So many people wonder why the Jewish People can't see their Messiah 'the anointed one'...
Yeshua (Jesus), came as a Jew 2,000 years ago, but the majority of Jewish people today would deny that he is their Messiah. Why is this the case? Paul, who was the apostle to the Gentiles said,
"I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?"
~ Romans 11:13-15
But does the Church help the Jewish people to recognise their Messiah? Especially when some Christians don't even recognise that he was Jewish! A Christian young man recently picked up my friends Jewish New Testament and noticed the word "Jewish" at the back of the book. He was quite perturbed by it, and felt it was not relevant, as he made the point that Yeshua (Jesus) was a Christian.
I asked students in a Christian School a few years ago whether Yeshua (Jesus) was Jewish, Christian or Muslim... the majority opted for Christian! So... does this help Jews to see Messiah? Has
something happened in History that has caused the Jews to miss their Messiah? Would Yeshua (Jesus) even recognise the Church today?
The first followers of Yeshua, were Jews... indeed it was a popular movement, so what happened? Jewish expectations of the Messiah have changed significantly over the years, often influenced and shaped by experience, trial and persecution as well as Biblical interpretation. The end result is an adamant conviction that Yeshua (Jesus) is not the Messiah of Israel.
To better understand the Jewish people, and to better understand the Christian Messiah, we need to look deeper into what the Bible actually says and go beyond what our own assumptions and prejudices may be.