Is Jesus the Jewish Messiah?
When Jesus was born, wise men from the East traveled to Israel to find and worship the newborn King of the Jews, following a bright star in the sky. They believed this brilliant star was a sign of the birth of a great king, who had been promised by ancient Hebrew prophets.
Author Ray Stedman reveals that the long-awaited hope for the Jewish Messiah is a resounding theme throughout the Old Testament (The Hebrew Scriptures also known as the Tanakh).
From the very beginning of the Old Testament, there is a sense of hope and expectation, like the sound of approaching footsteps: Someone is coming!… That hope increases…as prophet after prophet declares yet another tantalizing hint: Someone is coming!1
Christians and Messianic Jews (Jewish followers of Jesus) are convinced that while on earth, Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled hundreds of these ancient messianic prophecies in detail.2 However, most religious Jews are still waiting for their Messiah.
In his book, A Rabbi Looks at Jesus of Nazareth3, Jonathan Bernis attempts to unravel the mystery of the Messiah by taking a deeper look at Jesus (Yeshua) and his claims. As a Jew, Bernis thought Jesus was just a great moral teacher who started a new religion. After being challenged to look at Jesus in light of ancient Hebrew prophecies, he began his search.
Five profound questions intrigued Bernis:
- Did Jesus truly fulfill the prophetic “fingerprint” of the Messiah?
- Why did the Jewish leaders reject Jesus as their Messiah?
- What was the Messiah’s Mysterious Identity?
- Was Jesus the “suffering servant” of Isaiah 53?
- Did Jesus’ rise from the dead?
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