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Why don't/didn't Jews accept Christ?
I don't get it. Christ fulfilled all of the prophecies and told them that he was the Messiah and gave signs and did miracles. Could it have been more obvious that we was the Christ?? Why didn't the Jews in Christ's time believe that he was the Messiah and why don't they still today?
Comments
I would think that the Jews who rejected Christ are still stuck like the first century Jews...waiting for a Messiah who has already come, but they don't know that because they were looking for the wrong things in Him.
Unfortunately, we do the same on many occasions.
[quote author=dzheremi link=topic=11081.msg133966#msg133966 date=1300997041]
The explanation for why He told men not to tell is more interesting: Even the apostles, being Jews, had the wrong idea at that time of who or what type of person the Messiah would be. They were expecting a military liberator, because that is what they had been told the Messiah would be. Christ was not that, and even worse (from their perspective), He was to suffer and die! They would not have understood that (and indeed it takes some time for the apostles to comprehend it), because it was not what they understood the Messiah to be in the first place.
I think this is the exact reason why the Jews in first century Palestine rejected Christ. They interpreted the scriptures to suit their own needs. They were looking for a man who would liberate them from the Romans and re-established the Davidic kingdom on earth. They didn't see the bigger picture that God had planned for them: liberation from sin and establishment of an eternal kingdom.
[quote author=dzheremi link=topic=11081.msg133966#msg133966 date=1300997041]
The explanation for why He told men not to tell is more interesting: Even the apostles, being Jews, had the wrong idea at that time of who or what type of person the Messiah would be. They were expecting a military liberator, because that is what they had been told the Messiah would be. Christ was not that, and even worse (from their perspective), He was to suffer and die! They would not have understood that (and indeed it takes some time for the apostles to comprehend it), because it was not what they understood the Messiah to be in the first place.
I think this explanation makes the most sense. The Jews were looking for a messiah that would save them from the Romans and re-establish the Davidic kingdom on earth and restore the children of Israel to their former glory. They did not understand God's plan to save them from something much worse: bondage from sin and the establishment of an eternal kingdom.
Dzheremi's comment was very good. But also the reason why many Jews don't believe in Christ is....because of Christian themselves! Dont want to offend nor start any arguments either ;D. Jews have gone through soooo much persecution through out the centuries that they have developed a certain "resistance" to being open to anything Christ. It's similiar to how many Copts have resisted islam not only because it's not God-revealed but because of the ongoing persecutions to this day from fanatical muslims! Fanatics are in ALL faiths. God loves the sinner but hates the sin.
I am not sure I understand. Could you explain more? Why would the persecution of the Jews make them averse to believing in Christ? The persecutions of the Jews were not carried out by Christians, or at least not only by Christians.
I am not sure I understand. Could you explain more? Why would the persecution of the Jews make them averse to believing in Christ? The persecutions of the Jews were not carried out by Christians, or at least not only by Christians.
Sorry to butt in; its just that I am studying Medieval Europe at the moment, and yes, Western Christianity at least is responsible for some terrible Jewish persecution. Just as an example, this is from Bishop Gregory of Tours' "History of the Franks" recording what happened to Jews in a French town:
The bishop prayed also that [the Jews] should be converted to the Lord and that the veil of the letter should be torn from them, and one of them asked to be baptized on holy Easter, and being born again in God by the sacrament of baptism, in his white garments he joined the white clad procession with the others. When the people were going in through the gate of the city one of the Jews, urged to it by the devil, poured stinking oil on the head of the converted Jew. And when all the people, horrified at this, wished to stone him, the bishop would not allow it. But on the blessed day on which the Lord ascends to heaven in glory after the redemption of man, when the bishop was walking in procession from the cathedral to the church singing psalms, a multitude of those who followed rushed upon the synagogue of the Jews and destroying it from the foundations they leveled it to the ground. On another day the bishop sent messengers to them saying: "I do not compel you by force to confess the Son of God, but nevertheless I preach him and I offer to your hearts the salt of wisdom. I am the shepherd put in charge of the Lord's sheep, and as regards you, the true Shepherd who suffered for us said that he had other sheep which are not in his sheepfold but which should be brought in, so that there may be one flock and one shepherd. And therefore if you are willing to believe as I, be one flock with me as your guardian; but if not, depart from the place." Now they continued a long time in turmoil and doubt and on the third day because of the prayers of the bishop, as I suppose, they met together and sent word to him saying; "We believe in Jesus, son of the living God, promised to us by the words of the prophets, and therefore we ask that we be purified by baptism and remain no longer in this guilt." The bishop was rejoiced at the news and keeping watch through the night of holy pentecost went out to the baptistery beyond the walls and there the whole multitude prostrated themselves before I him and begged for baptism. And he wept for joy, and cleansing all with water he anointed them with ointment and gathered them in the bosom of the mother church. Candles were lit, lamps burned brightly, the whole city was whitened with the white throng and the joy was as great as once Jerusalem saw when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. The baptized were more than five hundred. But those who refused baptism left that city and returned to Marseilles.
We see here exactly the kind of behaviour about which Copts routinely (and rightly) complain: having places of worship burned and being told to convert or get out. This wasn't an isolated episode - there were repeated religious tensions in Europe through the Middle Ages. So Boricua_Orthodox makes a good point ...
God bless and pray for me
This is why we are to deny ourselves before we take up our cross, so ourself does not interfere with truth.
[quote author=Unworthy1 link=topic=11081.msg138225#msg138225 date=1305789257]
I am not sure I understand. Could you explain more? Why would the persecution of the Jews make them averse to believing in Christ? The persecutions of the Jews were not carried out by Christians, or at least not only by Christians.
Sorry to butt in; its just that I am studying Medieval Europe at the moment, and yes, Western Christianity at least is responsible for some terrible Jewish persecution. Just as an example, this is from Bishop Gregory of Tours' "History of the Franks" recording what happened to Jews in a French town:
The bishop prayed also that [the Jews] should be converted to the Lord and that the veil of the letter should be torn from them, and one of them asked to be baptized on holy Easter, and being born again in God by the sacrament of baptism, in his white garments he joined the white clad procession with the others. When the people were going in through the gate of the city one of the Jews, urged to it by the devil, poured stinking oil on the head of the converted Jew. And when all the people, horrified at this, wished to stone him, the bishop would not allow it. But on the blessed day on which the Lord ascends to heaven in glory after the redemption of man, when the bishop was walking in procession from the cathedral to the church singing psalms, a multitude of those who followed rushed upon the synagogue of the Jews and destroying it from the foundations they leveled it to the ground. On another day the bishop sent messengers to them saying: "I do not compel you by force to confess the Son of God, but nevertheless I preach him and I offer to your hearts the salt of wisdom. I am the shepherd put in charge of the Lord's sheep, and as regards you, the true Shepherd who suffered for us said that he had other sheep which are not in his sheepfold but which should be brought in, so that there may be one flock and one shepherd. And therefore if you are willing to believe as I, be one flock with me as your guardian; but if not, depart from the place." Now they continued a long time in turmoil and doubt and on the third day because of the prayers of the bishop, as I suppose, they met together and sent word to him saying; "We believe in Jesus, son of the living God, promised to us by the words of the prophets, and therefore we ask that we be purified by baptism and remain no longer in this guilt." The bishop was rejoiced at the news and keeping watch through the night of holy pentecost went out to the baptistery beyond the walls and there the whole multitude prostrated themselves before I him and begged for baptism. And he wept for joy, and cleansing all with water he anointed them with ointment and gathered them in the bosom of the mother church. Candles were lit, lamps burned brightly, the whole city was whitened with the white throng and the joy was as great as once Jerusalem saw when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. The baptized were more than five hundred. But those who refused baptism left that city and returned to Marseilles.
We see here exactly the kind of behaviour about which Copts routinely (and rightly) complain: having places of worship burned and being told to convert or get out. This wasn't an isolated episode - there were repeated religious tensions in Europe through the Middle Ages. So Boricua_Orthodox makes a good point ...
God bless and pray for me
Yeah but the Jews have been persecuted - period. By muslims, communists, fascists, Christians, Nazis, etc. So I don't see that as the main reason they resist Christianity. Black people were slaves in America and it was justified mainly by using the Bible. yet many black people are Christian in the US. The Jews' aversion to Christianity is far deeper than persecution.
Their persecution is not a new thing, it has been going on since they were in Egypt. In the Old Testament we read numerous times about how God rejected them and delivered them to their enemies because they forsook Him.
Rather than seeking God they abandoned Him and rejected His plan for them. They are still, to this day, focused on world reign.
In the case of the Jews, a theological repulsion to Christ is evident for not accepting the Gospel and having "Christ-o-phobia" because of Christian persecution. Anti-semitism, Muslim or Christian is intolerable since Our Lord , His Holy Mother, the Holy Apostles and many others were Jewish. Many Early Christians still went to Shul (synagouge) and followed some Judaic traditions (we see this in Acts 2:42, when they followed Apostolic doctrine, broke Bread (Eucharist) and in the PRAYERS (specific liturgical prayers-reciting the Psalms for example). This came to a head in the First Council of JERUSALEM in Acts 15:6-29 when already there was a clash between Mosaic and Christian practices.
Muslims, Communists, Nazis and other fascists came from a Christian civilization.
Sorry but I don't agree with you. Communists are against any religion in general and it's an ideology that was developed off of Marxism. Muslims did not arise from Christian civilization. They were pagan nomads.
[edit]: Mohammed and his followers were surrounded predominantly by Jews. Their book relates more to Judaism than it does to Christianity.
This is why the quran has elements of BOTH Judaism and Christianity.
Please forgive any errors on my part. What I wanted to say is most of these persecutions came about in Christian lands : Nazi=Germany, Communism=Europe, Islam= Nestorianism (a heretical patriarch of Constantinople whose beliefs spread around certain Middle Eastern/Christian areas-including Arabia-birthplace of Islam). Anyone ever heard of the Nestorian monk, Bahira?
This is why the quran has elements of BOTH Judaism and Christianity.
Yes, the Nestorian monk was possibly one of the very few Christians Mohammed and his followers came into contact with and while the Koran contains elements of both Judaism and Christianity, the Koran contains mostly Jewish material. My Arabic teacher is Muslim and he has read the Koran in Arabic (its original language), Bible, and the Jewish books and according to him, Judaism and Islam are more closely related than Christianity and Islam. Germany used to be Christian; however, it became Protestant after Luther and directly before Hitler came to power, I doubt there was a strong sense of Christianity in Germany or in the rest of Europe. That being said, even if they were Christian countries, the ideologies you stated have nothing to do with Christianity and as I stated before, they are generally against any religious belief in general and persecute those who have any religion...prime example of this is Russia and Stalin's communist state.