The Talmud of the Jews consists of an extensive collection of teachings of the ancient Jewish Rabbis. It consists of the Mishnah ( the verbal law ) and the Gemara ( commentary on the uttered law ).
The Talmud is not an inspired writing like the Bible but it does teem with important eyewitness accounts of things that occurred during the first century AD and surrounding centuries.
The Talmud does not affirm that Jesus is the Messiah - far from it - but it does give many bits of information that unintentionally backing the messianic claims of Jesus of Nazareth. You must apprehend that the Talmud was written centuries before sophisticated arguments were formulated against Christianity.
For instance the Bible in Zechariah 12: 10 says " they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. " Today ' s mean Jewish apologists will strenuously contend that this could not mention to the crucifixion of Jesus in which His hands and feet were pierced.
Jewish apologists would contest that this verse is not a messianic prophecy. Most present day Jewish Bibles also give a unequal saying of the wording of Zechariah 12: 10 that renders its messianic ramifications less light.
The Talmud, however, is very direct in affirming that the ancient rabbis considered this a messianic prophecy. In the section called Sukkah 52a the verse in Zechariah 12: 10 is paraphrased: " They will look upon me, the Messiah, who they have pierced. " The rabbis went so far as to altogether insert the conversation " Messiah " into the topic!
The Talmud in Sukkah 52a does not double time state that Jesus is the Messiah but does spectacle that the ancient Jewish rabbis believed that the Messiah would be pierced. In gospel the Talmud goes to great lengths to affirm that the Ancient Testament prophecies of a suffering Messiah ( Isaiah 53, etc. ) are indeed messianic prophecies.
The Talmud in Sanhedrin 97b and 98b affirms that the prophetic passage in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah refers to the Messiah.
Isaiah 53, as I ' ve written in several articles, clearly prophesies that the Messiah would die for the sins of the people. Jesus fulfilled this and over 300 other predictive prophecies contained in the Old Testament. No other figure in all of world history can make anything like that claim!
The Talmud dealt honestly with the prophecies of the sufferings of the Messiah but also had to explain the prophecies of the glorification of the Messiah.
Some of the ancient rabbis taught that there would be two Messiahs, one a suffering Messiah who would die and the other a glorious Messiah who would be king. They didn ' t see a first and second coming of one Messiah. Importantly however, the rabbis did see, as Christians do today, that the predictions of both the suffering and the glory are messianic. This is powerful ammunition for Christian apologists.
When quoting a messianic prophecy to a Jewish apologist he will often say " If you knew the Hebrew you ' d know that the passage in question is not messianic. " The ancient Talmudists did know the Hebrew and they affirmed that the prophecies are messianic!!!
The Talmud also contains eyewitness accounts of some miraculous events that occurred in the first century. In the Talmud, in tractate Yoma 39b, four distinct unusual phenomena are recorded. These events occurred during the 40 years before the destruction of the second Temple. The second Temple was destroyed in the year 70 AD so we ' re talking about the years 30 AD to 70 AD.
The year 30 AD is the approximate time that Jesus the Messiah died for the sins of the people. When He died and rose again the Temple sacrificial system of animal sacrifices was superceded and became obsolete. God no longer honored the animal sacrifices.
Yoma 39b has to do with the Day of Atonement which is called Yom Kippur. In this tractate it is stated that the lot for the Lord ' s goat came up in the left hand of the High Priest during those 40 years. That was a bad sign because of what the left hand means in Judaism.
On Yom Kippur two goats were selected. One was to be sacrificed on the Lord ' s altar and one was to be the scapegoat. The lot for the Lord ' s goat always came up in the left hand during those 40 years!
Another phenomenon recorded in Yoma 39b has to do with the scarlet cord. On Yom Kippur they hung a scarlet cord. This cord, in the years before 30 AD, often used to miraculously turn white which was reminiscent of Isaiah 1: 18 which says " though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. " In the 40 years before 70 AD on Yom Kippur the cord always remained scarlet; it did not turn white.
Yoma 39b also records that the Temple doors opened by themselves during those 40 years. This also was a bad sign. The rabbis connected it with Zechariah 11: 1 which is a Bible verse that implied that one day the Temple would be burned as indeed it was in 70 AD.
Yoma 39b also records the fact that the westernmost light of the menorah in the Temple would not stay lit. This was yet another bad sign. The westernmost light was the light used to light all of the other lights.
The sins of the people were not forgiven through animal sacrifices after Jesus died and rose again around 30 AD. They had rejected the Messiah. There was no forgiveness by animal sacrifices. They must repent and turn to Messiah to receive forgiveness of sins. Many Jews did turn to Jesus and these formed the early church.
There was a 40 year transition at the beginning of the Age of Law when the Jews spent 40 years in the wilderness under Moses. There was also a 40 year transition at the end of the Age of Law from 30 AD to 70 AD. God was warning His precious Jewish people during this time. God gave them signs that showed that the animal sacrifices were superceded and final atonement was made by Jesus the Messiah.
The Jewish Talmud contains much in the way of law, interpretation, argument, folklore, narrative and biography. It does contain some blasphemous sayings against the Christian faith. But like a lawyer arguing a case we can appeal to the witness of the opposition.
When your opponent makes statements that support your case, those statements carry special weight. The Talmud makes many statements that have the unintended consequence of proving that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah of Israel!
