The Return of the Jewish Messiah

I am Jewish by birth and attended Sunday school at a synagogue until I was a teenager.  But it wasn’t until many years after becoming a believer that I learned that Jesus was Jewish.  This knowledge was the beginning of an incredible journey to understand His (and my) Hebrew roots.

I often wondered why the Jewish leaders did not recognize Jesus as their Messiah.  They dutifully and rigorously studied the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), most likely on a daily basis.  They knew about the writings of the prophets (while there was no collection of these books yet, the various texts were read as separate scrolls).¹  So how could they have missed it?

Believers today are fortunate to have knowledge from both the Old and New Testaments.  We can look back and clearly see how Jesus fulfilled Scriptural prophecies during His first advent on earth.  We have the advantage of having the full picture and of knowing exactly what we are looking for. 

The Jewish people were looking for Christ too, but I think their preconceived beliefs about who the Messiah was — and the role He would play — kept them from seeing the entire story.  When you explore both early and later Jewish beliefs, however, the parallels are amazing.

The Jewish people held the belief that there would be a future Messianic period, which would bring salvation to the Jewish people and to the whole world.  Their hope was for a future king who would redeem Israel and establish the kingdom of God on earth.²

In apocalyptic literature of the last two centuries B.C.E., the Messiah is described as a powerful warrior and ruler.  He was also described as a supernatural being who existed from the beginning of days and was close to God; designated as the “son of man” or as “My son.”  He is also sometimes described as an angelic being whose existence antedated the creation of the world, just waiting for the right time to reveal Himself and assume His seat of glory.  At that time He will dispense justice to all the inhabitants of the earth.²

The Jewish people also had a double concept of the Messiah: One Messiah was the son of Joseph, and another Messiah was the son of David.  They came to associate the figure of their Messiah with King David or a descendant of King David.  This idealized version of the Messiah fueled their expectation of a mighty warrior and king — and they were correct — but this will not be fulfilled until Christ Jesus’ second advent. 

When Jesus read from Isaiah 61:1-2 in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21) he stopped at the comma in the middle of passage:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,

The Jewish leaders had no idea that the remaining part of that passage (and the day of vengeance of our God;) would be fulfilled at a future time. 

The idea of a Messiah’s supernatural birth, earthly suffering, and death to atone for sin and bring salvation to those who believe in Him was inconceivable to many Jews during the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  It is not so surprising when you consider that even those who were closest to him — his disciples — did not fully understand this for themselves until Jesus appeared to them after He was crucified.  

Jesus’ resurrection was certainly beyond the realm of understanding of the Sadducees, who did not believe in resurrection.  It was also beyond their level of comprehension that a Messiah could come first as a suffering servant, be raised from the dead, and return to earth once again as king.

The Jewish people looked to the Messianic era (yemoth hamashiah, which literally means “days of the Messiah”) as a period of redemption to be ushered in and ruled over by the Messiah.  It is a time that marks the return of the people of Israel to the land of Israel. 

Interestingly, the “days of the Messiah” are different from the “world to come,” which will usher in resurrection and the judgment and the reign of God.   Later Jewish writings suggest that the Messianic era was postponed due to sin and will be preceded by social and political problems, extreme poverty, heresy, and wars, including the wars of Gog and Magog.  Jewish writers during the Middle Ages pointed to a new Jerusalem and a time of perfection.²

A more contemporary parallel to what we see with “kingdom now” believers is a platform that was established by American rabbis in 1937.  They stated that their historical task is to “cooperate with all men in the establishment of the Kingdom of God, of universal brotherhood, justice, truth and peace on earth.”² 

Issac Landman, an American reformed rabbi, educator, and prolific author who lived from 1880 to 1946 and edited the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, wrote that “The hope for a future king who will redeem Israel and establish the kingdom of God upon earth is not expressly found either in the Biblical or in the Apocryphal writings.”  

Believers know that there are Bible passages that speak to Jesus’ return to earth as King and reigning upon David’s throne (Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 1:31-33, Psalms 132:11, the tenth chapter of Zechariah, and the eleventh chapter of Romans, to name a few).  But we have the power of the Holy Spirit, which reveals to us the mysteries of the Kingdom within Scripture.

It is impossible for unbelievers to understand these mysteries (some believers are blind to them as well).  God opened my eyes when I asked Him to show me that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and our future King.  If you happen to be of the Jewish faith, I pray that you will ask God to open your eyes too. 

 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7)

1. Jones, Barry A (2000). "Canon of the Old Testament." David Noel Freedman. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans.

2.  The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia.  Isaac Landman, Ed.