What is the Jewish Veiw of Jesus?

tarotgirl · What is the Jewish Veiw of Jesus?

According to the New Testament and the Christian church, Jesus is divine, the son of God, the Messiah. In sharp contrast, Jews believe Jesus was a man - period.

Jesus - The Man

Jews believe that Jesus was a Jew who was born in Bethlehem, raised in Galilee, and killed in Jerusalem. Like other Jews in his day, Jesus spoke and wrote the Aramaic language. His own Aramaic name was Yeshua.

Like other educated Jews in his day, he was faithful to the law of Moses, learned in Jewish scriptures and oral law, steeped in the spirit of the Pharisees (the leading religious teachers of his day), and expectant of the coming of the Messianic Era (which he called the "Kingdom of God"). In his day, many people called Jesus "rabbi."

Like other religious, nationalistic Jews before and after him, Jesus angered the Roman government. The Romans considered the ideas preached by Jesus to be dangerous. As a result, the Romans arrested Jesus during his Passover trip to Jerusalem. Then the Romans, upon the order of the Roman procurator, executed Jesus.

Yeshu - A Talmudic Tale

A story about a man named Yeshu can be found in the Talmud. There is debate whether this Yeshu in the Talmud is the same Jesus who later became a Christian divinity.

According to the Talmud, Yeshu was the son of a Jewish woman named Miriam who was betrothed to a carpenter. "Betrothed" means she was legally married to him, but she was not yet living with him or having sexual relations with him. The story says that Miriam was either raped by or voluntarily slept with Pandeira, a Greek or Roman soldier. Miriam than gave birth to Yeshu, who was considered a "mamzer" (bastard), a product of an adulterous relationship. The Talmud describes Yeshu as a heretic who dabbled in sorcery and lead the people astray. Later, the Sanhedrin (the Jewish "Supreme Court") ordered Yeshu stoned to death and his dead body was hung from a tree until nightfall after his death, in accordance with the ancient Jewish punishment for heretics.

While some believe there is no connection between the Talmudic Yeshu and the Christian Jesus, others believe there is a connection. The main inconsistency between the Talmudic and Christian story is that during the time that Jesus was killed, the Romans ruled and the Sanhedrin did not have the power to impose the death penalty. Thus, some Jews believe that today's popular Christian ideas about Jesus are based on a melding of the Talmudic story of Yeshu and the historian Josephus' writing about Jesus, which included his execution by the Romans.

Jesus - The Messiah

After Jesus' death, a group of simple fishermen and artisans, called "Nazarenes" after Jesus' hometown of Nazareth, became his followers. Jesus' brother James, headed the Nazarenes in Jerusalem for approximately thirty years, until 62 C.E. when he was also executed by the Romans. The Nazarenes observed Jewish laws, and they believed that Jesus would return soon to inaugurate God's kingdom on earth. Thus, Jesus was a founder of a religious movement, or more specifically of the sect of the Nazarenes within Judaism.

The Nazarene sect, however, did not last more than four centuries. The Romans killed many Nazarenes, for being observant Jews, during the Jewish revolt of 70 C.E. The faith of the remaining Nazarenes, who awaited Jesus to return and save them, was greatly tested by the Roman conquest.

With the weakening of the Jews and Nazarenes, early Christianity, led by Paul, flourished in the major cities of the Roman world - Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Ephesus and Corinth. Christianity claimed Jesus as its founder and also as God incarnate.

The Jewish View of Jesus

Jews believe Jesus himself would have been shocked to know that many people today view him as the Messiah. According to Judaism, Jesus was a Jewish man who was executed and later given divine status by the Christian church.

Adapted from:
http://judaism.about.com/od/beliefs/a/jesus.htm

TG