Jewish views on Jesus

Judaism's view of Jesus is a very peripheral one. Jews have traditionally seen Jesus as one of a number of false messiahs who have appeared throughout history . Jesus is viewed as having been the most influential, and consequently the most damaging of all false messiahs. However, since the messiah does not take center stage in Judaism, the total rejection of Jesus as either messiah or deity in Judaism has never been a central issue for Judaism. Judaism has never accepted any of the claimed fulfillments of prophecy that Christianity attributes to Jesus. Judaism also forbids the worship of a person as a form of idolatry, since the central belief of Judaism is the absolute unity and singularity of God . Jewish eschatology holds that the coming of the Messiah will be associated with a specific series of events that have not yet occurred, including the return of Jews to their homeland and the rebuilding of The Temple , an era of peace and understanding during which "the knowledge of God" fills the earth, and since Judaism holds that none of these events occurred during the lifetime of Jesus, he is not a candidate for messiah. Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:4 A belief in the divinity of Jesus is incompatible with Judaism: "The point is this: that the whole Christology of the Church - the whole complex of doctrines about the Son of God who died on the Cross to save humanity from sin and death - is incompatible with Judaism, and indeed in discontinuity with the Hebraism that preceded it." Rayner, John D. There is then no way that a Jew can ever accept Jesus as a deity, mediator or savior (messiah), or even as a prophet, without betraying Judaism." Schochet, Rabbi J. "Judaism has no place for those who betray their roots" , Canadian Jewish News , July 29, 1999. Period." ( Jews for Jesus: Who's Who & What's What by Rabbi Susan Grossman (beliefnet - virtualtalmud) August 28, 2006) "For two thousand years, Jews rejected the claim that Jesus fulfilled the messianic prophecies of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the dogmatic claims about him made by the church fathers - that he was born of a virgin, the son of God, part of a divine Trinity, and was resurrected after his death. ... When someone makes that faith commitment, they become Christian. It is not possible for someone to be both Christian and Jewish." ( Why don't Jews accept Jesus as the Messiah? by Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner) ( Isaiah 2:4 ) ( Isaiah 11:9 )

Judaism generally views Jesus as one of a number of Jewish Messiah claimants who have appeared throughout history. Jesus is viewed as having been the most influential, and consequently the most damaging, of all false messiahs . However, since the mainstream Jewish belief is that the messiah has not yet come and the Messianic Age is not yet present, the total rejection of Jesus as either messiah or deity in Judaism has never been a central issue for Judaism. Judaism has never accepted any of the claimed fulfillments of prophecy that Christianity attributes to Jesus. Judaism also forbids the worship of a person as a form of idolatry , since the central belief of Judaism is the absolute unity and singularity of God . Jewish eschatology holds that the coming of the Messiah will be associated with a specific series of events that have not yet occurred, including the return of Jews to their homeland and the rebuilding of The Temple , a Messianic Age of peace and understanding during which "the knowledge of God" fills the earth, and since Jews believe that none of these events occurred during the lifetime of Jesus (nor have they occurred afterwards), he is not a candidate for messiah. Traditional views have been mostly negative, although in the Middle Ages Judah Halevi and Maimonides viewed Jesus ( like Muhammad ) as an important preparatory figure for a future universal ethical monotheism of the Messianic Age. Some modern Jewish thinkers have sympathetically speculated that the historical Jesus may have been closer to Judaism than either the Gospels or traditional Jewish accounts would indicate, starting in the 18th century with the Orthodox Jacob Emden and the reformer Moses Mendelssohn , and this view, though rare in Orthodox Judaism , has become relatively common in Progressive Judaism . Chabad translation by Eliyahu Touge. Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:4 A belief in the divinity of Jesus is incompatible with Judaism: "The point is this: that the whole Christology of the Church - the whole complex of doctrines about the Son of God who died on the Cross to save humanity from sin and death - is incompatible with Judaism, and indeed in discontinuity with the Hebraism that preceded it." Rayner, John D. There is then no way that a Jew can ever accept Jesus as a deity, mediator or savior (messiah), or even as a prophet, without betraying Judaism." Schochet, Rabbi J. Period." ( Jews for Jesus: Who's Who & What's What by Rabbi Susan Grossman (beliefnet - virtualtalmud) August 28, 2006) "For two thousand years, Jews rejected the claim that Jesus fulfilled the messianic prophecies of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the dogmatic claims about him made by the church fathers - that he was born of a virgin, the son of God, part of a divine Trinity, and was resurrected after his death. ... When someone makes that faith commitment, they become Christian. It is not possible for someone to be both Christian and Jewish." ( Why don't Jews accept Jesus as the Messiah? by Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner) Isaiah 2:4 Isaiah 11:9

Jesus is viewed as having been the most influential and, consequently, the most damaging of all false prophets In Judaism , Jesus is viewed as having been the most influential and, consequently, the most damaging of all false prophets. Since the traditional Jewish belief is that the messiah has not yet come and the Messianic Age is not yet present, the total rejection of Jesus as either messiah or deity has never been a central issue for Judaism. Judaism has never accepted any of the claimed fulfilments of prophecy that Christianity attributes to Jesus . Judaism also forbids the worship of a person as a form of idolatry , since the central belief of Judaism is the absolute unity and singularity of God . Jewish eschatology holds that the coming of the Messiah will be associated with a specific series of events that have not yet occurred, including the return of Jews to their homeland and the rebuilding of The Temple , a Messianic Age of peace and understanding during which "the knowledge of God" fills the earth." Since Jews believe that none of these events occurred during the lifetime of Jesus (nor have they occurred afterwards), he was not the Messiah. Traditional views of Jesus have been mostly negative, although in the Middle Ages Judah Halevi and Maimonides viewed Jesus as an important preparatory figure for a future universal ethical monotheism of the Messianic Age. Some modern Jewish thinkers have sympathetically speculated that the historical Jesus may have been closer to Judaism than either the Gospels or traditional Jewish accounts would indicate, starting in the 18th century with the Orthodox Jacob Emden and the reformer Moses Mendelssohn . This view is still espoused by some. Chabad translation by Eliyahu Touge.

Judaism teaches that Jesus of Nazareth was not the Messiah nor "the Son of God ". In the Jewish perspective, the way Christians see Jesus goes against monotheism , a belief in the absolute unity and singularity of God , which is central to Judaism; the worship of a person is seen by them as a form of idolatry . Therefore, considering Jesus a deity is forbidden according to Judaism. Judaism's rejection of Jesus as the Messiah is based on Jewish eschatology , which holds that the coming of the true Messiah will be associated with events that have not yet occurred, such as the rebuilding of The Temple , a Messianic Age of peace, and the ingathering of Jews to their homeland. Historically, some Jewish writers and scholars have considered Jesus as the most damaging " false prophet ", and traditional views of Jesus have been mostly negative, though influential Jewish scholars of the Middle Ages including Judah Halevi and Maimonides viewed Jesus as an important preparatory figure for a future universal ethical monotheism of the Messianic Age. Some modern Jewish thinkers starting in the 18th century with the Orthodox Jacob Emden and the reformer Moses Mendelssohn have sympathetically speculated that the historical Jesus may have been closer to Judaism than either the Gospels or traditional Jewish accounts would indicate, a view that is still espoused by some. Judaism has never accepted any of the claimed fulfilments of prophecy that Christianity attributes to Jesus . Chabad translation by Eliyahu Touge.

Judaism's views on the central figure of Christianity Adherents of Judaism do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah or Prophet nor do they believe he was the Son of God . In the Jewish perspective, it is believed that the way Christians see Jesus goes against monotheism , a belief in the absolute unity and singularity of God , which is central to Judaism; Judaism sees the worship of a person as a form of idolatry , which is forbidden. Therefore, considering Jesus divine , as “ God the Son ”, is forbidden. Judaism's rejection of Jesus as the Messiah is based on Jewish eschatology , which holds that the coming of the true Messiah will be associated with events that have not yet occurred, such as building the Third Temple , a Messianic Age of peace, and the ingathering of Jews to their homeland. Judaism does not accept any of the claimed fulfilments of prophecy that Christianity attributes to Jesus .