Maybe this might be of help concerning why Jews reject Jesus in their thinking....that is if the thread continues much more...
As I see it the Jewish people didn’t believe Messiah would be divine..God in the flesh....further Jewish Belief is Based Solely on ‘National Israel” Revelation,...i.e. God speaking to the entire nation....
Interesting is the one thing that most Jews have in common is they don’t accept Jesus as their savior. That’s the one main thing most all Jews agree and for many Jews that’s where their Judaism ends.... For them, Judaism means we don’t believe in Jesus. Even though for a non-Jew, the offer of Christianity is wonderful.... For a Jew, the offer of Christianity is getting something you already have, ( IE: at Mount Sinai where the Jews received the Law as a nation ) ....In their minds the relationship has already been given to them at Mount Sinai. (In our Christian language it might be said..to them their Salvation happened at Mt. Sinai)
Further, in their minds the Messiah will change the entire world when He comes, there won’t be any question about who He is because He will reveal Himself to all mankind. They also expect and believe the Temple must be there when he comes.
Additionally...one of the primary reason that Jews do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah is that after his arrival and death the world was not redeemed....They continue to see at least as much suffering, pain, and tragedy in the world as there was before Jesus—probably much more. Their Messiah will bring Peace....
Further...The idea that eternal punishment would follow from rejecting Jesus seems downright evil to a Jew....That someone could live a noble life and not be saved, when another could live a depraved and cruel life and through a true conversion of his heart at the end of life still be saved, that simply doesn’t add up in their moral balance sheet, which is the law.
Just these few items represent just how difficult it is for a Jewish individual to believe Jesus is the Messiah...which is why without God giving them understanding of this truth...they simply cannot believe..
I think that it partially has to do with their Collective sense of God some day saving their nation vs the individual accountability each man has before God. Each human has an extremely wicked heart and each human needs one’s own particular surgery. Even the most noble among us has a sin debt that Christ must erase. God saves each individual that will come to him...the parables of Christ that speak of all sorts of “wicked” folks being invited to the rich man’s feast when his own friends wouldn’t come...describes God’s earnest desire to heal the most vile among us spiritually. The natural man doesn’t understand such love.
It isn’t just Jews of course that have an issue with “ moral tally sheet mentality”. Prideful judgmentalism and the desire to be God is often masqueraded by a hyper righteous attitude...hence Christ’s parable of the Pharisee and the sinful Publican!
I enjoyed and very much appreciate your post, Caww. Thanks for pinging me.
I’ll add the following:
The precise date of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem of Messiah and His crucifixion were predicted in the Book of Daniel hundreds of years before their happening. Precision being to the very day, not year nor month, but to the day. Jesus fulfilled that prophecy, along with the many HUNDREDS besides. The problem the Jewish people face is that if Jesus was not the predicted Messiah, then the Book of Daniel was wrong … and there can be NO error in the The Book or the whole of it is wrong, meaning God broke His covenant – which He cannot do. Hence, the proposal by some that “Daniel” was written at a later date because it poses a real problem for Jews who deny Jesus as Messiah:
If Jesus was not Messiah predicted in Daniel: 1) The OT is wrong and if wrong in one part, wrong in total. (By their own standards, if one letter is off and no matter how long it took to copy the Tanakh, the whole thing is scrapped); or 2) no Messiah is forthcoming because the predicted date has long passed.
I’m trying to recall from the memory the Rabbi who left the note naming Messiah, but can’t at the moment. The note was to be opened one year after the Rabbi’s death. It stated, of course, that Jesus was indeed Messiah.
At any rate, if the precision of Daniel is not proof enough, I don’t believe there will be proof sufficient to convince a non-believer of Jesus being the predicted Messiah.
Warm Regards,
SC