ok, time to bring this thread back. i may have to reread some of it over the next few days, but i know i owe an explanation for why the Jews don't except Jesus as the Mesiah.
First, this goes to what i was talking about with the Christians selectively accepting certain texts and traditions of Judaism and not others. In the talmud, (i believe - it might also be in the bible), there is a very strict set of prescriptions for the characteristics of the mesiah. Christians tend to cling to the one that says he will be descended from King David. They tend to ignore the one that says he will not change jewish law. Jesus attempted to change jewish law when he said it was ok to eat pork and other such things - that those old ways no longer mattered if they believed in him. In essence, this was like declaring oneself a false prophet. This went against all previous communications of God. which in turn goes against the basic understanding of God as unchangable. which also goes against the idea that the mesiah would be a human leader, not God incarnate. In other words, if jesus was God, then God had been lying to them in the past. and the concept of God lying was and is unbelievable.
