 From Messiah to Christ, to the Jew, the Messiah has a most important mission, namely, to bring the world back to God and make it a place of peace, justice, and harmony. When Jesus failed to accomplish this, the early Christians had to radically alter the very concept of the Messiah. This in turn transformed Christianity from another Jewish messianic sect into a religion that is quite alien to many Jewish basic teachings. Belief in the coming of the Messiah has always been a fundamental part of Judaism. Thus for example, Maimonides counts the belief in the Messiah as one of the 13 cardinal principles of Judaism. It is a concept that is repeated again and again throughout the length and breadth of Jewish literature. There have been many people in Jewish history who have claimed to be the Messiah. The most famous, of course, was Jesus. These followers, therefore, gave him the title Christ, or Messiah, the Hebrew word for Messiah, which literally means the anointed. The Greek word for anointed is Christos, and thus Christ is really just another word for Messiah. Although Christians claim that Jesus was the Messiah of the Jews, there are a number of important differences between the way the Jew looks at the Messiah and the way that the Christian does. It is important to know these differences. So let's look at the Jewish Messiah. The Jewish concept of the Messiah is one which is clearly developed by the prophets of the Bible. He is a leader of the Jews, strong in wisdom, in power, in spirit. It is he who will bring complete redemption to the Jewish people, both spiritually and physically. Along with this, he will bring eternal peace, love, prosperity, and moral perfection to the entire world. The Jewish Messiah is truly human in origin. He is born of ordinary human parents and is of flesh and blood like all mortals. As described by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 11 verse 2, the Messiah is full of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge, and the fear of God. He has a special feeling for justice, or as the Talmud put it in Sanhedrin 93b, he smells and judges. He can virtually sense a man's innocence or guilt. The prophet Isaiah in chapter 11 verse 4 goes on to say that the Messiah will smite the tyrant with the rod of his mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of his lips. Evil and tyranny will not be able to stand up before the Messiah. Still the Messiah is primarily a king of peace. Our sages therefore teach us when the Messiah is revealed to Israel, he will only open his mouth for peace. It is thus written, also in Isaiah chapter 52 verse 7, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace. The first task of the Messiah is to redeem Israel from exile and servitude. In doing so, he will also redeem the entire world from evil. Oppression, suffering, war, and all forms of godlessness will be abolished. Mankind will thus be perfected and man sins against God as well as his transgressions against his fellow man who will be eliminated. All forms of warfare and strife between nations will also vanish in the messianic age. Most important, the Jewish Messiah will bring all peoples to God. This is expressed most clearly in the Alayno prayer which concludes all three daily services. In translation it states, May the world be perfected under the kingdom of the Almighty. Let all humans call upon your name and turn all the world's ebredures to you. Let everyone on earth know that every knee must bow to you and let them all accept the yoke of your kingdom. We find a very similar thought in the High Holiday Amida where we pray, Let all creatures bow before you. May they form a single band to do your will with a perfect heart. The Jewish Messiah will thus have the task of perfecting the world. He will redeem man from servitude, oppression, and his own evil. There will be great material prosperity in the world and man will be restored to an Eden-like existence where he can enjoy the fruits of the earth without toil. In the messianic age, the Jewish people will dwell freely in their land of Israel. There will be an ingathering of the exiles when all Jews return to Israel. This will eventually bring all nations to acknowledge the God of Israel and accept the truth of his teachings. The Messiah will thus not only be king over Israel, but in a sense ruler over all nations. Ultimately, redemption comes from God alone and the Messiah is only an instrument in his hands. He is a human being consisting of flesh and blood like all mortals. He is however the finest of the human race and as such must be crowned with the highest virtues that mortal man can attain. Although the Messiah may achieve the upper limit of human perfection, he is still human. The kingdom of the Jewish Messiah is definitely of this world. Judaism is a religion based on a people serving God. It is from the Jew that God's teachings emanate to all humanity. The redemption of Israel must therefore precede that of the rest of mankind. Before God redeems the world, he must redeem his oppressed, suffering, exiled and persecuted people, returning them to their own land and restoring them to their status. The ultimate promise, however, is not limited to Israel alone. The redemption of the Jew is closely linked to the emancipation of all humanity as well as the destruction of evil and tyranny. It is the first step in man's return to God where all mankind will be united into a single band to fulfill God's purpose. This is the kingdom of the Almighty in the Messianic Age. Although the Messiah may occupy a central place in this kingdom of heaven, he is still not the primary figure. This position can only belong to God himself. This in brief is the concept of the Jewish Messiah. Now let's look at the Christian Messiah. The primary figure in Christianity is its Messiah. Its very name indicates that Christianity is completely based on the personality of the Messiah. As mentioned earlier, the name Christ comes from the Greek word Christos for Messiah. The Christians are thus those who make the person of the Messiah central to their teachings. The first major difference between the Jews and the early Christians was that the Christians believed that the Messiah had already come. While the Jews believed that, he had yet to arrive. At first, this was the main point of controversy. The Jews had one major objection to the Christian Messiah, and that was the fact that he had been unsuccessful. Judaism had always taught that the Messiah would redeem Israel in a political sense that Jesus had failed to accomplish this. Instead, he had been scourged and humiliated like a common rebel, and finally crucified along with two ordinary thieves. How could the career of Jesus be reconciled with the glorious picture of the Messiah as taught by the prophets of Israel? The early Christians faced this dilemma and, in justifying Jesus as the Messiah, radically altered the entire concept. These new messianic ideas were developed in the writing of John, and even more so in the Epistles of Paul. If we look at these sources, we find a gradual transition. The Messiah of the Jew progressively becomes transformed into the Christ of the Christian. This can be traced in a series of logical steps. First Jesus was totally unsuccessful in redeeming the Jews politically, and therefore the early Christians could no longer look upon this as the task of the Messiah. His redemption had to be given a new meaning. They therefore thought that his mission was not to redeem man from political oppression, but only to redeem him from spiritual evil. Once the Messiah's mission was redefined, it could also be expanded. Political oppression was a special problem of the Jews, but spiritual evil is worldwide. The early Christians therefore began to teach that Jesus had come to redeem the whole world. They rejected the view that he would come to redeem the Jewish people and their land first, and only then redeem the rest of the world. The Messiah's reign is therefore universal, but only spiritual. The Kingdom of Jesus is thus not of this world. Jesus had been scourged and humiliated like a common rebel. His followers felt, however, that he had only preached repentance and good works, and therefore could not be a common rebel. They were then faced with an important and difficult question. If Jesus was the true Messiah, then why did God allow him to undergo such frightful suffering? Why was he subjected to crucifixion, the most painful and shameful death of all? Why did God not save him from all of this? For his followers, there could only be one answer. The fact that Jesus was scourged and humiliated and crucified had to be the will of God. But still, another question remained. If Jesus did not sin, what purpose could there be in his suffering and death? For this, the early Christians found their most ingenious solution. The only answer could be that he suffered and died because of the sins of mankind. But the question was still not completely answered. Had there not been suffering and death before this, why did Christ himself have to suffer and die? What sin was so great that it required his sacrifice? The early Christians answered that this was required to atone for the sin of Adam. All mankind is descended from Adam and therefore all inherit his sin. This original sin cannot be erased with good works or even with ordinary human suffering. The only thing that could eliminate it was the death of Jesus. The Messiah of the Christians therefore willingly went to a disgraceful and painful death in order that humanity might be redeemed from this original sin. Mankind is therefore redeemed from evil, sin, suffering, death and the powers of Satan only by the blood of Christ. Support for this belief was found in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah where the prophet speaks of God's suffering servant who bore the sin of many. Instead of interpreting it to refer to the persecuted people Israel, the early Christians claim that it referred to Jesus. But still the question remained, how could the career of the redeemer end in such a shameful death? The story had to be given a sequel. Such an epilogue was found in another traditional Jewish belief, namely that of the resurrection of the dead. The early Christians therefore taught that Jesus had risen from the dead and furthermore that he was the first one to do so. Therefore Jesus was not mortal like other men. Jesus followers could not bring themselves to say that God had forced this suffering and death upon his Messiah. Therefore they had to say that the will of the Messiah was exactly the same as the will of God even when it came to his crucifixion. But how could a mere mortal undertake such suffering? The early Christians replied that Jesus was not a mere mortal. Since his will was so uniquely related to that of God, he had to be related to God in some special way. During his lifetime Jesus often spoke of God as my Father in Heaven. For the Jews this was a common poetic expression and one that is still used in Jewish prayer. For the pagan Gentiles, however, had a much more literal connotation. The Greeks already had legends about men who had been fathered by gods who had visited mortal human women. Legends like these had even sprung up about such eminent men as Plato and Pythagoras and Alexander the Great. Why should Jesus be any less? They therefore interpreted his poetic expression quite literally to mean that he had an actual genetic relationship with God. Jesus therefore became the Son of God conceived when the Holy Spirit visited Mary. As the Son of God, Jesus was not susceptible to sin or even death. The death of Jesus was therefore only temporary. The only reason why it was needed at all was to atone for the sin of Adam. His followers taught that Jesus was resurrected for eternity and ascended to heaven. There, he sits at the right hand of God even higher than the angels. This was the first step towards the deification of Jesus. It was not very difficult for the pagan world to take the second step. Jesus was credited with such statements as in John chapter 10 verse 30, I and the Father are one. He had also spoken of in Matthew chapter 28 verse 19, the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost. It was easy for the paganized Christians to look at the three as equal and identify Jesus with the Son. Jesus therefore became God, man, one person with two natures. He is God and man at the same time. Christians therefore soon found themselves speaking of Mary as the mother of God. Still, there were many messianic prophecies that Jesus had failed to fulfill. The early Christians therefore taught that he would return to the world in a second coming. The day of judgment will then occur and Jesus, having taken his seat at the right hand of his Father, will judge every man who had ever lived. Those who believed in him will be delivered, while those who did not will be eternally damned to hell. It is only after this judgment that Satan will be conquered. Evil will then end, sin will vanish, and death will pass away. The powers of darkness will thus be eliminated, and the kingdom of heaven established. In this world, meanwhile, all prayer must be addressed to Jesus. The Christian therefore concludes every prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. In this sense, Jesus is the mediator between God and man. This in essence is what the early Christians did to the Jewish concept of the Messiah. The Messiah ceased to be a mere man and passed beyond the limits of mortality. They taught that man cannot redeem himself from sin, and therefore God, clothed in the form of the Messiah, had to freely shed his own blood to redeem mankind. Since Jesus did not fulfill the most important messianic prophecies, they expected him to return to complete this task in a second coming. At first, Christians expected that this second coming would come very shortly, and prayed that they would see it in their lifetime. When their prayer was not answered, they began to hope that it would come a thousand years after Jesus' death. This was the millennium, or a thousand-year kingdom. Finally, after a thousand years passed, Jesus still had not returned. They postponed this second coming to an indefinite time. We therefore see that the early Christians were forced to radically alter the Jewish concept of the Messiah in order to explain Jesus' failure. This compounded with the pagan influence of the early church, gave birth to a messianic concept totally alien to Judaism. What is the Jewish reaction? It is not difficult to understand why Jews totally rejected the contentions of Christianity. First of all, the Jews had a tradition well supported in the teachings of the prophets that the Messiah would bring about major changes in the world. The spiritual kingdom did not in any way fulfill these prophecies. The Jews were furthermore unconvinced by the answer of the second coming since it was not even hinted to in the biblical literature. Thus, first of all, the Jews found absolutely no evidence to support Jesus' claim to having been the Messiah. On the other hand, Jesus' lack of success appeared to repudiate it. Even more important, however, was the fact that Christians had logically developed a belief in Jesus in such a manner that they radically altered many of the most basic Jewish beliefs, even such as the basic concept of the unity of God was threatened by their teachings. Even if the evidence of Jesus' Messiahship were more concrete, its logical consequences would have to be rejected. The early Christians tried to justify their contention by finding hints of it in the Jewish scriptures. They went over the entire Bible with a fine tooth comb looking for any evidence, however flimsy, to prove that Jesus was the Messiah and that their entire logical structure was in accord with the ancient Jewish teachings. In many cases, they were not above using verses out of context, changing texts, and even mistranslating them in order to prove their point. One needs no further evidence than the fact that most modern Christian scholars totally reject almost all the proofs of the early Christians. Indeed, some of the best refutations of these proofs may be found in contemporary Christian Bible commentaries. Most important, Christianity tried to set itself up as the new Israel and looked upon the Jews as utterly rejected by God. It therefore taught that Judaism was a corrupt and dying religion with little hope of growth or success. The Jews, on the other hand, did much more than argue this point with words. They refuted it by embarking on one of the most creative periods in their history. The entire scope of Talmudic literature was developed essentially during early post-Christian times. Thus, to the Jew, the strongest refutation of Christianity was the fact that Judaism itself remained alive and vital. The Jew has found that he can both exist and flourish without accepting Christian beliefs. He believes that the Messiah is yet to come and that at that time the truth will become known and the Jew will be justified before all the world.