Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 11:6
All the Prophets spoke of the Messiah, Redeemer of Israel and Savior and Gatherer of the Exiles and Strengthener of the Commandments.
Laws of Kings and Wars. trans. Reuven Brauner, 2012
Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
Rabbinic statements: “R. Yose the Galilean said: “The name of the Messiah is Peace, for it is said, Everlasting Father, Prince Peace” (Midrash Pereq Shalom, p. 101); “The Messiah is called by eight names: Yinnon [see Ps. 72:17], Tzemach [e.g., Jer. 23:5]; Pele [Wonderful, Isa. 9:6 (5)], Yo’etz [Counselor, Isa. 9:6 (5)], Mashaich [Messiah], El [god, Isa. 9:6 (5)], Gibbor (Hero, Isa. 9:6 (5)], and Avi’ Ad Shalom [Eternal Father of Peace, Isa. 9:6 (5)]; see Deuteronomy Rabbah 1:20.
What is the name of the King Messiah? R. Abba b. Kahana said: His name is "the Lord" (Midrash Rabbah, Lamentations 1:16)
Messiah literally means Savior, regardless of the current beliefs of the Jews, which perhaps after Rashi, has totally erased the whole concept of the Messiah just to oppose Jesus. The primary role of the Jewish Messiah was to save Israel or his people, not merely from an earthly slavery from a foreign kingdom but from the kingdom of Satan, and redeem mankind to God for eternal life and peace. After realizing that the Messiah is the Savior, you should ask, the Divine Savior will who and from what? Will he only protect from a temporary problem of a few people, or will be the savior of the world, as the Tanakh says? Study the Rabbinic tradition on Isaiah 53 being the Messianic prophecy:
Midrash Konen in discussing Isaiah 53 puts the following words in the
mouth of Elijah the prophet: “Thus says the Messiah: Endure the
sufferings and the sentence your Master who makes you suffer because
of the sin of Yisroel. Thus it is written, “He was wounded because of
our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities”, until
the time the end comes.”
Tractate Sanhedrin in the Babylonian Talmud (98b), writes about the
name of the Messiah “His name is ‘the leper scholar,’ as it is
written, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows yet
we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God, and afflicted”.
In Midrash Tanhuma it says, “Rabbi Nachman says, it speaks of no one
but the Messiah, the Son of David of whom it is said, here a man
called “the plant”, and Jonathan translated it to mean the Messiah and
it is rightly said, “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief”.
Midrash Shumel says this about Isaiah 53: “The suffering was divided
into three parts: One for the generation of the Patriarchs, one for
the generation of Shmad, and one for the King Messiah”.
The prayers for Yom Kippur, the ones we all know also relates Isaiah
53 to the Messiah. The prayer added for Yom Kippur by Rabbi Eliezer
around the time of the seventh century: “Our righteous Messiah has
turned away from us we have acted foolishly and there is no one to
justify us. Our iniquities and the yoke of our transgressions he bears
and he is pierced for our transgressions. He carries our sins on his
shoulder, to find forgiveness for our iniquities. By his wounds we are
healed.”
In Genesis Rabbah, Rabbi Moshe haDarshan says that God enabled the
Messiah to save souls but that together with that, he would suffer
greatly. Also Maimonides relates Isaiah 53 to the Messiah in his
Epistle to Yemen. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai wrote, “And Messiah of
Ephraim died there and Israel mourns for him as it is written: ‘He is
despised and rejected of men’, and he goes back into hiding, for it
says: ‘and we hid, as it were, our faces from him’.”
Actual Interpretations of Talmudic (or Rabbinic) Judaism:
Old Testament passages such as Isaiah 53 prophesy that the Messiah,
even the King Messiah, will suffer and die to atone for our sins as
Priest, but he will be resurrected from the dead. The interpretation
that Isaiah 53 refers to the nation of Israel as a whole and not to a
specific individual is a relatively recent view that does not appear
in rabbinic literature until the eleventh century A.D. For nearly a
thousand years rabbinic tradition understood Isaiah 53 to refer to a
specific Messianic individual. The reference in Isaiah 53 to the
Messiah seeing his seed does not indicate actual physical descendents.
For instance, this passage has been interpreted by some to refer to
Jeremiah who was commanded by God not to marry or have children and to
the late Lubavitcher Grand Rabbi who also had no children. Most
likely, the passage is speaking of persons of the same spiritual
qualities. Zechariah 3 does refer to the Messiah and identifies him
with Joshua the High Priest through the use of the Messianic term “the
Branch.” Zechariah 12 does prophecy that the Messiah will be pierced
and die for the sins of Israel who will mourn for him as for a
firstborn son. Psalm 16 does refer to the Messiah indicating that his
body will not decompose. (Some of the ultra-orthodox Lubavitcher
Hasidic movement taught that their deceased high rabbi, who they
claimed was the Messiah, would be resurrected and return.)
This becomes even more interesting when we realize that the Jews who
wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls were looking for two Messianic figures,
called the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel. 30 In addition to this, the
important first-century document called the Testaments of the Twelve
Patriarchs, in particular the Testaments of Levi and Judah, also had
much to say about this priestly Messiah, speaking of him in highly
exalted terms. 31 – Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus,
Volume 1, Historical Objections, p. 85
Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 11:1 "And a scepter-bearer will arise out of Israel"--that's the King Messiah. "He will strike the corners of Moab"--that's David." And so it says "And he defeated Moab and measured them with a cord (2 Samuel 8:2)." "..and destroy all the sons of Seth (Numbers 24:17)"--that's the King Messiah, as it is said about him "And his reign will be from sea to sea (Zachariah 9:10). "And Edom will be an inheritance (Numbers 24:18)"--that's David, as it is said, "And Edom were slaves to David (2 Samuel 8:14)", etc. "And it will be an inheritance, etc. (Numbers 24:18)" --that's the King Messiah, as it is said, "Saviors will ascend Mount Zion (Ovadiah 1:21)", etc.
[Mat 4:17 ESV] From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
[Act 5:31 ESV] God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
[Luke 24:45-47] Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
There is nothing contradictory with the sacrificial system and repentance. In Leviticus 16, God explains to Moses how the sins of the People of Israel will be forgiven, by taking the blood which was offered at the altar, and sprinkling it on the Mercy Seat as atonement for the iniquities and sins of the People of Israel. The Jewish tradition recognizes this. God provides the ultimate and permanent sacrifice for atonement; there is no forgiveness without blood.
Yalkut Shimoni says on Exodus 29: “There is no atonement but in the
blood.”
In tractate Yoma 5a it says: “And he shall lay his hand… and it shall
be accepted for him. Does the laying on of the hand make atonement for
one? Does not atonement come through the blood?”
Rashi himself said: “There is no atonement without blood.”
The Sages also recognized this principle and repeated it in Zevachim
6; Minchot 93; Sifra 4, and more. And yet, Rabbi Asor calls what God
defined in the Pentateuch as the only way to receive atonement and
forgiveness over sins as paganism and idolatry.
