Whoa, this is thorough. It does cause me to rethink some of the assumptions I have held. I think for right now, I will put this whole matter in the already bulging, "things I used to be pretty sure of, but am less sure of now" file. Thanks for the feedback.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "lurkernomore20002000" > <steve.sundur@> wrote: > > > > Right. It this makes sense to "you". There are so many ways you > > can "technically" disqualify Jesus as the Jewish messiah. > > "Technically"? Whether a person is human or divine > is just a technicality?? > > And I > > have no desire to get into that argument. But when you take > > the big picture - the old testament, and the new testament, > > and the events of that period, don't ya have to sort come to > > the conclusion that Jesus was the one the Jews were expecting, > > and that the power brokers of the time had a vested interest to > > make it not so, lest they lose their hold. > > No, you don't have to come to that conclusion. The > prophesied messiah of the Jews was supposed to > *depose* the power brokers and release the Jews > from their oppression, not be the power brokers' > victim (much less be the inadvertent cause of the > Jews' continued oppression). > > Even assuming Jesus was only human and thus > eligible to be the Jewish messiah, he would have > been a *failed* Jewish messiah. Or is the fact that > he didn't accomplish the whole *point* of being the > messiah just another technicality? > > He wasn't the only such failure, either. There were > dozens of them: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Messiah_claimants > > Nor is it clear, for that matter, that Jesus himself > ever claimed to be the Jewish messiah. > > (I personally don't believe Jesus was anything but > a fully enlightened human being and a great spiritual > teacher, but I have no quarrel with those who believe > he was the divine savior, only-begotten son of God, > etc. I just wish Christianity hadn't piggybacked on > the Jewish messiah as a way of validating that belief. > It wasn't necessary, it didn't make sense scripturally, > and it has caused no end of misery for the Jews.) > > Here's a list of the requirements for the messiah in > the Hebrew Scriptures: > > --The Sanhedrin will be re-established (Isaiah 1:26) > --Once he is King, leaders of other nations will look to him > for guidance. (Isaiah 2:4) > --The whole world will worship the One God of Israel (Isaiah > 2:17) > --He will be descended from King David (Isaiah 11:1) via Solomon > (1 Chron. 22:8-10) > --The Moshiach will be a man of this world, an observant Jew > with "fear of God" (Isaiah 11:2) > --Evil and tyranny will not be able to stand before his > leadership (Isaiah 11:4) > --Knowledge of God will fill the world (Isaiah 11:9) > --He will include and attract people from all cultures and > nations (Isaiah 11:10) > --All Israelites will be returned to their homeland (Isaiah > 11:12) > --Death will be swallowed up forever (Isaiah 25:8) > --There will be no more hunger or illness, and death will > cease (Isaiah 25:8) > --l of the dead will rise again (Isaiah 26:19) > --All of the Jewish people will experience eternal joy and > gladness (Isaiah 51:11) > --He will be a messenger of peace (Isaiah 52:7) > --Nations will end up recognizing the wrongs they did to > Israel (Isaiah 52:13-53:5) > --The peoples of the world will turn to the Jews for spiritual > guidance (Zechariah 8:23) > --The ruined cities of Israel will be restored (Ezekiel 16:55) > --Weapons of war will be destroyed (Ezekiel 39:9) > --The Temple will be rebuilt (Ezekiel 40) resuming many of the > suspended mitzvot > --He will then perfect the entire world to serve God together > (Zephaniah 3:9) > --Jews will know the Torah without study (Jeremiah 31:33) > --He will give you all the worthy desires of your heart > (Psalms 37:4) > --He will take the barren land and make it abundant and > fruitful (Isaiah 51:3, Amos 9:13-15, Ezekiel 36:29-30, > Isaiah 11:6-9) > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Messiah >
