Why Jews Can't Be For Jesus

IN BRITAIN today there are various groups energetically targeting Jews. They especially look for those who feel a lack of fulfilment in their lives. They assert that the answer to all problems is belief in Jesus, something which they claim makes you a better Jew! What's so terrible? They seem happy enough. I am not going to stop any of the Jewish things I was doing before, I may even keep a few more! Even if I end up believing in a false Messiah I will still be Jewish.

At the time Jesus lived, prior to the destruction of the second Temple, there were various sects within Judaism. Some say that there could have been as many as several dozen. One of these was a sect led by Jesus.

He was rejected by the Jews of his time, a generation which included some of our greatest Rabbis. The Christian response to the rejection of Jesus by his own people has been nearly two thousand years of efforts to convert Jews to their beliefs. When a Jew accepts Jesus he not only rejects the history of his people but, by adopting Christian faith he places himself outside the Jewish religion.

Christians believe in the Trinity, that G-d consists of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. They say that this three-part G-d is the same as the G-d worshipped by the Jews.

The Torah says, "Hear O Israel, the L-rd is our G-d the L-rd is One." This we say in the Shema, we have it on our doors in the mezuzah and on our hearts and minds in the tefilin.
Christians believe that one cannot approach G-d except through Jesus. All prayers must therefore, be in his name. This is called Mediation.

The Torah starts the Ten Commandments with, "I am the L-rd your G-d, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me". Simply G-d does not want us to have any other deities even if we still believe in Him. Limiting an all knowing G-d by claiming He needs a mediator is a violation of this commandment.

Christians say that Jesus was a Prophet who came to change the way it used to be. The Torah warns us about this, "If there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer and he gives you a sign or a miracle. And the sign or miracle comes to pass and he calls you saying 'Let us go after other gods, whom you have not known and let us worship them.' You shall not listen to that prophet or dreamer. For G-d is testing you, to see whether you love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deut. 13:2)

So are you a better Jew, a fulfilled Jew by accepting Jesus? No. By accepting a Christian god you commit a cardinal sin. You become a traitor to your people and cannot be counted a Jew.

The Torah teaches, "It is enough that you carefully observe everything that I am prescribing to you. Do not add to it and do not subtract from it."

Zechariah 12:8 "In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. 12:9 "It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 12:10 "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

John 19:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 19:35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. 19:36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken." 19:37 And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced."

That time is approaching....

UHHHH, THE TORAH also says very early on:

in:

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Whole Chapter: Genesis 1 In context: Genesis 1:25-27)

I'm told by Hebrew scholars that the Hebrew is very clear about the plural form there. Jewish Scribes have faithfully copied it lo these many centuries. There's the contention that God dictated it letter by letter to Moses.

You have in your Scriptures the Messiah coming BOTH as a suffering servant AND as a conquering King. How do YOU explain that?

How do YOU explain the very precise prophecies about Christ's life and death in the Psalms, Isaiah etc.

[A few such:
1--Gen 49:10--from tribe of Judah
2--Born in Bethlehem--Mic 5:2
3--Time of birth--I've seen impressive calculations by two different routes--Dan 9:25 "From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until The Anointed One . . . "
4--Born of a Virgin Isaiah 7:14--I find it interesting that science now considers such a thing all but routinely possible nowadays. It was once laughed at as presposterously impossible. And God didn't need to learn for 2,000 years how to do it.
5--Slaughter of infants Jeremiah 31:15
6--Escape into Egypt Hos 11:1
7--As a prophet Deut 18:15
8--As a Priest, like Melchizedek Psalms 110:4
9--His rejection by Jews Isaiah 53:3
10--Character charistics e. g. wisdom etc. Isaiah 11:2
11--Triumphal entry to Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey Zec 9:9
12--Betrayed by a friend Ps 41:9
13--Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver Zec 11:12
14--Betrayal money to be returned for a potters field Zec 11:13
15--False witnesses accuse Him Ps 27:12
16--Silent when accused Isaiah 53:7
17--Struck and spit on Isa 50:6
18--Hated without cause Ps 69:4
19--Vicarious suffering Isa 53:4-5
20--Crucified with sinners Isa 53:12
21--Hands and feet pierced Ps 22:16
22--Mocked and insulted Ps 22:6-8
23--Given gall and vinegar Ps 69:21
24--Hears prophetic words repeated in mockery Ps 109:4
25--Prays for His enemies Ps 109:4
26--His side to be pierced (rather than routine bone breaking to speed death) Zec 12:10
27--Soldiers to cast lots for His clothes Ps 22:18
28--Not a bone to be broken Ps 34:20
29--To be buried with the rich Isa 53:9
30--His resurrectioin Ps 16:10
31--His ascension Ps 68:18
]

It won't wash that Christ manipulated His life to match the prophecies--with some of them--it would not have been possible without His being God.

NOT ONLY SO . . . THERE'S THE "slight" evidence of the last 2,000 years . . .

One Solitary Life
Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village. He worked in a carpenter shop unil He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office.

He never owned a home. He never set foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He had no credentials but Himself.

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves.

His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying -- and that was His coat. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as that One Solitary Life.

by James A. Francis

However, God in His mercy will prove to all His chosen people WHO HAVE A HEART SERIOUSLY INTERESTED IN SERVING GOD AT ALL--WHO THEIR MESSIAH IS. On the other hand, none of us have the promise of living tomorrow. It's wise to choose His Way while today is still today. As He said in His Word, TODAY is the day of Salvation.

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