Traditional rabbis claim that Jesus is not the Messiah because even though he fulfilled many of their expectations written by the Prophets, he did not bring about the complete restoration and everlasting peace in Israel as promised.
There are multitudes of prophecies that point to Jesus as the Messiah, so that even if a few of them can be shown to be misinterpretations, the remaining others as a whole stand firm in establishing his identity
One very controversial prophecy appearing in the Book of Daniel, (chapter 9, verse 26) states “Messiah will be cut off … and the people of the ruler will come and destroy the city and the sanctuary”. This accurately predicts the Messiah’s death shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans as occurred in the early first century CE. And this is exactly what happened to Jesus. Other prophecies in Daniel establish that the Messiah will eventually return to fulfill the rest of the promises.
To appreciate this better, we must understand that just as a week of days in the Bible means 7 days, so a week of years in the Bible means 7 years.
Other parts of the prophecies in Daniel 9 state that the Messiah will bring about total restoration and peace in a specified period amounting to 70 weeks of years, but that would be interrupted in the 69th week for an unspecified time and then completed. The Messiah’s return will occur during the 70th week to complete the work as promised.
The reason traditional rabbis refute the interpretation of Daniel 9:26 so strongly is because it establishes that Jesus is the Messiah who came a first time before the destruction of the Temple in the 69th week and will return again after an unspecified time of delay in the 70the week. Much of the motivation for the traditional rabbis to refute this so hard stems from the persecution of Jews by the apostate church throughout ancient history, and thus the need to isolate the Jewish people from this insanity and protect them from being converted into it.
Who can blame the rabbis back then? But this is now. Jews have more allies in the mainstream Christian world than ever before. In fact, Israeli leaders have sometimes commented that they appreciate the support, but that sometimes mainline Christian groups have been so eager that they get in the way. I need to reiterate at this point that church groups which did not become politicized, but maintained purity of spirit, did not persecute Jews, and often became allies.
Politicalization of religion is the greatest curse of mankind. In the Christian world it creates a worldly empirical empire instead of a home for the Kingdom of God which Jesus taught his followers to enter. Empire is what causes armies to invade and lies to be perpetrated to gain unholy riches and power. Religious leaders lose their focus on God and start to make pacts with politicians to try to bring about agendas without God’s planning. The results are disastrous. They ignore the prophetic admonition, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, sayeth the Lord”. They have forgotten how the path of rebellious King Saul who refused God’s direction led to destruction and defeat, and how King David’s heartfelt submission brought victory.
I believe the days are coming soon when many people who call themselves Christians now but have been blinded by political and religious deceit will have their spiritual eyes opened and will no longer be pulled into political and religious vortex of corruption. I believe they will stop looking for answers and a quick fix for a sense of identity from conspiracy theorists, from false prophets, from contaminated televangelists, from best-selling authors who manipulate scripture, from political leaders who perpetually lie and claim they and only they have the answers to all their problems, from political leaders who blackmail other politicians into following them, and from the religious leaders who have enmeshed themselves to support those corrupt politicians.
I pray that people will have faith to step out from the yoke of corruption around them and within them, who will be willing to toss it all away the way the corrupt tax collectors did when Jesus taught them, and start over the way Jesus intended them to, to begin to dismantle the corrupt political and religious machines, to love God with all their minds, hearts, and souls, to put God first in all things, and to hearken to the leadings of the Holy Spirit to establish and to guide them. I promise you that doing that will be an experience you will never regret. It’s also a lot of fun at times, at other times extremely challenging, but all in all, definitely fulfilling
Remember, Jesus was not a politician. He did not come the first time to chase out the enemies from without. For what good would it have done to rout out the foreign oppressors, as has been done over and over again in Israel’s history, only to have the enemy from within – the darkness in the corners of men’s souls – cause the people to forget and again fall away from their eternal guardian. How else would they eventually learn to love their enemies, to turn the other cheek, to share their blessings with the stranger, and to protect the weak and needy?
WHO DO YOU SAY I AM? Jesus is the Messiah who came the first time to heal men’s souls, who, as the prophets predicted, would be rejected by most of his own, until the church of mostly Gentiles would be refined and purified.
Some of you will understand, others will be offended. Some have already tried to silence me. Facebook notified me that someone with an Iphone 12 recently tried unsuccessfully to take over my facebook page. Hey, friend, I don’t know who you are. But, hey, buddy, I’m just the messenger. And the way this thing works is I am being humbled, refined, disciplined, and redirected as much as anyone. But I wouldn’t trade it for all the world.
NEW DIRECTIONS MINISTRIES 