Posted by Bible Probe on July 10, 2006 at 18:41:09:
The Apostle Paul (born name Saul), himself a Jew, said that the Jews are "Supernaturally blinded" vis-a-vis the identity real Messiah until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And he is right. Despite all the brain-power the Jews have always had -- collectively, they cannot help but stumble over this MOST important thing, despite all the clues. Yeshua fulfilled over 300 Messianic prophecies. Over 105 of these nobody other than Yeshua/Jesus could have fulfilled. Astronomical odds...
Dozens have been hailed as Messiah by the Jews since the first century. The latest proclaimed to be the Messiah by the Lubavicher Hasidim is Rebbe Menahem Mendel Schneersohn of Crown Heights in New York, even though he died in 1994.
Among the most prominent were Bar Kochba and Shabbetai Zevi. From ancient times to the present, Jewish believers have prayed for the coming of messianic deliverance, a hope that has sustained the Jewish people through centuries of suffering and destruction.
Bar Kochba led a revolt against Rome in the years 132-135 A.D. During this revolt, one of the most famous figures in Jewish history, Rabbi Akiva, proclaimed him to be "King Messiah." Unfortunately, Bar Kochba, Akiva and thousands of Jews were killed in 135 A.D. when the Romans stormed the stronghold of Betar.
Shabbetai Zevi, on the other hand, was a self-proclaimed Messiah. Throughout the world, Jews were persuaded that the Messiah had come and flocked to his court. Flourishing in 17th-century Europe, the Shabbatean movement spread among both the common people and the rabbis. But when Shabbetai Zevi was arrested in 1666 by the Sultan of Turkey, he converted to Islam rather than face death.
For historic indicators that Jews will once again chose a false Messiah, and will willingly follow false teachers is this very germane example from the middle ages. Prior to the early middle ages rabbis always concurred that the "suffering servant" passage of Isaiah 53 was a prediction of the Messiah. Anyone who has ever read this knows immediately it speaks of Jesus suffering on the cross. By the 11th century, pressure from those who applied this prophecy to Jesus was so great that the great, beloved Jewish scholar Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhak (known as Rashi), reinterpreted this chapter and said it referred to the nation of Israel and not the Messiah. Jewish scholars continue to maintain this false teaching today.
Not all rabbis accepted this “new” view. Rabbi Mosheh Kohen ben Crispin of Cordova & Toledo (14th century), answered Rashi by saying: "The interpretation of Rashi distorts the passage from its natural meaning,” and “it was given of God as a description of the Messiah. Rabbi Naphtali ben Asher Alltschuler (1500 A.D.) said; “I will proceed to explain these verses of our own Messiah, may he come soon, I am surprised that Rashi and Kimchi have not with the Targums applied it to Messiah likewise.”
Though the language clearly speaks of one dying for our sins, Rashi's view which differed with the ancient Jewish sages, and Jewish Scripture itself caught on and prevails in Judaism today -- perhaps because it seemed to provide some answer to refute the believer's claims in Yeshua/Jesus. Going way back to the Babylonian Talmud, we find ancient sages disagreeing with Rabbi Rashi, as the Babylonian Talmud speaks of Isaiah 53 as a suffering/stricken messiah:
The Messiah -- what is his name? . . . The Rabbis say, the leprous one; those of the house of Rabbi say, the sick one, as it is said, "Surely he hath borne our sicknesses." (Sanhedrin 98b)
Prior to Rashi, the ancient commentators with one accord noted that the context clearly speaks of God's Anointed One, the Messiah. The Aramaic translation of this chapter, ascribed to Rabbi Jonathan ben Uzziel, a disciple of Hillel who lived early in the second century A.D:
Behold my servant Messiah shall prosper; he shall be high, and increase, and be exceeding strong: as the house of Israel looked to him through many days, because their countenance was darkened among the peoples, and their complexion beyond the sons of men. (Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 53, ad locum)
The words of Isaiah 53 are among clearest in all the Bible. Also, it is no accident that it lays in the center of the Bible. The passage tells of an outstanding Servant of the Lord whose visage is marred and is afflicted and stricken. This "Suffering Servant" has not deserved any pain or wounds, but was wounded through our transgressions, bruised through our iniquities, and with his wounds we are healed. The text presents the suffering Servant of the Lord who dies as a korban, or a recompense for guilt. He is then buried with the rich and wicked, but is gloriously resurrected to life. God permits His afflicted, and this exalted Servant endures this agonizing and painful suffering in order to remove the sins of many.
All of the ancient Jewish writings (Mishnah, Gemara, Talmud, Midrashin) all regard this portion of scripture as relating to the Messiah. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 98) teaches that Isaiah 53 refers to Messiah. The Targum of Jonathan begins it with the words Ha yatslakh avdee Mashikha, "Behold my servant the Messiah shall prosper"...
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