Jesus did not accomplish any of these prophecies in his lifetime. He did not live in the milieu that would qualify him as the moshiach. Since his death people are still raising the sword instead of ploughshares, there are many wars raging around the world, billions of people do not know of One God, and the site of the Solomon’s original Temple in Jerusalem has not been rebuilt, and in fact, the Temple Mount continues to be defiled through political strife and turmoil.

It is an axiom of Jewish faith that in every generation there is a person born with the potential to be the moshiach. If the time is right for the messianic age within that person’s lifetime, then that person will be moshiach. But if that person dies before he completes the missions of the moshiach, then that person simply is not the messiah. The fact that the Roman government was able to execute Jesus is the ultimate litmus test of his fallibility and failure as a messianic figure. (Incidentally, among the passages indicating the nature of this moshiach is one that mentions he will Yira Zera (lit. “see seed”), or sire children. Jesus, as far as we know, died childless.

For these and other reasons, Judaism firmly believes that we are living in “pre-messianic times”, not a “post-messianic” epoch. There is no source in Jewish tradition, or in the scriptures for that matter, that the messiah will come a “Second Time.” Moreover, we are taught that the moshiach is not to be worshipped. It is against all principles of Judaism to worship any man as a way to achieve salvation or perfection. In the spirit of fairness, however, one should always try to extract a “spark” of good from evil. In this case, Maimonides says that a non-Jew may accept another being as a deity or mediator, as long as he does not actually worship it as an idol and still believes in God. Certain Christian sects, he adds, may be an acceptable religion for non-Jews, and may be in fulfillment of God’s ultimate purpose. The messiah, although a special and uniquely endowed person, completely in control of his senses and profoundly imbued with the spirit of God shall still be a mortal being.