Yeshua within the Christmas narrative Part II

     Rabbi Moses Maimonides(Rambam) 1135-1204 was considered to be the 
foremost writer of Jewish Law and Ethics. He was a one of the most revered Rabbi 
Philosophers by Jewish Historians. He also pondered upon the nature of the Messiah.

Do not consider it proof just because it is written in books, for a liar who will deceive 

with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen. ~ Rambam

In Grant R Jeffrey's book "Heaven - The last frontier" he summarizes the Rabbi's exegesis

Comments

Don Tan

Rambam believed that the coming of the Messiah was the key to the restoration of the  Temple, the fulfillment of the Torah and the coming of the Messianic age of redemption.  "He [the Messiah] will build the Temple, gather the dispersed of Israel. Then, in his days,  all the statutes will return to their previous state. We will offer sacrifices and observe the  Sabbatical and Jubilee years, according to all their particulars mentioned by the Torah"  (Halachah 1:11). Compare the qualifications of the Messiah, which Rambam enumerated from his study of  the Old Testament prophets, with the history of Jesus Christ. "If a king will arise from the  house of David who is learned in Torah and observant of the mitzvot (commandments),  as prescribed by the written law and the oral law, as David, his ancestor was, and will   compel all of Israel to walk in [their light] and reinforce the breaches; and fight the wars  of God, we may, with assurance, consider Him the Messiah. If he succeeds in the above,  builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the  Messiah. He will then improve the entire world [motivating] all the nations to serve God  together as [Zephaniah 3:9] states: I will make the peoples pure of speech that they all  will call upon the Name of God and serve Him with one purpose" (Halachah 11:4). In this passage, Rambam has described in the first paragraph the first coming of the  Messiah; in the second paragraph the second coming. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies as  the Son of David and astonished His listeners as a teacher of the Torah Law. In His  unfolding purpose to accomplish the salvation of all those who would believe in Him,  Christ allowed Himself to be sacrificed on the cross after fulfilling this first group of  prophecies. This ultimate sacrificial gift to mankind was anticipated by God's miraculous  offering of the ram to replace Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah almost two  thousand years earlier. When Christ returns as promised, He will completely fulfill the  remaining prophecies. He will build the Millennial Temple as described in Ezekiel 40-48  and gather the dispersed of Israel into the Kingdom of heaven on Earth. In one fascinating part of his commentary, Rambam deals with the puzzle about the  historical Jesus, the problems associated with His partial fulfillment of the Messianic  prophecies and the claims of Christianity. "If he [the Messiah] did not succeed to this  degree or he was killed, he surely is not [the redeemer] promised by the Torah. [Rather]  he should be considered as all the other proper and complete kings of the Davidic dynasty  who died. God only caused him to arise in order to test the many, as [Daniel 11:35] states,  and some of the wise men will stumble, to try them, to refine, and to clarify until the  appointed time, because the set time is in the future" (Halachah 11:4). This conclusion of Rambam that the death of Jesus proves that He was not the promised  glorified Messiah has been repeated for hundreds of years. However, Rambam makes an  astonishing admission: If the person legitimately fulfills part of the prophecies, but is killed  before completing the restoration of the Temple, etc., he is to be considered as  "all the other proper and complete kings of the Davidic dynasty who died,"  not as an imposter.... ~ Grant R Jeffrey "Heaven - The Last Frontier" Rabbinical Prophetic musical chairs. Who decides who Messiah is..Rabbi's or HaShem..