Why do Jews Reject Jesus? Answering Jewish objections to Jesus as Messiah. A presentation by John Thatcher of Carelinks Christadelphian Ministries . http://www.carelinks.net Contact us info@carelinks.net . The Jewish Messiah Jesus Of Nazareth Is The Messiah Judaism Expected The Historicity of Jesus of Nazareth Jewish Objections To Jesus Jewish Objections To The Ancestry Of Jesus Jewish Objections To The Christian Doctrine Of Atonement Jewish Objections To Christian Usage Of Old Testament Passages Christian And Jewish Interpretation Of Isaiah 53 Zechariah 9: The Two Comings Of Messiah Christian And Jewish Interpretations Of Isaiah 7:14 Christian And Jewish Interpretation Of Daniel 9 Miscellaneous Jewish Objections To Christianity

1. WHY DO JEWS
REJECT JESUS ?

2. MAIN REASONS
1. Jesus didn’t fulfill requirements of
Messiah
2. Most Christians claim Jesus is God
incarnate
- a claim incompatible with Torah
(Deuteronomy 6:4)

3. Reason #1
Jesus Didn’t Fulfill Messianic Role
Tanakh (Old Testament) teaches Messiah should do
things Jesus failed to do
JESUS DIDN’T- gather Jewish exiles – or reign as king
- Rebuild Temple (was still standing)
- Usher in worldwide reign of peace & end war
- Cause all Jews to embrace Torah
- Usher in universal knowledge of God.
So surely Jesus didn’t fulfill requirements of the
Messiah

4. BUT - Christians will say
That will be achieved at His second coming - He will
Usher in peace
See the conversion of all Jews and Gentiles
Reign in Jerusalem
BUT - Does the Tanakh (Old Testament)
present a Messiah on an instalment plan?
Does it ever suggest a first
then second coming?

5. Well,
Actually
IT DOES !!!

6. Daniel 9:26
“After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Messiah will be cut off
and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will
come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will
come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and
desolations have been decreed.”
That doesn’t sound like Messiah heralds in a world order
of Peace!
He is ‘cut off’
The city and the sanctuary were destroyed in AD70
After Messiah was ‘cut off’

7. He is ‘cut off’
City & sanctuary destroyed AD70 After Messiah ‘cut off’
He will come again
Dan 12:1-2
"At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will
arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the
beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people - everyone
whose name is found written in the book - will be delivered. Multitudes
who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life,
others to shame and everlasting contempt.”

8. Zechariah 12:10
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication.
They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they
will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and
grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”
Sounds like he’s been here before
They have (past tense) pierced him

9. Sacrifices of the Torah
Logic tells you the killing
of sheep, goats and bulls
Can’t atone for sins
They are symbolic
of a real sacrifice

10. The Torah contains story of Abraham being
commanded to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:2)
Although God finally provided a ram as substitute,
He still commanded the human sacrifice
Elsewhere, God never allowed human
sacrifice
Jeremiah 7:31 “And they have built the high places of
Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to
burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I
did not command, nor did it come into my mind.”
Then why was Abraham commanded to do so?

11. The story was to illustrate that God
would only ask of Abraham what God
was willing to do Himself -
Allow His son to be an
offering

12. The Tanakh abounds in
parallels to Yeshua’s life
Example:
Joseph – rejected by brothers – cast into well -
good as dead – sold for pieces of silver – cast into jail
– only rise to the right hand of power – to bring
sustenance and life to all
This was Yeshua’s life
Another example – Jephthah

13. Jephthah – Parallel with Yeshua’s Life
Jephthah Yeshua
The illegitimate son of his Father. His
brothers asked, "where is your mother",
knowing he was the son of a prostitute.
The supposed illegitimate son of Mary. The
Scribes and Pharisees said to him.. “We
have Abraham as our father"...implying that
Yeshua didn't.
Rejected and thrown out by the rulers of
his people and his own brothers.
The rulers rejected Yeshua as " a prophet
without honour in his own country".
He was denied his rightful inheritance as
the firstborn of his father.
The Jewish leaders said of Yeshua "here is
the son and heir..Let’s kill him that the
inheritance may be ours".
He ran away to Tob (Southern Galilee) Yeshua went to Galilee where he found the
acceptance that he did not find with the
Jewish leaders.
Here he collects a band of followers – all
rough men
Jesus collected 'rough' men of Galilee as
disciples.
Their exploits make them famous. Their miracles spread their fame.

14. Jephthah Yeshua
Jephthah comes as a saviour from Tob
(Galilee). Ammon oppressed Israel at that
time as a consequence of Israel’s own sin.
Yeshua comes as a saviour from Galilee. The
Romans oppressed Israel. We are all
oppressed by death as a consequence of
our sin.
Jephthah’s family and the elders of Israel
appealed to him to come and save them. He
only was willing to come as their saviour IF
they recognised him as their head and older
brother.
Yeshua also saves us on the condition that
we recognise him as our head and older
brother.
When in desperate trouble, the family of
Jephthah and the Elders of Israel turned to
their saviour and
accepted him as their leader and older
brother, asked for his help then made him
their judge (or king)
In the future, natural Israel will see Yeshua
as their saviour and will accept him as their
leader and older brother, will ask for his
help and will make him their judge (or king)
He defeated Israel’s great enemy with God's
spirit and power.
Yeshua defeated sin & death for us and will
defeat enemies of Israel in the future
The spirit of God was on him Yeshua had the unbounded spirit of God.

15. Jephthah Yeshua
His victory cost him his line and lineage
in Israel – his virgin daughter stayed a
virgin. He made the greatest
sacrifice...not for himself, but for those
who had rejected him.
"He was cut off out of the land of the
living...and he was left with no
generation...(Isaiah 53)" "While we
were yet sinners he died for us".
But Jephthah inherited a greater family
... all of the Israelites in Gilead
Yeshua inherited all the believers as his
brothers and sisters. He "saw the
childbirth of his soul" (Isaiah 53).

16. The Perfect King
When Messiah arrives, all Israel will accept Him.
Here are His qualifications in Deuteronomy 17:14 -
"When you …. say, 'I will set a king over me … 15 you may indeed
set as king over you him whom the LORD your God will choose.
One from among your brethren you shall set as king over you …
16 Only he must not multiply horses for himself, or cause the
people to return to Egypt in order to multiply horses …
17 And he shall not multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn
away; nor shall he greatly multiply for himself silver and gold.
18 "And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write
for himself in a book a copy of this law, from that which is in the
charge of the Levitical priests.”

17. Messiah Deut 17 Which King ever met these
criteria
V15: LORD your God will choose God only ever chose Saul (1Sam 9:16),
David (1Sam 16:1), Jeroboam (1 Kings
11:31) and Jehu (1 Kings 19:16)
V15: One from among your brethren All were Israelites, but only David was of
Judah
V16: Only he must not multiply horses for
himself, or cause the people to return to
Egypt in order to multiply horses …
David had at least 100 chariots + horses (2
Sam 8:4)
V 17: And he shall not multiply wives for
himself, lest his heart turn away;
Eight wives of David are named + unknown
number of concubines
V17: nor shall he greatly multiply for himself
silver and gold.
David’s conquests acquired for himself great
wealth
V18: "And when he sits on the throne of his
kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book
a copy of this law, from that which is in the
charge of the Levitical priests;
David could say “Oh, how love I Your law! It
is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:27
But he failed to always live it. Sins such as
Bathsheba, numbering Israel.

18. NOT one Israelite King
fulfilled all the
qualifications
of Deut 17…
until Jeshua

19. Messiah Deut 17 Jesus or Yeshua
V15: LORD your God will choose Matt 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, "This
is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well
pleased.”
V15: One from among your brethren Both earth parents descended from David
V16: Only he must not multiply horses for
himself, or cause the people to return to Egypt
in order to multiply horses …
He came, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a
colt the foal of an ass Matt 21:5
V 17: And he shall not multiply wives for
himself, lest his heart turn away;
He was a virgin, and of those who have not
defiled themselves with women.
V17: nor shall he greatly multiply for himself
silver and gold.
Matt 22:19 … And they brought Him a
denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, Whose
likeness and title are these? 21 They said,
Caesar’s. Then He said to them, Pay therefore
to Caesar the things that are due to Caesar,
and pay to God the things that are due to God.
V18: "And when he sits on the throne of his
kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a
copy of this law, from that which is in the
charge of the Levitical priests;
Jesus wrote the Torah on his heart: “But He
replied, It has been written, Man shall not live
and be upheld and sustained by bread alone,
but by every word that comes forth from the
mouth of God” Matt 4:4

20. We have established that
Messiah will have two advents
(comings) –
Now let’s see the objections
to Yeshua’s Messiahship

21. Why Jews reject Jesus
Reason #1- He didn’t fulfill Messiah role
1. Ingathering of Jewish exiles
Deuteronomy 30:3, Isaiah 11:11-12, Jeremaih 30:3, 32:37, Ezekiel
11:17, 36:24
Jesus never reigned as King – and not all Jews are back
2. Rebuilding the Temple
Isaiah 2:2-3, 56:6-7, 60:7, 66:20, Ezekiel 37:26-27, Malachi 3:4,
Zechariah 14:20-21
Destroyed after Jesus – not yet rebuilt
3. Worldwide reign of peace – end of war
Micah 4:1-4, Hosea 2:20, Isaiah 2:1-4, 60:18
Since Christianity – wars have increased

22. CONT…
4. Messiah will reign when all Jews embrace the Torah.
Ezekiel 37:24, Deuteronomy 30:8,10 Jeremiah 31:32, Eziel11:19-
20, 36:26-27
5. Messiah rules when there is a universal knowledge of God.
Zechariah3:9, 8:23, 14:9, 16 Isaiah 45:23, 66:23, Jeremiah
31:33, Ezekiel 38:23, Psalm 86:9, Zephaniah 3:9
6. Messiah must be of Tribe of Judah…descendant of David.
Genesis 49:10, 2 Samuel 7:12-14, 1 Chronicles 22:9-10
Jesus had no Judah father - Num1:1-18 says genealogy must
come through the father.

23. OBJECTIONS
#1 - Messiah should gather Jewish exiles
"For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and
bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you; … I will
cleanse you from all your impurities … I will give you a new heart and put a new
spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of
flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be
careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will
be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:24-28
Also Deuteronmy 30:3, Isaiah 11:11-12, Jeremiah 30:3, 32:37, Ezekiel11:17
Jesus never reigned as King – and not all Jews are back
We have established that the Tanakh predicts a second coming of Messiah.
The first coming was as the slain lamb of Isaiah 53
The second coming will be as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
The partial re-gathering of Israel since the birth of Zionism in 1897, is a
prelude.

24. In Christian New Testament Book of Romans, the Pharisee Paul links
Destiny of Israel to Christian hope:
Romans 11:1. I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an
Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did
not reject his people…5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by
grace…..11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!
Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make
Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their
loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness
bring! …15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will
their acceptance be but life from the dead? …
25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not
be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the
Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The
deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27
And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins." 28 As far as the
gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is
concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God's gifts and his
call are irrevocable.

25. Paul says at Messiah’s first advent – the Jews rejected Him – but
good came of it
– Jesus’ sacrifice brought redemption to the world
What could be better?
When the Jews accept him – the Messiah at his second coming, it
will bring “life from the dead”
The Resurrection
Messiah will reign

26. The Answer -
Ingathering of Israel DOESN’T FOLLOW
Messiah’s arrival - IT PRECEDES IT !
The re-gathering is a sign of His coming
The verses quoted - Ezekiel36:24 Deuteronomy 30:3, Isaiah 11:11-12,
Jeremiah 30:3, 32:37, Ezekiel11:17
NEVER state that Messiah re-gathers Israel
But Israel will be re-gathered as a prelude to world blessing
It’s happening now – There are 13.3 million Jews worldwide - 8.3
million live in Israel
The re-gathering is more that half complete

27. Objection #2
Messiah should rebuild the Temple
Isaiah 2:2-3 – “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will
be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted
above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will
come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the
temple of the God of Jacob.”
See also Isaiah 56:6-7, 60:7, 66:20, Ezekiel 37:26-27, Malachi 3:4,
Zechariah 14:20-21
The 2nd Temple was destroyed after
Jesus – and not yet rebuilt

28. Jesus did rebuild the Temple
John 2:19-21
“Jesus answered them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it
up again. Then the Jews replied, It took forty-six years to build this temple,
and will you raise it up in three days?
But He had spoken of the temple which was His body.”
He built a spiritual temple
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you,
whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a
price.”
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in
your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for
God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”

29. You may say – “Well, that’s a fudge” - Making it spiritual –
when promise seemed to be a physical temple
But this is what the Tanakh does in other places
Fasting was literal - but only meaningful when it was spiritual
Isaiah 58:6-7 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the
chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to
provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe
them.”
Circumcision was literal - but only meaningful when it was
spiritual
Jeremiah 4:4 “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts,
you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

30. Objection #3
Messiah should instigate a worldwide
reign of peace – end of war
Micah 4:3-4
“He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong
nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and
their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against
nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 4 Everyone will sit under their
own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid,
for the LORD Almighty has spoken.”
See also Hosea 2:20, Isaiah 2:1-4, 60:18
Since Christianity – wars have increased

31. Yeshua came as a lamb of sacrifice – and his
servants follow
1 Peter 2:21-23 - “To this you were called, because Messiah suffered for you,
leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps… When they
hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no
threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”
No-one who follows Christ has ever gone to war
One of the primary principles of a Christian is not to fight
“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right
cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and
take your shirt, hand over your coat as well… “You have heard that it was said,
‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:39-44
Anyone who picks up a gun to go to war has abandoned this
principle of Christianity – they are no longer following Christ

32. Christians of first two centuries were thrown to lions
- burned alive - suffered great tortures
and NEVER fought back
The world of peace will follow arrival of the
Lion of the Tribe of Judah

33. Objection #4
Messiah will reign when all Jews embrace
The Torah
Ezekiel 37:24 “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all
have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my
decrees.”
See also Deuteronomy 30:8,10 Jeremiah 31:32, Ezekiel 11:19-20, 36:26-27
The Tanakh teaches that Israel will come to The Torah
and God when they recognize their Messiah whom they
once rejected
Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on
me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns
for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn
son.”

34. BUT
Ezekiel 37:24 Deuteronomy 30:8,10 Jeremiah 31:32,
Ezekiel 11:19-20, 36:26-27
Do not teach that all Jews obeying Torah heralds
in Messiah
RATHER
That the Messiah heralds in a time when all Jews
will obey God

35. Objection #5
Messiah rules when there is a
universal knowledge of God
Zechariah 8:23 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: “In those
days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold
of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you,
because we have heard that God is with you.’”
See also Zechariah 3:9, 14:9, 16 Isaiah 45:23, 66:23, Jeremiah
31:33, Ezekiel 38:23, Psalm 86:9, Zephaniah 3:9
This follows after Messiah’s/ Yeshua’s
second coming

36. Objection #6
Messiah must be of Tribe of Judah, a
descendant of David
Genesis 49:10, 2 Samuel 7:12-14, 1 Chronicles 22:9-10
Jesus had no Judah father. Numbers 1:1-18 says
that the genealogy comes trough the father
The Messiah was to be from the line of David –
but also of God

37. Isaiah 9:6-7 “For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.”
Yeshua’s earthly descent was fully through David’s line.
Isaiah 9 says that although he was not God, he was allowed to bear
God’s name.

38. Reason #2
Most Christians insist that
Jesus is God incarnate
This directly contradicts the Torah
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God
is one LORD” Deuteronomy 6:4

39. Jesus never claimed to be
God
The word (or concept) of a Trinity
never appears in the Christian Bible
(New Testament)
Jesus was ‘turned into God’ at the
council of Nicaea,
300 years after Christianity began

40. First century Christianity belief
about God and Jesus
300 years later at Council of
Nicaea
1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth:
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten
Son, our Lord:
3. Who was conceived by the Holy
Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was
crucified, dead and buried: He
descended into hell:
5. The third day he rose again from the
dead: …….
I believe in one God, the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-
begotten Son of God, begotten of the
Father before all worlds; God of God,
Light of Light, very God of very God;
begotten, not made, being of one
substance with the Father, by whom all
things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came
down from heaven, and was incarnate
by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and
was made man; and was crucified also
for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered
and was buried; and the third day He
rose again,

41. Jesus, God’s son,
300 years later,
Became
Jesus, God the Son

42. This New Testament verse tells us that
Jesus has a separate role from God
“For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the
man Christ Jesus”
(1 Tim 2:5)
This was written after Jesus ascension –
so even in heaven,
Jesus is a man – not God

43. For proof that Jesus was a man –
not an incarnation of God
see
www.thetrinity.yolasite.com

44. I’d love to hear your
comments
John_carelinks@live.com