Jesus is Not the Messiah

Thank you for your well-thought out rebuttals. I can tell that you are indeed a worthy partner for this debate, and I also would be willing to debate this topic in part II if needed. 1. Jesus did not fulfill any of the messianic prophecies. ==> To counter this, my opponent ignores the historical fact and replies "Can I counter that with simply saying that it is a historical fact that Jesus DID fulfill all of this? He pretty much shifted all the burden of proof on me on this topic." I did not shift the BoP upon you, as it is clear to anyone that Jesus did not rebuild the third temple, usher in an era of peace, gather the Jewish nation to Israel, and bring us back to Torah observance. A. Build the Third Temple My partner suggests that Jesus did, in fact, fulfill this messianic prophecy as the church is the temple. However, it is clear to anyone who reads this that it is a literal temple. Interestingly enough, there are Christians who do agree with MY interpretation. [1] Moreover, it is clear throughout the Tanakh that not only will the temple be rebuilt, but the sacrificial system will also resume. [2] B. Gather the Nation of Israel back to the Land of Israel Indeed, this still has not been fulfilled. My partner counters that this talks about the righteous remnant of Israel, and that Jesus fulfilled this by bringing them back to G-d. This is false as: (1) Very few people accepted Jesus as Messiah. In fact, Jesus was FAR from popular. [3] (2) The prophecy clearly refers to a literal gathering to the nation of Israel and an end of exile--not to a return to G-d. [4] C. Usher in an era of world peace Two things wrong with my partner's interpretation: (1) This is not metamorphic, and (2) The prophecy suggests that the Messiah will come, and EVERYONE will know the G-d of Israel. [5] Moreover, when we look at Isaiah 53, it becomes clear that the prophecy is referring to the nation's astonashment at the rise of Israel. [6] D. Spread the Universal Knowlege of G-d that will unite humanity as one My partner argues Jesus fulfills this, but it is very clear he did not: (1) There is god excuse to reject the belief in a god, (2) The saying in Romans 14 is supposedly another far off prophecy that cannot be fulfilled., (3) The ultimate revelation is not the resurrection and crucifixion of Jesus, rather it is the national revelation on Mount Sinai. My opponent asks, "Where does it say that the Messiah is going to unite humanity as one?" The answer, in the very next verse! The whole earth shall be changed to be like a plain, from the hill of Rimmon in the south of Jerusalem; but it [Jerusalem] will be elevated high and remain in its old place; from the gate of Benjamin to the place of the first gate, until the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel until the king's wine-cellars.The great comentator, Rashi, explains The whole earth shall be changed to be like a plain. The mountains will be lowered, and the whole world will be a plain; and Jerusalem will be a mountain, so that it should appear higher than everything [else in the world]. [7] 2. Jesus did not embody the personal qualifications of the Messiah. A. The Messiah will come from David through Solomon Because only the father can bring a legal heritige, Jesus' virgin birth denies that Jesus could possibly have a legal heritige through Solomon. "The Lord said to my Lord" is a mistranslation. Rather, the proper translation is "The Lord said to my master." The first Lord is a name for God, whilst the second lord has nothing to do with G-d or the Messiah. Moreover, Jews for Judaism explains, "Mark's rendering uses the Greek word kyrios, "lord," twice in the sentence, and the Christian translations into English capitalize the initial letter of the word to read "Lord" in both instances. Jesus' discourse is only possible if he and those he spoke to were conversing in Greek. The exegetical problems that Mark's Jesus refers to are only apparent in the Greek rendering and renderings from the Greek into other languages. In the Greek text, the initial kyrios is a reference to "the Lord," that is, God, and translates the Tetragrammaton (Y- H-V-H, the four letter name of God often referred to in Hebrew as HASHEM--THE NAME). The second kyrios, renders 'adoni, "my master," "my lord" (which according to Mark's understanding refers to "the Christ"). That is, the Greek, kyrios, is used to render two separate and distinct Hebrew words in the Greek translation. The confusion it creates in Greek does not exist in the Hebrew original. As a result, the Marcan Jesus' exegesis is non-existent in the Hebrew and incorrect in its understanding of the Greek rendering." [8]Torah Observance It does not matter if Jesus fulfilled them or not. The "Old Testament" laws are STILL applicable as the Torah is eternal. Moreover, throughout the rest of the New Testament, it is apparent that the early church believed that they were more than fulfilled, but abolished. [9] The Messiah as a prophet "Generation" is, in fact, referring to the generaton that is speaking of a literal generation--NOT a figurative generation. In his commentaries on Matthew 24:34 and Mark 13:30, Thayer notes, "the whole multitude of men living at the time...used especially of the Jewish race living at one time and the same time period. [10] G. Abbot-Smith writes the Greek word genea (used here) always means "generation." [11] What can we conclude?"Truly I say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place" does not mean a future generation. Please note the meaning of the word this generation which narowly defines which generation Jesus is talking about. Thank you for your arguments and I look forward to your rebuttals.Reference [1] Last Days Ministry: The Jewish Temple Will Be Rebuilt! http://www.lastdaysmystery.info...;[2] Hosea 3 refers to the rebuilding of the temple. This predicts that: (1) Israel will not have a king, prince, nor sacricie untill the end of days. [3] Tobin, Paul. "Rejection of Pascal's Wager." [4] Rashi's Commentaries. [5] Ibid. [6] Isaiah 53 "Who would have believed what we have heard" is the nation of the world speaking in utter astonashment of the rise and re-generation of Israel.[7] Rashi's Commentary on Zechariah 14. http://www.chabad.org...;[8] "Does Psalm 110:1 show that the Messiah will be greater than David and a divine being?" http://www.jewsforjudaism.org...;[9] "The 10 Commandments Abolished!" http://www.bible.ca...;[10] Joseph Henry Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979, p. 112[11] G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 2nd ed., Edinburgh: T.&T. Clarke, 1923, p. 89