THE JEWISH MESSIAH

What Jews do and do not believe about the Messiah is a perennial source of interest to laypeople and theologians. It is a special curiosity because Messiah is a concept of Jewish origin now at the center of a powerful world religion, Christianity, which most Jews deem antithetical to their heritage. The irony is redoubled because Jews have frequently been harassed, tortured, and oppressed by those who claimed to know better than the Jews who-and-what the Messiah was about.

WHY THE RENEWED INTEREST?

Jewish interest in the Messiah has recently taken on new intensity. Jewish laypeople are increasingly aware of aggressive Christian evangelism and the assertiveness of the Fundamentalist Right. They are bombarded daily by (presumably) well-meaning Christian folks citing the Jewish Bible to convince them that Jesus is the fulfillment of age-old Jewish hopes and the only road to salvation.

Most Jews know “in their gut” that Christianity is not the logical conclusion to which Judaism is leading, but that it is a digression from cherished Jewish beliefs. But, most Jews do not know why. As Christian assertiveness grows, Jewish laypeople are increasingly concerned to know what Judaism does and does not teach about the Messiah. The issue is not so much to be able to "answer back", as it is to move away from low-voltage blind faith ("I know we don't believe that, but I don't know why, and no, I don't know what we do believe.") toward self-assuredness born of understanding.

Theologians likewise have renewed interest in the Messiah concept. It stems from a rethinking of the role that a personal Messiah might play in bringing on a Messianic age. For many years, most progressive Jewish thinkers held firmly to the belief in an era of peace and harmony at the "end of days," but shunned the "primitive" idea that it would be brought about through a particular human figure.

Sociology more than theology has taught, however, that cataclysmic social change, for better or worse does not come about through abstract ideals but through charismatic human beings who become the very embodiment of those ideals and who motivate their realization. From Hitler to Ghandi to Dr. Martin Luther King, various “Messiahs” have galvanized world-shaping ideals. Is it possible, then, to conceive of a Messianic age without a Messiah to stimulate it? Even the most progressive theologians are compelled to reassess their thinking.

HOW DID THE CONCEPT DEVELOP?

Clearly, the hope for a Messiah and a Messianic age has its roots in our Bible, particularly in our Prophets. Jews by the nature of their history had few if any "good ol' days” about which they could reminisce. Yet, the thought that the present state of suffering would endure forever was beyond belief. To ever-optimistic believers in a compassionate God, the "good ol' days" were yet to come. One day, evil and suffering would disappear.

In this sense, the Messianic age was not a doctrine contrived by prophets and theologians to be forced upon the unwilling masses. It is a belief that emanated deep from within the spirit of the folk, a collective affirmation that pain would not be permanent, but that one day darkness would give way to light.

The Prophets taught that the transition from the world as it is to the idealized future would come through national repentance. It would come through the realization of “the person in the street” that suffering and catastrophe must lead to moral improvement.

In a history bereft of "good ol' days," one shining exception stood as proof that redemption was possible: the Exodus from Egypt. And Moses, without ever being consciously acknowledged as such, thus became the prototype Messiah. Moses’ ministry defines the to basic "planks" to the Messianic "platform": (i) political salvation: deliverance from suffering and servitude, and (2) spiritual redemption: religious and ethical guidance leading to national repentance and exemplary moral conduct.

The quest for a Messiah was in fact a quest for a new Moses and a Messianic age to permanently replicate the "glory days" of the Exodus. That image was understandably merged with a hope for restoring the lineage of King David, the authentic Jewish monarchy, through a “Melech Ha-Mashi'ah," an "Anointed King," hence the term "Mashi'ah/Messiah,” the "Anointed One.'' Could there be a more inspiring vision of Israel restored to its land, its independence, its prosperity, and its “priestly” calling?

THE MESSIANIC AGE

What will it be like? The Prophets and Rabbis project a maze of fabulous and sometimes conflicting images. Maimonides maintained that these visions are purely allegorical and warns, “These details are not of essence to our faith. One should thus not become overly occupied with the intricacies of these matters . . . Rather wait and trust in the matter as a whole." (Yad, Melahim 12:2)

An overview of Messianic times does emerge from the allegories: The emphasis is clearly on the natural and the spiritual, as opposed to the supernatural and the material. Jews will live in the Holy Land and will not be dominated by the nations. Rather, they will be ruled by the Messiah-King, whose influence for good will be felt throughout the world. The nations will exalt Israel, but they will do so because they recognize its ethical qualities, not because of any deference to political power.

The Messianic age will bring no radical change in the natural order. Even death will remain a reality. On the other hand, the increased bounty of nature, the absence of war, and the rule of justice will bring the world unprecedented prosperity, longevity, and opportunity to seek spiritual bliss. In Maimonides words, "In those days, there will be neither famine, nor war, nor envy, nor hatred, but goodness will prevail and delights will be as common as the dust." (Yad, Melahim 12:5) Messianic times will be markedly different from our own, but not a fantasy world beyond recognition.

WHAT THE MESSIAH IS AND ISN’T

The Prophets teach that the Messiah is most certainly a human figure, albeit one that pushes moral, spiritual, and intellectual perfection to their outer human limits. Charisma and persuasiveness are essential to his personality. The Rabbinic literature projects the Messiah as a Superman figure, a clear compensation for the Jewish sense of powerlessness of that era.

It is more interesting to note what the Messiah is not. This will help in understanding the deeper differences between Judaism and Christianity:

1. The Messiah does not establish his credentials by being a miracle-worker. True, bringing on world peace is enough of a "miracle," but he is not required to prove himself by subverting the natural order through magical powers. To the contrary, the use of magic to establish ones self as God's emissary is viewed as near heretical by Jewish tradition. (Maimonides, Yad, Yesodei Ha-Torah 8:1,2) The Rabbis, Maimonides points out, never demanded that Bar Kohba perform miracles to affirm that he was the Messiah, a belief supported by many scholars of the day. (Yad, Melahim 11:3)

2. The Messiah is not "God in human form." He is no more, no less, a child of God than any other human being. To our best estimation, the idea that the Messiah is "God in the flesh'' entered early Christianity through the teachings of the Alexandrian Jew, Philo, whose philosophy was never embraced by the Jewish mainstream.

Philo taught that God was so abstract and perfect that He could only manifest Himself in the physical universe through His word ("logos"), the embodiment of His wisdom. "Logos" is a part of God that serves as His messenger, His "son.'' The idea that the word of God assumed bodily form as a "Son of God" conflicts with Judaism's belief in absolute monotheism, but it became a cornerstone of Christianity as it was intermingled with the concept of Messiah. The gentiles who embraced Christianity, as they were already familiar with this concept from their own religious backgrounds, received the idea favorably.

3. The idea of the Messiah dying for our sins to become a source of atonement for humanity is entirely foreign to Jewish teaching. It comes from a confusion of the Messiah with another figure in the book of Isaiah (see particularly Chapter 53), the "Suffering Servant.”

It is clear from its context that Isaiah intended the Servant figure as pure allegory: The righteous of Israel - God's "Servants" - will be mocked, scorned, even put to death, by the wicked. The wicked will not realize that the disfigurement and "ugliness" of the righteous is nothing more than a reflection of the evil they have perpetrated against them. A remnant will survive to proclaim God's justice and righteousness to the nations. This remnant of Israel will thus, through its suffering, become a medium for the world's redemption.

Isaiah's "Servant" is not a prediction of a future savior, but a sobering observation of the higher purpose, but often-unpleasant consequences, of living justly in an unjust world. As the Jesuit Biblical scholar John McKenzie put it, "The Servant is not the same figure as the Messiah, but a parallel figure which as it stands cannot be reconciled with the Messianic King. A higher synthesis of the two figures, such as Christians believe was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, was not within the vision of the prophets of the Old Testament . . . [T]he Servant reflects the people of Israel as a whole." (Anchor Bible, Second Isaiah)

The idea of God offering His son as a perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of humanity won acceptance with gentile Christians, but could never be reconciled-with the Jewish view of Messiah as a living catalyst for world peace. Quotes from the Jewish Bible cited by some Christians to indicate otherwise are invariably taken out of context and/or interpreted in a sense diametrically opposite from the meaning given to them by Jewish tradition.

OUR PROBLEMS WITH JESUS

Does Jesus live up to Messianic expectations?

Obviously, Jews cannot think of Jesus - or any Messiah figure - as God in human form or as a sacrificial atonement for humanity's sins. The best "test" of Jesus’ authenticity is the course the world has taken since his presence. If evil and suffering remain central to the human condition, it is clear that the Messiah has not yet come. The hatred spewed and the innocent blood spilled for two thousand years in the name of Jesus and the headlines of daily newspapers are the most compelling proof that Jesus is not our Messiah.

Trude Weiss-Rosmarin cited the following reasons that Jesus appears "un-Jewish" when held up to the yardstick of the Biblical and Rabbinic tradition:

1. Prophets and Rabbis never teach on their own authority, while Jesus stresses his personal opinions as against the authority of the Torah.

2. Jesus assumes the power to forgive sin. The Prophets teach that only God has the capacity to forgive sins.

3. Jesus claims to command Divine powers, while the Prophets stress that they are merely God's instruments and credit their powers to Him.

4. Jesus’ teachings have an ascetic and fatalistic tone unlike mainstream Jewish tradition. He idealized poverty, advocates celibacy, and disparages family ties.

5. Unlike the Prophets and Rabbis, Jesus disregards and violates religious law: the Sabbath, dietary regulations, public fasts, and communal prayers.

The image of Jesus projected by the Christian Bible led Rosmarin to conclude, "In all important respects Jesus placed himself in opposition to the faith into which he was born. It is therefore idle and futile to make room for him in Judaism which, he himself rejected in theory and practice."

MESSIAH – A BELIEF FOR OUR TIMES?

Is there room for the idea of a Messiah and a Messianic age in modern thought, or is it a naive concept that has outlived its worth?

The notion of a Messianic age comes from deep within the human spirit, not a theological abstraction. Even denuded of its religious overtones, every discipline has its vision and euphemism for an optimal state of human well-being: the New Deal, the Marxian utopia, the Great Society, Dr. King's "Dream," Inner Peace, the Aquarian Age. The visions may radically differ one from the next, but the yearning for a "better place to be" seems to cut across all cultural and disciplinary boundaries.

Some people may see the Messianic age as "the ring on the merry-go-round," something always just out of reach, but tantalizingly close enough to make us want to keep trying to extend our grasp a bit further. Even if we were never to get there, the striving itself puts us on a course of continuing betterment. And others may see the Messianic age as an attainable goal. The belief may be somewhat tenuous, but nowhere as troubling as a world devoid of dreams of a more ideal state of human affairs.

What of a personal Messiah? A cursory look at social change teaches that each major upheaval has invariably revolved around a human catalyst, a charismatic symbol. This again is not a theological prescription, but an astute observation of human nature. If history, not theology, is our teacher, a Messiah will inevitably foment a Messianic age. Even if we follow the "ring on the merry-go-round" theory of the Messianic age, the quest for human role-models ("Messiahs") that are increasingly ideal makes the hope of finding a Messiah a tremendous positive stimulant, even if we never find the ultimate one.

Finally, the Jewish dream of Messiah should give us new pride in a heritage that has at its core unparalleled sensitivity, peacefulness and hope for human reconciliation. While Falwell and Robertson aspire to Christian dominance of national and world agendas and Islam preaches the "subjugation and humiliation" of the non-Islamic world, take note of Maimonides’ final words on the subject of Messiah:

"Our Sages and Prophets did not yearn for the days of Messiah in order to rule the world, or dominate the gentiles, or to be exalted by the other nations, or to feast, drink and celebrate. Rather, they yearned to be free to delve into the Torah and its wisdom, without any distraction, so as to merit the world-to-come." (Yad, Melahim 12:4) All cynicism and analytic scrutiny temporarily aside, how could one not say "Amen!" to a hope so noble?