The Messiah: Word Made Flesh?
Katie O’Dunne
Integrative Senior Thesis
Hudgins
Tshimanga
16 March 2008
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Abstract
When looking at the scholarship of modern Christian and Jewish theologians regarding the
connections between the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew, it becomes clear that
modern Christians, who believe Jesus has fulfilled Isaiah's Messianic prophecies in the Book of
Isaiah, focus on textual and symbolic connections, while modern Jews focus on history and
translation to support their belief that Jesus has not fulfilled these prophecies. Theologians of
both religions analyze the birth, healings, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus found in the
Gospel of Matthew and attempt to prove that Jesus either fulfilled or did not fulfill the
prophecies found in the Book of Isaiah, based upon their religious beliefs. In essence, modern
Christians seek to demonstrate that Jesus is the Messiah, while modern Jews try to establish the
idea that the Messiah is yet to come, through their divergent perspectives on the two biblical
texts.
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The clash of beliefs between modern Christians and Jews is often thought of as a
contentious topic in the modern day. Despite the similar roots of Christians and Jews in the Old
Testament, individuals of each religion have different interpretations regarding the Messiah, or
the “anointed one” (Harrelson 58). Followers of both religions refer to the Messianic prophecies,
or predictions of the coming Messiah found in the Old Testament, especially those written in the
Book of Isaiah. Modern Christians believe that these Messianic prophecies have already been
fulfilled through the coming of Jesus Christ and cite the New Testament’s Gospel of Matthew.
Modern Jews, on the other hand, do not agree with these Christian connections made between
the Old and New Testaments. (Rich) In other words, they do not believe Jesus to be the Messiah.
How are the Messianic beliefs of modern Christian and Jewish theologians reflected in their
scholarship as they look at the connections between the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel of
Matthew? After looking at the perspectives of theologians regarding the birth, healings,
crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, it becomes clear that modern Christians, who believe Jesus
has fulfilled Isaiah's Messianic prophecies in the Book of Isaiah, focus on textual and symbolic
connections, while modern Jews focus on history and translation to support their belief that Jesus
has not fulfilled these prophecies.
When one looks deeply at both the modern Christian and modern Jewish perspectives on
the relationship between the book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew, it becomes apparent that
the divergent perspectives of modern Christians and modern Jews directly relate to their focus on
different disciplines. As stated in the thesis, these disciplines include literary connections,
translations, symbolism, and history. Modern Christian and Jewish authors use these disciplines
in their discussion of the Messianic connections between the book of Isaiah and the Gospel of
Matthew based upon their specific religious beliefs. One must look at the works of theologians as
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they argue their views regarding the Messiah. In the works by each of these theologians,
evidence proves that modern Christians and Jews look at the connections between the Messianic
prophecies in the book of Isaiah and their fulfillment by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew
differently, as they use distinctive elements, such as textual connections, translations, symbolism,
and history to justify their own beliefs about whether or not Jesus Christ is, in fact, the Messiah.
Modern Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah because of his fulfillment of the Messianic
prophecies, while modern Jews believe that the prophecies have not been fulfilled and that the
Messiah is yet to come (From Judaism to Christianity).
The history surrounding the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew plays a large role
in the beliefs of Christians and Jews today. Approximately seven centuries prior to the birth of
Jesus, the prophet Isaiah, who lived in Jerusalem, predicted the coming of a Messiah who would
bring “glad tidings” to the Israelites and free them from a time of war (Mileant). These
prophecies, held in high regard by both modern Christians and modern Jews, can be found in
both the Hebrew scriptures of the Jews and the Christian Old Testament. (Harrelson 53-54)
The years prior to the birth of Jesus truly were a time of war for the Jews. For about six
centuries prior to the coming of the supposed Messiah, the Romans ruled the land surrounding
the Mediterranean Sea, which was inhabited by the Jews of that time. At the beginning of this
period, known as the Hellenistic Era, the Jews were still fairly independent and allowed to
worship as they saw fit. They formed a close-knit community, not subject to Roman polytheism,
or the worship of multiple gods. However, by the second century B.C., conflict began to rise
from amongst the Jewish community. The lower-class Jews wanted to continue a traditional way
of life, while the Jews with greater economical standings sought to follow the Seleucid monarch
in making Jerusalem a Greek culture. This possible destruction of Jewish worship led to the
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revolt of the Maccabees in 167 B.C. and a restoration of traditional Jewish worship. However,
the problems amongst the Jews resurfaced with the instillation of Herod the Great in 37 B.C.
Under his rule, the Jews divided into specific sects who either followed the government or held
true to their Jewish roots. During this time of struggle for the Jews, many began to pray more
than ever that the Messiah would fulfill Isaiah’s prophecies by saving Israel from sin and
suffering. (Walker 5, 13-18)
Modern Christians believe that Jesus, who was born and raised in Nazareth of Galilee,
fulfilled Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies. After his baptism in the Jordan river, where the prophet
John the Baptist claimed that he was, in fact, anointed by God, Jesus became a teacher and a
healer amongst the Jews. He was crucified in Jerusalem for his teachings but rose again after
three days. Following the death of Jesus, those who believed Jesus to be the Messiah came
together. (Walker 20-21) However, there was great conflict between these early Christians and
the Jews of the time as Christians moved away from Jewish law. (Durant 585) It is believed that
about forty years after Jesus’ death, Matthew, a tax collector and apostle, wrote about Jesus’ life
with the purpose of teaching the Jewish people (Just). This piece of literature, known today as
the Gospel of Matthew, sought to prove that Jesus had fulfilled the Messianic prophecies of the
Old Testament, such as those found in the Book of Isaiah, by forming a gospel with information
previously carried only through oral history. (Schonfield 187)
The Gospel of Matthew helped to form the basis of Christianity and is still used as an
essential text in Christian worship today. However, modern Jews often make reference to the fact
that the entire Torah, which contains the Book of Isaiah, is written in Hebrew, while the Gospel
of Matthew makes reference to Old Testament passages from Greek translations. Modern Jews
believe that the ancient translations are looked at in this way merely to fit Jesus into the mold of
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Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies. (Harrelson and Falk 54-55) This is not merely a modern Jewish
finding. People of other religions, like Islam, tend to find Christian translation errors, as well,
especially in Isaiah 53 (“Did Isaiah 53 Really”). Nevertheless, modern Jews focus on these errors
in translation, as well as the history of the time the texts were written and that Jesus lived, when
comparing the Messianic prophecies in the Book of Isaiah to Jesus’ prophecy fulfillment in the
Gospel of Matthew. Modern Christians, on the other hand, tend to merely look at textual and
symbolic connections. The focus on these different aspects is reflected in the differing religious
beliefs of modern Christians and Jews regarding Jesus as the Messiah.
When one looks at theological views surrounding the birth of Jesus, it is easy to see that
modern Christians and modern Jews focus on separate aspects of the texts, which reflect their
differing beliefs. Modern Christians focus on the textual connections between the Book of Isaiah
and the Gospel of Matthew. This can be seen in the writing of Alexander Mileant, a bishop of the
Russian Orthodox Church. In his religious pamphlet entitled The Old Testament Regarding the
Messiah, Mileant writes, “The prophet Isaiah wrote about the human nature of Christ, and from
him we learn that Christ was to be born in a miraculous fashion from a Virgin.” He then
encourages the reader to refer to Isaiah 7:14 for the specific prophecy, which reads, “The virgin
is going to have a baby.” (NIrV, Is. 7:14) Modern Christian theologians, like Mileant, look at this
prophecy and find a specific textual connection to Matthew’s writings regarding Jesus’ birth,
which refers to his mother, Mary, as “not married” (NIrV, Matt. 1:20-21). Ignoring the fact that
the Gospel of Matthew does not specifically refer to Mary as a virgin, modern theologians, like
Mileant, simply make inferences which connect Isaiah’s prophecy of virginity to Mary’s
unmarried state. Because of this focus on textual connections, modern Christians claim Jesus to
be the Messiah. Perhaps modern Christians interpret the literature in a specific way merely to
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make a textual connection between Messianic prophecies and the coming of Jesus Christ. This
gives a hint as to why an altering of evidence may lead modern Jews to have a different opinion
regarding the connection between the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew.
The modern Jewish belief about the Messiah can be linked to a focus on translation, as
Jewish theologians oppose the Christian the idea that Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s Messianic
prophecies in the Gospel of Matthew. Clive Marsh, who has studied theology at Oxford
(“Biography: Clive Marsh”), and Steve Moyise, a prominent author known for connecting the
Old and New Testaments (Theology), find flaws in the virgin mother prophecy fulfilled by Mary
in their book, Jesus and the Gospels. They write that Matthew “quotes Isaiah 7:14, not according
to the Hebrew, which speaks of a young woman (almah) conceiving, but a Greek translation
which used the word ‘virgin’ (parthenos).” (Marsh and Moyise 29) Regardless of the fact that
some believe Matthew’s native languages to have been Greek and Aramaic (“Bible Characters”),
modern Jews, such as Marsh and Moyise, believe that Matthew used a Greek translation of
Isaiah’s prophecies merely to form Messianic connections to Jesus’ birth. It is, therefore,
apparent that modern Jews concentrate on translation when looking at the connections between
the Messianic prophecies found in the Book of Isaiah and Jesus’ fulfillment of them in the
Gospel of Matthew, causing modern Jews to view these connections differently from modern
Christians.
Modern Christians still find Jesus to be the Messiah and respond to this Jewish translation
problem in the Gospel of Matthew with a reference to symbolism regarding the Messianic birth.
Mileant makes reference to a passage in Isaiah, writing, “In later prophecies, Isaiah often calls
the Messiah by yet another name – Branch. This symbolic name confirms earlier prophecies
about the miraculous and unusual birth of the Messiah, specifically, that it will occur without the
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participation of a man, similar to how a branch, without a seed, is born directly from the root of
the plant.” He is referring to Isaiah 1:11, which states, “From its roots a Branch will grow and
produce fruit.” (NIrV) Once again, Mileant is referring to the Gospel of Matthew’s reference to
Mary being unmarried, which he believes makes her a virgin. However, instead of making a
direct textual connection, as he did with Isaiah 7:14, he makes a symbolic connection and infers
that “the branch” represents Jesus’ birth from a virgin. Mileant’s inference shows the modern
Christian focus on symbolism in relating Messianic prophecies in the book of Isaiah to Jesus’
birth in the Gospel of Matthew and a direct link to the Christian belief that Jesus fulfills these
Messianic prophecies. This focus is very different than that of modern Jews, who look past these
symbolic connections to historical evidence.
Modern Jews tend to direct their attention to the history of the time in a different portion
of the text when analyzing connections between Isaiah’s messianic birth prophecies and their
fulfillment in the Gospel of Matthew, which opposes Jesus’ fulfillment of the Messianic
prophecies. When discussing the birth of Jesus, Matthew writes, “All this took place to bring
about what the Lord said would happen” (NIrV, Matt. 1:22). Hugh Schonfield, a famous and
controversial Jewish scholar, who has published more than forty books (The Schonfield World
Service Trust), addresses this portion of the bible in his book The Passover Plot: A New
Interpretation of the Life and Death of Jesus. He writes that because of “the highly explosive
circumstances in Palestine” there was a “fervency of popular longing for the Messiah” (188). At
the beginning of the Hellenistic era, the Jews were allowed to worship in their own way.
However, by the time that Herod was crowned in 37 B.C., Jewish freedom was slowly being
repressed. Roman rule and the worship of multiple gods were being thrust upon the Jewish
people. This not only led to rebellion but to a division of the Jews into two sects: the Sadducees,
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who tended to abide by Roman rule, and the Pharisees, who continued to follow Jewish tradition.
(Walker 13-18) Modern Jews, like Schonfield, believe that because of this history, Matthew
discussed Jesus’ birth as the fulfillment of a prophecy merely to declare Jesus to be the Messiah
at a time when Jews like the Pharisees, who followed ancient practices, were longing for
freedom from their suffering. This modern Jewish focus on history when looking at the
connections between the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew directly connect to the belief
that Jesus was not the Messiah.
Modern Jews and Christians also focus on different aspects when looking at Jesus’
healings in the Gospel of Matthew in comparison to Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies, causing them
to have different beliefs regarding the two texts. Matthew describes Jesus’ healings in his gospel
by saying, “Blind people receive sight. Disabled people walk. Those who have skin diseases are
healed. Deaf people hear. Those who are dead are raised to life.” (NIrV, Matt. 11:5). Mileant
once again provides a modern Christian perspective in terms of the direct textual connection
between the book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew. “Besides spiritual ills, the Messiah had
as His task the healing of physical infirmities, as Isaiah predicted (Is. 35:5-6)… This prophecy
was fulfilled when the Lord Jesus Christ, teaching the Gospel, healed thousands of people”
(Mileant). Isaiah 35:5-6 predicts things such as that “the eyes of those who are blind will be
opened,” the ears of those who can’t hear will be unplugged,” and “those who can’t walk will
leap like a deer” (NIrV). Modern Christian theologians, like Mileant, see these direct connections
between Isaiah’s prophecies and Jesus’ healings of the blind, deaf, and crippled. The Gospel of
Matthew is the source for looking at these healings performed by Jesus, and allows Mileant to
make direct connections between the textual healing predictions and Jesus’ healings when
concluding that Jesus in fact fulfilled these prophecies. Mileant once again provides an example
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of the way in which modern Christians find specific textual connections between the prophecies
found in the Book of Isaiah and their fulfillment by Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Matthew.
While Modern Christians find it easy to proclaim Jesus to be the Messiah through simple
textual connections between the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew, modern Jews once
again respond with differing beliefs as they focus on an error in translation. In an article entitled
The Jewish Passion, Shoshana Zakar, a convert to Orthodox Judaism from Christianity who is
connected to many rabbis (“Shoshana Zakar”), writes that Isaiah 53:4 is mistranslated by
Christians to make it sound as though the prophecy is “literally (not spiritually) fulfilled in Jesus'
healing of the sick” in Matthew 8:17. Modern Jews believe, once again, that Matthew was
merely attempting to fulfill a prophecy. Isaiah 53:4 states, “He suffered the things we should
have suffered. He took on himself the sicknesses that should have been ours.”(NIrV) According
to Zakar, this is merely a translation made by Christians and used by Matthew to verify Jesus’
healings as the fulfillment of a Messianic prophecy. Zakar believes that Isaiah was only referring
to spiritual healings. Once again, a modern Jewish theologian is focusing on translation while
looking at the connections between the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew: a connection
that still opposes those made by Christians.
Modern Christians tend to utilize symbolism when explaining Jesus’ fulfillment of
Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies in the Gospel of Matthew. For instance, in Maranatha Life,
Richard A. Murphy, a prominent Christian author and seminar leader, writes that Isaiah 42:67
prophesized the fact that the “Messiah’s anointing opened blind eyes.” The referenced passage
reads, “Those who sit in darkness will come out of their shells.” (NIrV, Isaiah 42:7) The book of
Isaiah does not specifically state that the Messiah will open the eyes of the blind as Jesus does in
the Gospel of Matthew. Modern Christians, like Murphy, infer that Isaiah’s reference to darkness
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is symbolic for the blindness that proves Jesus’ fulfillment of Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies.
Therefore, the modern Christian focus on symbolism directly relates to the connection made
between Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies and Jesus as the Messiah in the Gospel of Matthew.
Modern Jews analyze the events occurring during Jesus’ time when opposing the modern
Christian connections made between the Messianic prophecies in the book of Isaiah and their
fulfillment by Jesus’ healings in the Gospel of Matthew. Walter Harrelson, a professor at the
Vanderbilt Divinity School (“Vanderbilt Theologian Delivers”), and Randall M. Falk, an
esteemed rabbi from Tennessee (Weinstein), provide modern Jewish theological perspectives on
the issue. In their book, Jews and Christians: A Troubled Family, they claim that Jesus did not
fulfill the Messianic prophecies relating to healing. They write, “There were wonderworking
rabbis in Jesus’ day, people who had the gift of healing and could put demons to flight.”
(Harrelson and Falk 119) They are referring to the history of healers, such as Honi the Circle
Drawer and Hanaina ben Dosa, who have been written to heal in the same ways as Jesus
(O’Neill). Harrelson and Falk use this historical information to dismiss the possibility of Jesus as
the Messiah by making his healing practices seem common. These authors exemplify the modern
Jewish focus on history as a comparison is made between the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel of
Matthew, while modern Christians remain focused on textual connections and symbolism.
When looking at the crucifixion of Jesus, it once again becomes apparent that modern
Christians and Jews focus on different aspects of the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew,
which directly connect to their Messianic beliefs. According to Matthew, when Jesus was
crucified by the Jews, “They spit in his face. They hit him with their fists. Others slapped him.”
(NIrV, Matt. 26:67) Modern Christians, yet again, begin by looking at direct textual connections.
Mileant writes, “The prophet Isaiah wrote the following details about the sufferings of the
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Messiah, which were also fulfilled precisely…(Is. 50:4-7), compare to Matthew 26:67.” Mileant
uses the word “precisely” to describe the direct connection between the text of these two
passages. When one looks at this passage found in Isaiah, which discusses enemies that “beat me
on my bare back” and “spit on me” (Is. 50:6), it becomes apparent that Mileant was correct in
stating that the texts of the Book of Isaiah and Gospel of Matthew coincide. Mileant finds
simple, textual connections between particular passages, providing a modern Christian example
of the focus on direct textual connections as he claims that Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s Messianic
prophecies in the Gospel of Matthew.
Instead of drawing attention to textual connections, as modern Christians do, modern
Jews bring notice to the translations in the Gospel of Matthew, as they attempt to justify their
belief that Jesus did not fulfill Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies. The Gospel of Matthew refers to
Isaiah 53:8 as discussing the suffering of “him,” or a man in the singular. However, according to
Zakar, “the oppressed Servant is a collective Servant, not a single individual. The Hebrew word
"‘amoh’ (lamed-mem-vav), when used in our [the Hebrew] Scriptures, always means ‘to them’
never ‘to him.’” Modern Christians seem to overlook this modern Jewish idea that Isaiah’s
prophecies may, in fact, be referring to Israel and not one man, because they are not focused on
errors in translation. Modern Jews, on the other hand, focus on the fact that when discussing
Jesus’ crucifixion, Matthew made reference to a Greek translation instead of the original Hebrew
(Harrelson 54). Zakar exemplifies a modern Jewish scholar who focuses on translation when
comparing the Book of Isaiah to the Gospel of Matthew and discussing his Messianic beliefs.
When looking at the views on the crucifixion of Jesus, it is clear that modern Christians
focus on symbolism as they compare the Messianic prophecies found in the book of Isaiah to
their fulfillment in the Gospel of Matthew. According to Mileant, “the most vivid and detailed
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prediction about the sufferings of the Messiah…occupies one and a half chapters of the book [of
Isaiah] (the end of the 52nd and all of the 53rd)…The Messiah, being completely clean of personal
sins, endures all these sufferings for the cleansing of human lawlessness.” When reading this
statement, it at first appears that Mileant is making another simple textual connection between
the prophecies of Isaiah and their fulfillment by Jesus Christ. However, when looking at the text
of Isaiah, it becomes clear that these Messianic prophecies are not directly stated. Instead, the
Book of Isaiah refers to the people as sheep. It reads, “All of us are like sheep. We have
wandered away from God…He was led away like a sheep to be killed.” (NIrV, Is. 53: 6-7).
Mileant interprets Isaiah’s analogies of sheep as a discussion of the Messiah’s death and the
embodiment of the people’s sins. He does this in order to make a “predicition about the suffering
of the Messiah.” (Mileant) Mileant believes this Messiah to be Jesus, whose sufferings are
described in the Gospel of Matthew. The bishop once again shows the way in which modern
Christians utilize symbolism in their discussion of Jesus as fulfilling Isaiah’s Messianic
prophecies in the Gospel of Matthew.
Modern Jews dismiss these symbolic connections due to their firm belief that a historical
flaw exists in the Gospel of Matthew’s interpretation of the crucifixion of Jesus. Modern Jews
focus on a passage in the Gospel of Matthew that Christians overlook when claiming Jesus to be
the Messiah. According to the Gospel of Matthew, following Jesus’ arrest, Pontius Pilate asked
the Jews, “‘Then what should I do with Jesus who is called Christ?’” to which they responded,
“‘Crucify him!’” (NIrV, Matt. 27: 22). Harrelson and Falk claim that “Pilate would have never
bothered to consult such a crowd” (110). As the Roman procurator, Pilate was able to inflict the
death penalty on whomever he saw fit to receive it. His inscription of names of numerous gods
on the palace walls at Mt. Zion showed his blatant disregard for Jewish beliefs and practices.
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(Russel) Modern Jewish theologians, like Harrelson and Falk, look at this history and conclude
that Pilate was too self-centered to allow the Jews to decide who was to be crucified. They go
even further by saying that Matthew is attempting to “show that the Jews were more responsible
for the course of events than Pilate,” because of “the conflict they were having with Jewish
authorities in their own day” (110). Even prior to the creation of Matthew’s Gospel, there was
great conflict between the Jews of the time and the developing Christians (Walker 29). Paul, a
Christian convert (Walker 27), wrote epistles stating that since the Messiah had come, the
Mosaic Laws of Jews no longer applied and people merely had to believe in Jesus as the
Messiah. (Durant 585) With this historical evidence in mind, it becomes clear why modern Jews
believe that the developing Christians were merely trying to place the blame on a group they
were in conflict with. Though a prophecy describing the crucifixion of the Messiah by the Jews
is not even found in the Book of Isaiah, modern Jews still use this history to dismiss the
connections made by modern Christians between the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew.
When looking at the resurrection of Jesus as a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies in the
Gospel of Matthew, modern Christians tend to focus on direct textual connections and
symbolism, while modern Jews focus on translations and history, as is reflected in their beliefs
regarding Jesus as the Messiah. The resurrection of Jesus is described in Matthew 28:5, where an
angel says, “He has risen, just as he said he would!” (NIrV). According to Mileant, “the prophets
predicted His resurrection from the dead and His subsequent glory” in Isaiah 53:10-12. In this
passage, the book of Isaiah reads, “It was my plan to crush him…he will continue to live.” In this
case of Jesus’ resurrection, Mileant once again makes a direct textual connection between the
book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew. He looks at the rising of Jesus in the Gospel of
Matthew and compares it to Isaiah’s prophecy of the living Messiah. By making these textual
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connections, modern Christians conclude that Jesus must be the Messiah. Mileant is an example
of a modern Christian making a direct textual connection when analyzing the links between the
Book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew: a connection not agreed upon by modern Jews.
Modern Jews use translation errors to defend their view that Jesus does not fulfill Isaiah’s
Messianic prophecies in the Gospel of Matthew. Modern Christians tend to look at Isaiah 53:5
and believe that Jesus is supposed to free the people from their sins, as in his resurrection in the
Gospel of Matthew (Morrison). However, Zakar believes that modern Christians look at a
misleading translation of this commonly viewed passage. The modern Jewish theologian
retranslates the passage and notes the errors. “‘But he was wounded from (NOTE: not for) our
transgressions, he was crushed from (AGAIN: not for) our iniquities.’” (Zakar) The translations
made by Zakar show the modern Jewish view on the Christian Messianic resurrection beliefs.
Christians believe that Jesus was a savior who died on the cross for the sins of the people (From
Judaism to Christianity). Zakar does not oppose the fact that Jesus was crucified by the people
but merely that he was resurrected “for” them. Modern Jews use this aspect of translation as they
compare the Book of Isaiah to the Gospel of Matthew and defend their belief that Jesus did not
fulfill Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies.
Modern Christians remain focused on symbolism as they connect Isaiah’s Messianic
prophecies to Jesus’ resurrection in the Gospel of Matthew. This can be seen in the writing of
Hector Morrison, a minister and principle of the Theology College in Scotland (“Speaker: Hector
Morrison”). In “The Ascension of Jesus and the Gift of the Holy Spirit,” Morrison uses
symbolism to connect Jesus’ resurrection to the destruction of Solomon’s temple, which was
built in about 986 B.C.E. in Jerusalem to honor King Solomon’s reign. When the Babylonians
destroyed it about 400 years later, the prayer and sacrifices that took place there halted. A second
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temple was built at the same site, and the religious practices resumed. (Telushkin). According to
Morrison, prophets, like Isaiah, say that the temple “was destroyed because of the idolatry and
other, related sins of the people of God.” (37) He continues by saying, “We can say that on the
cross, the New Temple became what it had never been before- polluted, unclean, unholy. But on
the third day- in the resurrection- the New Temple was built again, never to be destroyed.”
(Morrison 37). Isaiah discusses “broken-down buildings of Jerusalem” in this way, saying, “the
Lord will use the power of his holy arm to save the people.” (NIrV, Is. 52: 9-10) Morrison looks
at the destruction and rebuilding of the temple in Isaiah and Jesus’ own resurrection depicted in
the Gospel of Matthew. Though the text does not directly say that the Messiah will resurrect in
the same way that the temple was rebuilt, modern Christians use symbolism when connecting the
Messianic prophecies in the book of Isaiah to Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Modern Jews,
however, still feel that this is merely a Christian attempt to fit Jesus into the Messianic role.
Modern Jews find the symbolism of Jesus’ resurrection in the Gospel of Matthew to be
overshadowed by the history prior to the writing of the gospels. Schonfield looks at passages like
Matthew 28:9, which states that the disciples were the ones who “came to him [Jesus], took hold
of his feet and worshipped him” following his resurrection (NIrV). “In these circumstances we
may hold highly certain that a high percentage of the Nazoreans of Palestine perished in the
war,” and regarding those who survived, “people whose testimony was of importance about past
events made contradictory statements” (Schonfield 186-188). As an example of a modern Jewish
theologian, Schonfield analyzes the killing of the Gentiles as the Romans became convinced that
the new Christians were a societal threat (Walker 51-52). According to the Gospel of Matthew,
the disciples were the key people that could attest to Jesus’ resurrection (NIrV, Matt. 28:9).
However, the history Schonfield refers to proves that there was a large chance that they were
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killed or that they were so traumatized that their accounts regarding Jesus’ resurrection were no
longer accurate. This shows the way in which modern Jews focus on history in their
disagreement regarding the connection between the book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew.
It is apparent that modern Christian and Jewish theologians have opposing views
regarding Jesus’ fulfillment of Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies in the Gospel of Matthew. These
views are reflected in their focuses on different aspects of the biblical texts. When proclaiming
Jesus to be the Messiah, modern Christians take into account specific, literary evidence,
documented by those who lived during Jesus’ time. While written after Jesus’ death, these
documents are a reliable source of history, since disciples, like Matthew, who were truly close to
Jesus, wrote the gospels (Walker 21). Modern Jews, on the other hand, seem to oppose these
Christian beliefs through history and translation errors, all while maintaining that the Messiah is
yet to come. Since the evidence, which justifies these opposing religious beliefs, seems logical in
different ways, there is only one true factor that can make someone believe one way or the other:
faith. Faith is defined as “the firm belief in something for which there is no proof” (MerriamWebster Online). It is interesting that faiths, like Christianity and Judaism, are characterized as
having “no proof,” yet theologians spend much of their lives attempting to prove their Messianic
beliefs to be true. Therefore, with faith as a basis for religion, there will forever be opposing
views regarding whether or not Jesus truly was the Messiah. When looking at the Book of Isaiah
in relation to the Gospel of Matthew, modern Christians will continue to focus on textual
connections and symbolism, and modern Jews will continue to focus on history and translation,
as theologians of both religions continue an ongoing attempt to justify their beliefs to themselves
and to the world.
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O’Dunne 19
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O’Dunne 20
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O’Dunne 21
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