If Jesus is the Messiah, why don't most Jews believe it?
Partly history: for centuries people calling themselves Christians persecuted Jews in Jesus' name, which misled many Jews about who he is. Partly how key passages came to be read. And partly the human heart, which the prophets said would struggle.
The first believers in Yeshua were all Jewish: his disciples, the thousands in Jerusalem (Acts 2, Acts 21:20). For decades it was a movement inside Judaism.
Then came a long, painful history. Crusades, forced debates, expulsions and pogroms carried out by people who said they followed Jesus taught Jews to see him as the enemy. That history misled many Jewish people about who he really is. We're sorry for it, and it has nothing to do with his teaching.
At the same time, the ways key passages are read in the synagogue changed: Isaiah 53 came to be read as the nation, and it isn't among the synagogue's haftarah readings. You can read our documented account on the "Were you misled?" page.
Isaiah himself asked, "Who has believed our report?" (53:1). Paul, a Jew, said the hardening is partial and temporary (Romans 11).
In the Scriptures
1מִ֥י הֶאֱמִ֖ין לִשְׁמֻעָתֵ֑נוּ וּזְר֥וֹעַ יְהוָ֖ה עַל־מִ֥י נִגְלָֽתָה׃
1'Who would have believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Isaiah 53:1 (Hebrew & JPS 1917)
Sources
- Acts 2:41 and 21:20
- Romans 11:25-26
- Haftarah tables (see "Why isn't Isaiah 53 read in the synagogue?")
