Is Yeshua the Messiah?
To some, Yeshua (Jesus of Nazareth) seems like an unlikely candidate for the promised Messiah of Israel. Nearly 2,000 years ago, he was executed by Roman crucifixion after being rejected by the ruling council in Israel. His followers claimed he rose from the dead, fulfilling prophecy in the Tanakh. He then departed from Israel (and the rest of the world) but with a promise to return. Messianic hope has centered around G-d’s Anointed One being a political deliverer who would free Israel from gentile oppression and usher in a never-ending period of Israeli (and worldwide) peace. If Yeshua was the Messiah, he certainly did not fulfill that hope. How, then, could he possibly be G-d’s Anointed? Another way to pose the question is to ask: Did G-d give any scriptural evidence that the Messiah would initially be rejected by Israel, then depart from her for a long span of time, and finally return as her Redeemer? Interestingly, the lives of two prominent Hebrews closely fit such a pattern … J
