Read Z'charyah / Zechariah 9:8 - 10: "And I (G-d) will encamp beside My house against a garrison of those passing by and of those returning. And no oppressor shall pass by them, for now I have seen with My eyes. Be exceedingly happy, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold! Your king shall come to you. He is just and victorious; humble, and riding a donkey and a foal, the offspring of [one of] she-donkeys. And I will cut off the chariots from Ephraim, and the horses from Jerusalem; and the bow of war shall be cut off. And he shall speak peace to the nations, and his rule shall be from the sea to the west and from the river to the ends of the earth." He is just and victorious and humble. Jesus was not victorious. He was murdered. The list maker wants to "take" humble (and "just") and claim Jesus was both. Perhaps he was -- but two out of three does not count. Jesus was not victorious. Jesus did not rule as is prophesied. Jewish oppressors still exist, Jesus did not remove them, and so on. . . Reading the passage in context it is clear that Jesus "did not do it." Reading verse 9 in the context of verses 8 and 10 it is clear to see that Jesus did not fulfill the prophecy. Missionaries are fond of lifting a word or sentence completely out of context to say "Jesus fulfilled XYZ." In Z'charyah / Zechariah 9 we are told that in the messianic era (the real one) G-d will destroy the enemies of the Jewish people: "Behold, the L-rd shall impoverish her, and He shall smite her wealth in the sea, and she shall be consumed by fire. Ashkelon shall see and fear, and Gaza-and she shall quake violently-and Ekron, for the one to whom she looked was ashamed. And a king was lost from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited." Z'charyah / Zechariah 9:4 - 5. Were these enemies so punished in the time of Jesus? No. G-d will “camp” next to the Temple to protect it; no one will be allowed to antagonize the Jews, as G-d has now seen the distress of His people: Z'charyah / Zechariah 9:8. Was the Temple protected during the time of Jesus? No. The Romans even put foreign idols in it. “Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the Sanhedrin was BANISHED (from the Chamber of Hewn Stone) and sat in the trading station (on the Temple Mount)”– (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 15a). This would be 30 CE -- 30 years before Jesus was supposedly born. An earthquake severely damaged the buildings and mikva'ot of Qumran in 31 BCE. Excavations revealed cracks in walls and a thick layer of ash from a fire that had raged. The earthquake was mentioned by Josephus. (Antiquities of the Jews 15). 31 BCE -- as in 31 years before Jesus was supposedly born. The Temple was not protected by G-d at that time. “Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the Sanhedrin was BANISHED (from the Chamber of Hewn Stone) and sat in the trading station (on the Temple Mount)”– (Shabbat 15a). This would be 28 CE -- Jesus would still have been alive, and yet part of the Temple was destroyed and the "Supreme" Court and primary governing body of the Jews -- the Great Sanhedrin -- could no longer meet in their chamber. The loss of this chamber meant they could no longer rule on death penalty cases as well. The Temple was not protected by G-d at that time. Jesus was not a king. Jesus was not victorious. He was murdered by the Romans. Ergo, even if Jesus were humble he quite obviously did not fulfill the prophecy of Z'charyah / Zechariah 9. The T'nach tells us about the messiah's qualities. “The spirit of G‑d will rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of G‑d. He shall be inspired with fear of G‑d, and he shall not judge with the sight of his eyes nor decide according to the hearing of his ears. He shall judge the poor with righteousness and decide with equity for the humble of the earth; he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of his lips. Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith the girdle of his reins.” (Isaiah 11:2 - 5). We will not know the messiah because he performs miracles -- he may not perform any miracles at all. He is not required to perform any miracles at all (although the performance of miracles doesn't disqualify him either). The Rambam wrote: "If we see a Jewish leader who (a) toils in the study of Torah and is meticulous about the observance of the mitzvot, (b) influences the Jews to follow the ways of the Torah and (c) wages the "battles of G‑d"—such a person is the "presumptive Moshiach." If the person succeeded in all these endeavors, and then rebuilds the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and facilitates the return of the Jews to the Land of Israel—then we are certain that he is the messiah.
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