The Jewish religion should identify Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah

Definitions: Tanakh - Old Testament. These are the scriptures generally accepted by Jewish people B'rit HaDasha - New Testament. Hebrew for New Covenant Yeshua - Jesus I really don't want to debate over specifics of accuracy of the B'rit HaDasha (New Testament). We have agreed to treat the B'rit HaDasha as any other ancient text with the understanding that it isn't completely fabricated. This should not be a debate over whether or not Yeshua is fact or fiction. I want to focus the debate on two topics: what did ancient Jewish Rabbi's look for in the Messiah, and did Yeshua (Jesus) meet those criteria. Most such debates center on the Tanakh (Old Testament) prophecies. The rebuttals usually follow by reinterpreting the verses. However, the Mishna are ancient rabbinic commentaries on the Tanakh and are thus less ambiguous. Where they need further explanation, we can look to the Gemara, which is a set of ancient rabbinic commentaries on the Mishna. There are competing prophecies in the Tanakh regarding the nature of Messiah. This led to controversy among rabbis over how to identify Messiah. This led ancient rabbis to believe in two Messiah figures: Messiah ben Joseph and Messiah ben David. Messiah ben Joseph is believed to be insignificant. He suffers and dies. Messiah ben David comes and restores peace and prosperity to Israel. It was agreed that Messiah ben Joseph would come before Messiah ben David [1] [2]. There are a number of differing opinions among ancient rabbis as to how or why Messiah ben Joseph would suffer and die. One of the key prophecies on which the belief in Messiah ben Joseph is found in Isaiah 53 [3]. Modern rabbinic interpretation of this passage claims that Israel is the suffering servant that pays for the sins of the entire world. There are many problems with this interpretation. First of all, this interpretation came in the middle ages in response to Christian claims that Isaiah 53 referred to Messiah. According to modern Jewish scholarship, the earliest reference to this interpretation comes about 284 C.E, well after the establishment of Christianity [5]. Rabbis have agreed for centuries, even as last as the 16th century, that Isaiah 53 refers to Messiah [6] [7]. Although there is a single ancient reference to this anti-missionary interpretation, there are too many other rabbinic writings that say the passage refers to Messiah that the argument is really one sided [8]. Both the Orthodox and JewsForJudaism movements agree on is that Isaiah 53 is the strongest evidence that Yeshua is the Messiah [8]. If Isaiah 53 is referring to the Messiah, there is a strong correlation with basic story of Yeshua in the B'rit HaDasha. Also, the suffering servant described in Isaiah 53 is called blameless, which is not something credited to Israel. It is interesting to note that the idea of Messiah was a popular topic until about Rabbi Yehudah HaNassi in 200-250 CE compiled the Mishna. The Mishna almost never references Messiah; the Talmud, which was written before then, had many references to the Messiah [9]. The change seemed to occur in response to Christianity. Not only so, but the actual scriptures were modified in order to discredit Christianity [10]. We know this by comparing the Septuagint, Masoretic text, and the dead sea scrolls. It is also interesting to note that Israel made it a goal of theirs to take control of the dead sea scrolls as quickly as possible. After they achieved this, discovers found in them slowed dramatically. I have been unable to find a Jewish source that admits the Talmud agreed that Isaiah 53 was about the Messiah. There appears to be a targeted cover-up by the Jewish religion. This is an indication that they know that the scriptures appear to point to Yeshua as the Messiah, but they do not want to admit to it. I should revisit the idea of two Messiah's. The second Messiah is believed to come in power and usher in the Messianic age where there is peace. The prophecies of the B'rit HaDasha concerning the return of Yeshua directly correlate to the prophecies regarding Messiah Ben David. The Messiah is prophesied to be in the line of David. Records of the line of David were lost when the Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E. If someone today claimed to be the Messiah, then that prophecy could not be verified. The lineage of Yeshua includes King David. Daniel 9 [11] is also a strong indicator that Yeshua is the Messiah. It describes Messiah being killed. There is no debate over whether or not this passage refers to Messiah [12]. After that event, the city and the Temple will be destroyed. There was a great fire in Rome in 64 C.E. [13] and the Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E [14]. The biggest debate here is the interpretation of time. In Hebrew, the word for week is also the word for seven. For this reason, the author of Daniel uses the words, "seven of days" when he refers to a week to be specific. Although this prophecy uses the word for week/seven, it does not say "seven of days". It would be inconsistent with both history and the reading of the book of Daniel to interpret the Hebrew word as "week". So the debate is over what the word should be translated as instead of week. It just so happens that if we interpret it as seven of years instead of seven of days, the math works out to be around the time of Yeshua. All the prophecies line up. Now a skeptic would like to say that Daniel was written after the fact, or close to the fact. However, the book of Daniel was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and we now have great confidence using both radiometric and paleolithic dating to say it was written before the time of Yeshua [15]. It is uncanny that the seven of years interpretation of Daniel aligns so well with all of the prophecies contained in it, which indicate Yeshua is the Messiah. Although it is possible this interpretation is wrong, it is still reasonable evidence in favor of Yeshua. So we have evidence from the Talmud that Isaiah 53 is about Messiah, and the prophecy aligns with the claims regarding Yeshua. Yeshua fulfills both the traditionally expected Messiahs. The prophecy of Daniel that predates Yeshua strongly indicates that Messiah came as the same time as Yeshua. Looking forward to your response. I know you said it would take 3 days, but I hope you surprise me. :) Good luck. 1) http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com... 2) http://www.menorah.org... 3) http://www.blueletterbible.org... 4) http://www.doxa.ws... 5) http://www.answering-christianity.com... 6) The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, Driver & Neubauer, reprinted by Wipf and Stock Publishers 1999. 7) http://www.jewsforjesus.org... 8) http://www.kregel.com... 9) http://www.bibleandjewishstudies.net... 10) http://www.oodegr.com... 11) https://www.biblegateway.com... 12) http://carm.org... 13) http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com... 14) http://www.chabad.org... 15) http://www.biblearchaeology.org...