Welcome back everyone.
Christians are frustrated. Of all the peoples on the earth, they would think that the Jews, to whom God has entrusted the oracles, would accept Jesus as the Messiah. But no. Jewish converts have been ultra few. By and large, more than any other people, Jews have been immune to the gospel. Why? I hope that this post will answer that question.
Thank you for the thoughtful post, Open Heart. I'd tweak your thought a little there, though. I'd have thought of all the peoples on the earth,
sinners would accept Jesus as Messiah most but no, many haven't. Are most Jews immune to the gospel? Perhaps. I'll look at what you've written and then suggest some thoughts of my own as to why (if that's the case).
- God is ECHAD, one, not three in one. Christianity teaches Trinitarianism, which although it is monotheism, is a muddied monotheism. Judaism on the other hand teaches a pure and simple monotheism. Anything that comprises the oneness of God is unthinkable.
Fair point. I think Trinitarianism is probably misunderstood and offensive to many Jews. Having said that, most Jews were never strict monotheists in ancient times anyway and it doesn't discount acceptance of Jesus as Messiah but just not as God. There have been comparably few conversions to Islam either which has a strict monotheism.
- God is not a man. This is the nature of God, and the nature of God is unchanging. It is stated three times in the Tanakh: twice in Numbers 23:19, and a third time in Job 9:32. For something to be reiterated three times -- it must be of great importance. Christianity on the other hand, claims that Jesus is "fully God and fully man," at least in the orthodox version. The two are absolutely incompatible. Christians try to claim that "let us create man in our own image" is a reference to the triune nature of God, but in reality it is God talking to the heavenly court. Similarly, the claims of Elohim being a plural are moot -- it is more similar to the royal "we" used by the Queen.
Christianity would agree that "the nature of God is unchanging". Jesus' divine nature didn't change; he merely took on human nature too. Christianity also doesn't claim that Jesus is "fully God and fully man" but "
truly God and
truly man", which might seem a distinction without a difference but is actually quite a different claim (e.g. to be "fully man", Jesus would have to negate many of his divine properties but he doesn't). Other two points seem right to me.
- The New Testament contradicts the teachings of the Tanakh/Torah. The Torah clearly teaches the following of the Law, in order to receive the blessings of prosperity and the land of Canaan. Psalm 19 states that the Law is "perfect....sweeter also than the honey and the honeycomb." Yet Paul teaches that the Law brings a curse. He teaches that circumcision is nothing and keeping the Sabbath is up to the individual, rather than being necessary for the Jew. These views, that of the Tanakh and those of Paul, are utterly incompatible. The Torah is agreed upon by both Christians and Jews to be the word of God, and is therefore the measuring reed to determine what else is orthodoxy -- and it therefore determines that the NT doesn't pass muster
I think the key here is that Jesus has established a new covenant, whereas the Law (as beautiful as it is) belonged to the Mosaic covenant. Even Jeremiah suggests this when he talks about a law not written on tablets of stone but on hearts of men. That the Law is, for the most part, contingent in salvific history, seems clear when we consider that the patriarchs did not possess the Law but were still part of the covenant people. Why then should the Law not be fulfilled in the Messiah?
- The New Testament quotes prophecy out of context (i.e. Hosea 11:1, which is about Israel, not the messiah), misquotes prophecy (i.e. Isaiah 7:14 which is rightly translated young maiden, not virgin), and even makes up prophecy out of whole cloth (such as Matthew 2:23, He shall be called a Nazarene aka someone from the city of Nazareth.)
Matthew doesn't use prophecy as future prediction but as typological fulfilment. You're absolutely right: when he quotes Hosea it originally applies to Israel but Jesus is seen as recapitulating Israel in himself (the genealogy, coming out of Egypt, forty days in the wilderness, etc.). As for Isa 7:14, Matthew is using the LXX, which has "virgin", not "young maiden".
I think this is one key area where Christians, as well as Jews and Muslims, take too simplistic approach to understanding how prophetic and other texts are used by NT writers, as if they were idiots, got things wrong and didn't know what they were doing.
- Jesus cannot be the Messiah because he simply did not fulfill messianic prophecy. It makes no sense to say, "He will fulfill the rest when he comes back again." After all, anyone can claim to be the messiah and say they will fulfill the prophecies the next time around. The only way we have of determining the messiah is if they fulfill the messianic claims, all of them, and quite frankly Jesus did not; thus he failed in his attempt to be the messiah. Here are just three examples:
The Messiah will usher in an era of worldwide peace between the nations. Jesus did not.
The Messiah will rule from Jerusalem. Jesus did not.
The Messiah will bring ALL Jews back to the Land of Israel. Jesus did not.
Yes, this is definitely a key point. These concerns are actually picked up in the Gospels but applied, again, typologically, and are in fact rachetted-up! It's similar to the way that God, in Genesis, says Adam will surely die the day he eats the fruit (though he didn't die physically but did spiritually).
- The Messiah will usher in an era of world peace between nations: Jesus brings peace through forgiveness of sins, not earthly peace, but spiritual peace through reconciliation and restoration of the family of God. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you." (John 14:27)
- The Messiah will rule from Jerusalem: Jesus was actually enthroned as king in Jerusalem! "And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him, and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."... "[T]o sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."... [When Jesus is crucified.] And the inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. (Mark 10:35-37, 40; 15:26-27) Jesus now also rules from the heavenly Jerusalem, as Paul says in Philippians 2: "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth..."
- The Messiah will bring all Jews back to the land of Israel: Jesus ingathered both the tribes of Israel and the nations - he gathered the tribes through his Twelve Apostles and ministry. For instance, after feeding the five thousand, Mark tells us: "And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish." (Mark 6:43) Furthermore, Jesus tells his apostles that they will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt 19:28); and we also see the twelve tribes gathered together in Revelation (chapter 7).
Some other suggestions for why Jews might not feel so persuaded to convert to Christianity include: the cultural strength and family bonds of traditional Jewish families (and the fear of losing this if one converted); the disgraceful ways Jews have been treated by their Christian neighbours at times throughout history; the similarity between the two religions (Judaism serves as a kind of inoculation to Christianity); and the fact that Christianity is a "younger" religion (older-brother syndrome).
