As I have pointed out in other threads, the Jews rejecting their Messiah was very clearly foretold in the Old Testament prophets. Even though God warned them ahead of time through the prophets, they still did it and continue to this very day.

But what was the thinking of a 1st century Jews on this? Allan Parr gives a concise breakdown here.

There are 2 threads written in the prophets about the Messiah, one was the suffering servant and the other is the conquering King. The Jews all knew the scripture about the coming and conquering King and were looking for Him due to their suffering under Rome, but didn't give much attention to the suffering servant aspect. Most of them probably looked at those passages as more symbolic than literal (like many Christians mistakenly do with a lot of future prophecy today), or they just paid no attention at all. Some sects even thought 2 Messiahs were coming.

Its also important to remember the spiritual aspect of this, many Jews of that time (much like today) were just not seeking God in their hearts. And this played a big role as well. A Jew from then or now who is truly seeking God with all their heart will find Jesus. God knows who seeks Him with a pure heart, and draws them to Himself.

I haven't watched the video yet but I've heard otherwise solid Bible teachers teach Jesus came b/c the Jews failed. I don't know if I'm misunderstanding them or it's just a slip of their tongue, but Jesus was always Plan A

(02-05-2026 06:43 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  I haven't watched the video yet but I've heard otherwise solid Bible teachers teach Jesus came b/c the Jews failed. I don't know if I'm misunderstanding them or it's just a slip of their tongue, but Jesus was always Plan A

You must be misunderstanding something, maybe I worded my post badly. Jesus did not come because the Jews did or did not do something, God's plan was for Him to come when He did before creation even began. One of the very first prophecies of Jesus is way back in Genesis 3 when God judged Adam, Eve and Satan. Later, God called out Abraham and gave them the law for Jesus to come and be the fulfillment of all of it exactly when He did. Moses foretold of Jesus coming when he gave the law and Jesus said to the Jews Moses told you of Me. Did the Jews turn from God and follow after other Gods and then later reject Jesus, yes but again all that was predicted in the OT prophets long before Jesus ever came.

What the Jews failed to do was know the time of Him coming, know who He was and accept Him as Messiah (that is likely what you are thinking of as their failure). That is precisely what Jesus told in them in Gospels, even though Jesus knew all along they would reject Him and have Him crucified. As Jesus said mutiple times in the Gospels, this is why He came into the world, He knew they would reject Him and He knew He would die for all our sins. But He still had to come and make the offer for them to have the Kingdom age now through Him to fulfill the prophets and Gods ultimate plan.

That's pretty much the universal view of most of Christianity. This isn't really a controversial topic at all.

(02-06-2026 07:02 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(02-05-2026 06:43 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  I haven't watched the video yet but I've heard otherwise solid Bible teachers teach Jesus came b/c the Jews failed. I don't know if I'm misunderstanding them or it's just a slip of their tongue, but Jesus was always Plan A

You must be misunderstanding something, maybe I worded my post badly. Jesus did not come because the Jews did or did not do something, God's plan was for Him to come when He did before creation even began. One of the very first prophesies of Jesus is way back in Genesis 3 when God judged Adam, Eve and Satan. God called out Abraham and gave them the law for Jesus to come and be the fulfillment of all of it exactly when He did. Moses foretold of Jesus coming when he gave the law and Jesus told the Jews Moses told you of Me. Did the Jews turn from God and follow after other Gods and then later reject Jesus, yes but again all that was predicted in the OT prophets long before Jesus ever came.

What the Jews failed to do was know the time of Him coming, know who He was and accept Him as Messiah (that is likely what you are thinking of as their failure). That is precisely what Jesus told in them in Gospels, even though Jesus knew all along they would reject Him and have Him crucified. As Jesus said mutiple times in the Gospels, this is why He came into the world, He knew they would reject Him and He knew He would die for all our sins.

That's pretty much the universal view of most of Christianity. This isn't really a controversial topic at all.

Bishop Sheen speaks of the cross being ever present in the life of Jesus. He knew that He carried it along on His journey toward His fateful destination on this plane. He infers that the cross is crucial to the central theme of Jesus's short life, ever present, ever necessary, and inescapable even had He wished it so.

Not sure if it's even relevant to the conversation, but it made me think of The Life of Christ by Sheen. It's a great book that is taking me forever to complete. He writes in a stream-of-consciousness style that's complex, but he makes it easy to understand using simple terms.