The Belief that Messiah had to be Divine predated the time of Jesus

Some skeptics and contradictors of Christianity claim that the Deity of Christ was an invention of people, something that progressively developed years after the time of Jesus on earth. I would like to provide evidence that this is not the case, and that in fact, the belief that Messiah is God pre-dated the incarnation of Jesus.

 

My argument in this article is based on the Book of Isaiah, a prophetic book which clearly speaks about the Son Of God, as I have documented in this other article. However, this time I'd like to present what the believers before the time of Jesus understood this prophetical book spoke about.

 

It’s important to highlight that the view of Rabbinical Jews today about Isaiah, and in specific of Isaiah 53 is not aligned with the view of Orthodox Judaism, especially in the first century BCE. To demonstrate this, I'd like to review what the Targums, and in specific to the Targum Johnathan say.

 

Targum Johnathan is a commentary in Aramaic of the Tanakh (Old Testament). It was written by Johnathan Ben Uziel, in the first century BC. One could ask, why is it important? Because it is a paraphrase translation / commentary of the prophetic books. And as a paraphrases in mishnaic style, it reflects the views and understanding of the different Old Testament books. It presents us how the Jewish community of the orthodox school of Hillel understood the meaning of these books.

 

Johnathan Ben Uziel was one of the most respected teachers in the School of Hillel in the first century BCE. Some of the Jewish exegesis make reference to a believe that even his commentaries were inspired by God. I don’t have proof to say that that’s in fact the case, but at least, the fact is that this reflects how credible were his assertions. Just to show how much was he revered by the Jewish sages, feel free to look at this article: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112289/jewish/Rabbi-Jonathan-ben-Uzziel.htm In there you will find traditional comments like the following:

 

• The Sages related that when Rabbi Jonathan ben Uzziel was busy studying the holy Torah, a bird flying over him at that moment would be burned!       

• Rabbi Jonathan ben Uzziel became especially famous through his interpretation of the Torah, called Targum Jonathan, that he left us.  

• The greatest of all of Hillel's disciples was Jonathan ben Uzziel  

• When he intended writing an interpretation of the Kethuvim (Holy Writings; the third part of T'NaCh - Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim), he was forbidden to do so, because they reveal secrets which must not be revealed till Moshiach (The Messiah) comes.

What was the significance of the school of Hillel? It was large. For example, according to The Jewish Encyclopedia,  the Pharisees to whom Jesus spoke, belonged to the school of Hillel. And as such, they approved and used the Aramaic Targum of Johnathan. It also means that they were not foreign to the views thereof about The Servant in Isaiah. Christianity and Messianic Judaism claim loudly that this chapter clearly refers to The Messiah and the Substitutionary atonement work that He would undertake.

 

Now, let’s look at what the Targum commentary translation says about The Suffering Servant. Today Rabbinical Jews, Muslim apologists and  other skeptics argue that the poem of Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12 refers to the nation of Israel.  I should clarify that The suffering servant poem starts in Isaiah 52:13 and carries on through Isaiah 53.

 

 

 

The image above, shows a snapshot on the Targum Isaiah 52:13. As you may see, it reads "Behold My Servant, The Messiah". The importance of this is that it demonstrates that Orthodox Judaism (since at least the first century before Christ) understood that The Servant is The Messiah. I say at least since the first century BC, but there are some Jewish exegesis which claim that many of the interpretations found in the Targums can be tracked to the prophet Ezekiel (622 – 570 BCE).

 

This also implies that before and during the time of Christ there was a line of thought among the Pharisees, who believed that Isaiah 52 & 53 spoke about the Messiah. By-the-way, that would include Paul of Tarsus, who was a Pharisee of Gamaliel’s school (Acts 22:3). Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel.

 

In other passage of the Targum it's found another very important note. The Messiah was equally identified with God, as we can see in the Targum Isaiah 9:6:

 

"His name is called from eternity, Wonderful, The Mighty God, who liveth to Eternity, THE MESSIAH, whose peace shall be great upon us on His days".

 

 

 

 

I invite you to open up and consider this historical FACT: Before the rising of Christianity, there was a line of thought within Orthodox Judaism which was expecting The Messiah is actually God, and The Messiah would take upon Him our Sins; that we would be forgiven for His sake. On the other hand, those Jewish views who claim Isaiah 53 speak about the nation of Israel originated among rabbinical Jews centuries after the time of The Messiah. Why do I say that? Because the Talmud, which was compiled 3-4centuries after Jesus still condones the use of the Targum of the prophets (Per Talmud book Megila 3a).

  

I sincerely invite you to consider the facts explained above. Christianity did not invent the deity of Christ, or the doctrine of substitutionary atonement through the death of The Messiah. All this was revealed by God through the prophets through the history of the nation of Israel. The first Christians were mainly Jews, who were familiar with what had been revealed to the prophets, and who understood that Jesus was the promised Messiah who would take upon him the punishment of sins.

 

Please consider it. Check what I wrote in this post on your own. I’ve tried to give you snapshots from the sources, as well as links for your access. Think of the weight of the historical evidence before your eyes. Read slowly and sincerely, please consider what if I’m telling you the truth.