It is surprising that only a few Jews recognised Jesus as the Messiah Do you agree

by charliekananihotmailcom (student)

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

“It is surprising that only a few Jews recognised Jesus as the Messiah” Do you agree

Many people don’t understand the reason that only a few Jews recognised Jesus as the Messiah. Many people would say that Jesus worked miracles, claimed to be the Son of God and came back from the dead so why would people not recognise Jesus as the Messiah. But if one looks deeper into the mentality and expectations of the average Jewish person on what they thought the Messiah would be like, it would be completely different to what Jesus was like and what we think the Messiah would be like.

The Greek translation of the Messiah is ‘The Anointed one.’ In the Old Testament Messiah was also the term for a King and anointing the King with oil was a mark that he was chosen by God, so technically they weren’t expecting “a Son of God”. I believe that Jews were expecting a King such as King David. “Son of David was another Messianic title. David was arguably Israel’s greatest ruler and during his reign was peace and prosperity. Jeremiah prophesised specifically about this, “The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” Because of prophecies like this it was widely thought that the Messiah was going to be more of a political leader than anything else.

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During the 1st Century the Romans had control of Israel. Most Jews hoped for a Messiah that would be warrior. A group of people called the Zealots spent their time looking for a warrior Messiah. In the Book of Daniel it was prophesised that “one like the Son of Man will be ruling with God in glory.” This quotation emphasises that the Messiah would be powerful.

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Another reason that the Jews didn’t recognise Jesus as the Messiah was because of the fact that in Deuteronomy 18:15-18 it talked about how God would raise up another prophet like Moses, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” Even though Jesus had many similarities to Moses for example both were delivered from death as infants and both performed miracles, Jesus wasn’t a prophet but instead was the Son of God or Messiah.

There are many factors though, that led people to believe that Jesus was the Messiah for example in Isaiah 9:6-7 which was written about 700 years before the time of Jesus, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” This one sentence predicts a lot about Jesus and all of the things listed he fulfilled. Jesus encouraged peace, counselled or taught people right from wrong and above all Jesus was the Son of God.

In Isaiah 40:1-5 it talks about John the Baptist and how he will make the way for Jesus. “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.” John the Baptist was well known and was also known live in the desert “eating wild honey and locusts” It is surprising that not many people recognised Jesus from this quote.

Psalm 22 foreshadowed Christ’s suffering before his death it talked about how the Romans gambled for his clothes, “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing”. Then it talks about how they crucified Christ, “they have pierced my hands and my feet”. I believe that this Psalm alone prophecies so much about the end of Christ’s life.

In conclusion I believe that it isn’t surprising that not all the Jews recognised Jesus as the Messiah, personally I don’t believe that I would recognise him as the Messiah to start with. Also at the time of Jesus there was another miracle worker called Honi the Circle Drawer. Even though Jesus did many spectacular things for example calming storms, bringing people back from the dead and feeding five thousand people with a couple loaves and a few fish people were expecting a different Messiah not a humble carpenter but someone royal or aristocratic.