Well-Versed in Torah Law
When the true Messiah arrives, he will be a man that is well-versed in Torah Law and will faithfully observe the laws.
And a shoot shall spring forth from the stem of Jesse, and a twig shall sprout from his roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and heroism, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:1-2)
Jesus, according to some texts, was at least somewhat versed in Torah law. However, there are many parts of the texts where he showed that he did not know Torah law at all and actively taught against it.
Let’s look at working on the Sabbath.
Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. (Mark 2:23)
This is clearly considered work which is absolutely forbidden on Shabbat.
Work is absolutely forbidden on Shabbat unless a life is at stake.
Six days you may work, and on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing and in harvest you shall rest. (Exodus 34:21)
When the children of Israel were in the desert, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood presented him before Moses and Aaron and before the entire congregation. They put him under guard, since it was not specified what was to be done to him. The Lord said to Moses, The man shall be put to death; the entire congregation shall pelt him with stones outside the camp. (Numbers 15:32-35)
If Jesus and his followers were truly starving that would be a different story because they would be allowed to pluck grain to save their lives. However, we can plainly see from the preceding text that Jesus and his followers were not fasting nor were they apparently hungry from the lack of food.
Some commentators will try to deflect this as not being work because it doesn’t compare to “reaping” which is forbidden on Shabbat. I would argue that the man gathering sticks also cannot be compared to someone chopping down a tree – which would be forbidden on Shabbat. However, as we see in Numbers, he was found guilty of working on Shabbat and paid the penalty. So, no, just because plucking grain isn’t exactly reaping doesn’t mean it isn’t forbidden work according to Torah.
Christians will point to Jesus’ excuse and say “see this was already done in the past so it is okay for Jesus to do it”.
But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” (Mark 2:25-26)
This is a red herring. Let’s look at what actually took place according to Tanakh.
And he arose and went away; and Jonathan came to the city. And David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech came trembling toward David, and said, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king charged me with a matter, and said to me, ‘Let no man know anything concerning the matter upon which I am sending you, and with which I have charged you.’ And I troubled the young men (to advance) to a hidden, secret place. And now, what is there in your possession? Five loaves of bread? Give them into my hand, or whatever is found.” And the priest answered David, and said, “There is no ordinary bread in my possession, but there is holy bread, if the young men have but kept themselves from women.” And David answered the priest, and said to him, “But, women are withheld from us as of yesterday and the day before yesterday when I left, and the young men’s garments are hallowed, and that is in a manner common, and even if today it would be hallowed in the vessel.” And the priest gave him hallowed (bread), for there was no bread there, except the showbread, which was removed from before the Lord, to place warm bread on the day it was taken. (I Samuel 21:1-7)
First, there is a huge difference between being a bit hungry like Jesus and his followers and David and his men literally starving. David and his men were on the run from Saul who looked to slaughter them. They were literally starving at this point so the priest had an obligation to feed them in order to save their lives. This was NOT the situation with Jesus and his followers who were just a bit hungry.
Second, some “god” Christianity has when he doesn’t even get the priest’s name right in the story. It was Ahimelech who was the high priest – NOT Abiathar.
Next, let’s look at Matthew 19:7-9
They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away? He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”
Jesus is clearly teaching counter to God’s law and adding to Torah.
In fact, God did speak about a “certificate of divorce”.
When a man takes a wife and is intimate with her, and it happens that she does not find favor in his eyes because he discovers in her an unseemly [moral] matter, and he writes for her a bill of divorce and places it into her hand, and sends her away from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and marries another man… (Deuteronomy 24:1-2)
So Jesus is “god” according to Christianity yet he doesn’t even know Torah? Jesus’ followers were supposedly religious Jews and they didn’t know Torah? There is no absolute restriction as Jesus claims. Divorce is seen as a last resort according to the Torah but if a man finds an immoral behavior of his wife and she will not change, he can (and should) divorce her.
Perfect Judge
The Messiah will be the perfect judge able to see beyond words and appearances.
And a shoot shall spring forth from the stem of Jesse, and a twig shall sprout from his roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and heroism, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. And he shall be animated by the fear of the Lord, and neither with the sight of his eyes shall he judge, nor with the hearing of his ears shall he chastise. And he shall judge the poor justly, and he shall chastise with equity the humble of the earth, and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall put the wicked to death. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith the girdle of his loins. (Isaiah 11:1-5)
This passage shows that the true Messiah will be a biological descendant of David and his kingdom will be of this earth. The entirety of Israel will be gathered back in and the Messiah will rule.
Afterwards shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they shall come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness at the end of days. (Hosea 3:5)
Jesus said exactly the opposite.
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” (John 18:36)
According to Matthew Henry’s Commentary: “His kingdom is not by succession, election, or conquest, but by the immediate and special designation of the divine will and counsel. … Its nature is not worldly; it is a kingdom within men (Luke 16:21), set up in their hearts and consciences (Rom. 14:17), its riches spiritual, its powers spiritual, and all its glory within.”
This is exactly opposite of what the Tanakh says about the true Messiah. How could you possibly think that anyone who knows Torah would fall for these lies from Jesus?
Vanquish Evil
The true Messiah will be able to vanquish evil at a word.
And he shall judge the poor justly, and he shall chastise with equity the humble of the earth, and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall put the wicked to death. (Isaiah 11:4)
There are no real stories about Jesus vanquishing evil other than a few random “exorcisms”. Of course, one would have to believe in the fake fall of “Satan” to even believe that demons exist. This is clearly counter to what Torah teaches. Much of what you see in the Christian texts is the threat of “hell” – which again, doesn’t exist and is counter to the teachings of Torah. Where does Jesus use his speech to vanquish real evil – as in wicked humans? All he appears to do is try to frighten people with an imaginary “hell” – which is how the church continues to manipulate people to this day.