Why does Judaism not acknowledge Jesus Christ the same way that Christianity does?
I assume the question means Judaism as taught in the Old Testament concerning the nation of Israel, and Christianity as taught in the New Testament. Each of these terms may have a multitude of meanings and connotations outside the Bible, so I’ll limit my opinion to what the Bible says. Put simply, Judaism does not acknowledge Jesus (Yeshua) as the Messiah. Their rejection of him basically centers around one criterion: the Messiah will bring peace to Israel and defeat its enemies. Anyone who didn’t or doesn’t accomplish this must not be the Messiah. Christianity identifies Jesus as the Messiah, citing the fulfillment of many prophecies in great detail. The fact that he didn’t bring peace to Israel is itself a fulfillment of prophecy, especially those by the prophet Isaiah. Some prophecies refer to the conquering King who brings peace to Israel, but others speak of the Messiah’s suffering and death. Christians hold that these two sets of seemingly conflicting prophecies are reconciled by
Some major ones have been brought up by TShilo, Karawan, and OutThere. There is another I would like to mention as well: Jews believe Jesus did not rise from the dead as He prophesied. It is taught that His disciples stole Him away, despite the legion of Roman soldiers guarding the tomb, the fact that the Pharisees were expecting it because of His prophecies, the disheartened nature of His disciples upon believing Him not the Messiah they’d expected (as told in the Gospels). I don’t know if it’s taught in Judaism but I’ve also heard the theory that Jesus wasn’t truly dead but somehow managed, despite being dehydrated and weak from near death, to remove 70 pounds of burial clothing and spices/body preparation devices, roll back the huge stone guarding the tomb, and then evade capture from a Roman legion, perhaps the most highly trained fighting force in history up to that time. Yes, Jews do believe Jesus didn’t fulfil prophecies. They are taught not to examine certain prophetic areas of
To put it as simply as possible: Jews do not believe in a Trinity. They don’t think Jesus is God, the son of God, or in any way related to God. So Judaism could not possibly perceive Jesus the way Christianity does… it doesn’t believe certain things about him that are at the very heart of Christianity. To the Jews, Jesus was just another Jewish man. And then he became a Jewish man who challenged the establishment, acquired a following, and was seen as somewhat of a threat to the status quo. And as for what happened from that point on… the Crucifixion and Resurrection (and the importance attached to them) are absolutely central to Christian faith, but they can’t be to Judaism because Judaism doesn’t attach the same importance to the man involved. I assume that Judaism wouldn’t even believe that there was a Resurrection…
