Why is it important for Jesus to be the Jewish Messiah if you're not Jewish?

[iBrian]

It occurred to me last night - there's a lot of stock in Jesus being the Jewish Messiah - but, why does that matter if his teachings were for the gentiles, not the Jews, and therefore Jewish beliefs are not important? In other words, if Christians are not Jews, why would it matter whether Jesus fulfilled a Jewish prophecy or not? If Jesus had not been seen as a Jewish Messiah, but instead one for a Celtic or Egyptian or Greek or Norse religion, that would also have been acceptable?

Just thought I'd ask.

 

[RabbiO]

Correct me if I am wrong, but it appears to me your question is entirely premised on Jesus’ teachings actually being directed to non-Jews not to Jews. I obviously don’t have the depth of Christian knowledge of other members here, but I’m not sure you’ll find much support for that supposition.

 

[Longfellow]

It occurred to me last night - there's a lot of stock in Jesus being the Jewish Messiah - but, why does that matter if his teachings were for the gentiles, not the Jews, and therefore Jewish beliefs are not important? In other words, if Christians are not Jews, why would it matter whether Jesus fulfilled a Jewish prophecy or not? If Jesus had not been seen as a Jewish Messiah, but instead one for a Celtic or Egyptian or Greek or Norse religion, that would also have been acceptable?

Just thought I'd ask.

Maybe your question is, why does it or should it matter to non-Jewish Christians to think that he was the Messiah? One reason might be that the gospel stories seem to be saying that he was. Another might be because that’s what the title “Christ” means. If you’re asking, what actual difference does it make to non-Jewish people, I don’t think it does make any actual difference. In my own understanding of the Bible the only reason it ever mattered was for Jews to know that faithfulness to him was faithfulness to God.

 

[Faithfulservant]

It occurred to me last night - there's a lot of stock in Jesus being the Jewish Messiah - but, why does that matter if his teachings were for the gentiles, not the Jews, and therefore Jewish beliefs are not important? In other words, if Christians are not Jews, why would it matter whether Jesus fulfilled a Jewish prophecy or not? If Jesus had not been seen as a Jewish Messiah, but instead one for a Celtic or Egyptian or Greek or Norse religion, that would also have been acceptable?

Just thought I'd ask.

Jesus teachings were for His people the Jews. He stated He came for them. It wasnt until His resurrection that salvation was open for gentiles. John the Baptist was considered the last of the OT prophets.

 

[Thomas]

Jesus preached to the Jews, not to the Gentiles.

I think it was understood in Jewish belief that salvation for all would come through the Jews, that in a sense they are the elder brother of the world, and that the sign of the summation of all things would be the Gentile world turning to the Jews ... I think Paul saw his mission to the Gentiles as essentially a fulfilment of Jewish prophecy.

Certainly for Matthew and Luke, positioning Jesus in the context of a prophetic Davidic heritage was necessary, both evangelists do some fancy footwork to have Jesus born in Bethlehem. In Mark, he just turns up on the Baptist's doorstep, as he does in John.