel and not the Messiah.
A. Isaiah 53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
The whole chapter, taken together, demonstrates that Israel is a separate entity from the individual being described.
2. God is not a man.
A. Of course he's not, but that doesn't mean he can't take human form. Taking human form would just mean that he was taking his own form, since humans were made in his likeness. Look at Genesis 18:1-19:1 for example. Three men meet Abraham. Two of them are called angels, and the third is called by the proper name of God - YHVH - in the text itself (look at the original Hebrew). That kind of tells me that this was God in human form.
3. (This one's not so much an objection as it is a confirmation of what the Messiah's name would be.)
A. Zechariah 3:8 "'Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.
This whole passage is heavily messianic. And Joshua in the Hebrew is the long version of the Hebrew name Jesus. So basically there's a high priest here named Jesus who is symbolic of things to come.
4. Quoting the Psalms as prophetic is taking the passages completely out of context.
A. That depends on the application of the passage. But it is known according to the Bible that at least some of the Psalms were meant to be prophetic, and all of them were written by men who were accepted as prophets or who had at least prophesied before.
1 Chronicles 25:1 David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals. Here is the list of the men who performed this service:
Notice that the sons of Asaph were to prophesy, accompanied with harps, lyres and cymbals. Why? Because the prophecies they were prophesying were probably in song format. You can also find some songs in the Psalms that are authored by Asaph - a prophet. It will say "A Psalm of Asaph" like it says "A Psalm of David" - both prophet and king.
5. (Another simple observation of when the Messiah - that king-like figure - would come.)
A. Genesis 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
From the time Judah received their first human king until the time of the Herodian dynasty the ruler's staff and scepter had not departed from the tribe of Judah. King Herod in the New Testament (there are a few Herods in the NT), who was portrayed as wanting to see Jesus and meeting him after Pilate sent Jesus to him, was Herod Antipas. He was a king of mixed blood and heavily influenced by Greek culture. But the point being that he wasn't affiliated, I think, with the tribe of Judah. He may have been referred to as a Jew - I forget. But at this time keep in mind that the term Jew had little if anything to do with the tribe of Judah. Paul was called a Jew, and he was a Benjamite. But, anyway, Herod Antipas was appointed by Rome over the region. So I think it's safe to say that around the time of Jesus the scepter and ruler's staff departed from Judah.
P.S. Sorry I can't watch the video. YouTube is blocked where I currently live.
