Hellenic Jews and Jesus as Messiah

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Table of Contents

History of Hellenism
Jesus as the Messiah
Hellenism Vs. The Messiah
Conclusion
References

History of Hellenism

Hellenism is used to articulate the acculturation of Greek language, culture, practices, and traditions by the Jews for an extended period between the fourth century BC and the first centuries of the Common Era. The history of Hellenic Jews is well documented reaching back into history as far as the 332 BC. It is well known that Hellenism started after Alexander the Great occupied the Persian state. This led to the merging of the east and west of the Mediterranean and due to trade Hellenism took root in the Jews.

It was after Alexander’s death in 323 BC, when his entire rule was divided amongst some of the army generals who were in his army. Among these generals was Ptolemies an Egyptian-Hellenic who ruled over Judea before it was seized by Seleucid Empire and the Syrian-Hellenic under Antiochus III. These rulers treated their Jewish subjects with compassion and this helped strengthen Hellenic influence especially in the eastern side of the Mediterranean. Greek cities emerged in large numbers others taking over the foundation of older Semitic buildings and in a gradual process, cities like Decapolis ended up being the pillars of Hellenism. (Cohen 1987).

Greek in a sense became the trading language throughout the eastern region of the Mediterranean, though Jews spoke Aramaic amongst themselves. Aristocrats seemed to have profited more from the amity of Hellenistic rulers than did other classes, however, Hellenists were found at classes of the Jewish society.

Jesus as the Messiah

The word Messiah is derived from a Hebrew word that essentially means ‘Anointed’. Bible scholars argue that Jesus was in reality born but did not perform any of the miracles written in the Holy Bible. Others argue that Jesus was a made-up personality who was used by early orthodox Christians to lure other non-Christians into taking up Christianity as their religion (Charles1997).

The Old Testament is full of prophetic innuendos suggesting that there would be a Messiah. The Messiah would come to suffer for the sake of sinners and the Messiah would call God, “My Father”. Jesus Christ fulfilled all this and if the prophecies were indeed true, then Jesus Christ was the Messiah. A good example in the Holy Bible is Isaiah 35:5 “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer and the mute tongue shout for joy” Jesus in part proved that he was the Messiah. He did this by fulfilling the prophecy above (Cohen 1987).

As stated by (Cohen 1987) “In the Holy Bible i.e. Matthew11:5, Jesus tells John the Baptist, “Go and report to John the things which you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them”.

This, according to (Peter 73) “Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age had a binding effect on the beliefs of many Jews as many did believe Jesus to be the messiah”. It was evident he was not a normal human being for if he was, then he could not possibly perform so many miracles. Jesus is the only Jew and the only person in the Bible to have ever have called God as his own father. Many Jews believed God was a Supreme Being and a father to all Israelites. The Jews were, therefore, amazed when Jesus said that God was his father and father of the gentiles too. Jesus displayed insurmountable wisdom in answering questions asked by the Sadducees and teachers of the law. He spoke indiscretion and many Jews and gentiles agreed that he was not of human descent. He spoke with authority and had the power to cast out demons, which also acknowledged that he was the son of God. (State master 1999)

Jesus was at cross paths with the teachers of the law and the priests. He spoke against the Torah, which was the precious commandments of the Jews. He did eventually predict his death and resurrection for the sake of mankind, and it came to pass. The argument of his resurrection is the backbone of the fact that Jesus was indeed was the Messiah, (Green 1990).

Hellenism Vs. The Messiah

Jesus was raised in Hellenic society. Galilee was considered to be partly Hellenic. The main reason why Hellenic Jews were suspicious and reticent to accept Jesus as the messiah was because they felt he did not portray the qualities of the Messiah. The Hellenic Jews expected the Messiah to be a prophet but Jesus was not. The Hellenic Jews believed that the last prophets namely Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi died during the time of Ezra when majority of the Jews refused to move back to Israel from Babylon. Jesus was born 350 years later casting doubts as to whether he was the Messiah. (State master 1999)

According to (Green 1990)”They also expected the Messiah to be born from a father who was a descendant of King David shown in Genesis 49:10,and Isaiah 11:1. Contrary to this, it was claimed that Jesus was born of a virgin and therefore he could not have possibly fulfilled the requirements of the Messiah for he had no father or any connection with King David”.

During those days, it was expected that the Messiah was to be given birth by parents who were human and to have normal physical appearance. Jesus contradicted this by performing numerous miracles like healing the blind and the lame. These factors made the Hellenic Jews regard Jesus with suspicion for he did not fit the profile of the expected Messiah.

Hellenic ideology

Jesus gave the Hellenic Jews many reasons to dislike him and to view him as a troublesome figure because most Jews had taken up Greek customs and practices. Hellenistic Jews had abandoned their Judaism and embraced gentile ways of life. When Jesus proclaimed himself as the Messiah, he found himself against the Hellenistic Jews who had a different idea of the Messiah. It was expected that the Messiah was to bring together the entire Jewish people to the Promised Land. They also expected him to spread the good news of the God of Israel to the whole world as illustrated in the bible in the book of Samuel 91, (Eddy 1961). Jesus was also expected to end the oppression and suffering the Israelites were going through and he was supposed to bring peace to the nations; As indicated in the book of Ezekiel 37:26-28, Jesus was also supposed to build the third temple, (Eddy 1961).

For Jesus did not perform these, Hellenistic Jews saw him as a false prophet and a blasphemer who was trying to impersonate the messiah.

Rejection of the messiah

In a sense, the Hellenistic Jews were correct in withdrawing support for Jesus. Even though the Hellenic Jews expected the coming of a messiah it turned out that Jesus was not what they hoped for. They were waiting for a messiah born of a mother and father who had his linage from King David. Jesus was not born of a human father and this contradicted their expectations. He was also supposed to have normal attributes but instead history records him performing many great miracles. (Charles 1997) argues, “the fact that Jews believed in the miracles of Jesus showed that they had doubts of the existence of God”. Jews were supposed to be believers and seeing a miracle to support their faith was a sign of weakness. During those days, people knew that it is probable that wonders/miracles could have been executed via magic or sorcery. The miracles that were performed in the olden days were performed because they were necessary and not as proof of the power of God or prophesy.

They also expected a prophetic messiah who would bring back all the Israelites in the diaspora back to Israel. They expected the messiah to lead the Jewish people to fully observe the Torah. Here they saw Jesus as trying to change the Torah by saying its commandments were no longer acceptable as indicated in the book john 9:16, yet they knew that the torah commandments were forever binding. (Burstein 1985) This caused animosity towards Jesus and they ended up branding him a false prophet.

Conclusion

The Hellenistic Jews had their concrete reasons to oppose the ministry of Jesus Christ as the messiah. They felt their beliefs of the messiah were not fulfilled by Jesus and his ministry was a form of a gimmick as a result, they withdrew their support for him for fear he could be a false prophet. Jesus on the other hand continued spreading the gospel and eventually, Christianity was born, Jesus being the initiator of the world’s largest faith.

References

Burstein, M. T (1985). The Hellenistic Age from the battle of Ipsos to the death of Kleopatra VII. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Charles. G (1997).Foundations of Torah, chapter. 8. Waivers, DC.

Cohen M. (1987).The Messiah has come. Knif, Chicago.

Eddy, K.(1961). The King is Dead: Studies in the Near Eastern Resistance to Hellenism 334-331 B.C. University of Nebraska Press Lincoln.

Green, P (1990). Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age. University of California Press, Los Angeles.

State master –encyclopedia.(1999). The Hellenistic Period. Web.

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