Traditional Jews expect a literal Messiah, the son of David, who will do many of the things that Christians expect Jesus to do upon His return. At that time, passages such as Isaiah 2:1–4 or Isaiah 11 will be fulfilled; see also Jeremiah 23:5–6.
According to Moses Maimonides (a.d. 1135–1204), the great codifier and organizer of Jewish laws and beliefs, this is how the Messiah will be known:
If a king will arise from the House of David who is learned in Torah and observant of the mitzvot [the Torah’s commandments], as prescribed by the written law and the oral law, as David his ancestor was, and will compel all of Israel to walk in [the way of the Torah] and reinforce the breaches [in its observance]; and fight the wars of G-d, we may, with assurance, consider him the Messiah.
If he succeeds in the above, builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the Messiah.
If he did not succeed to this degree or he was killed, he surely is not [the redeemer] promised by the Torah. [Rather,] he should be considered as all the other proper and complete kings of the Davidic dynasty who died. G-d only caused him to arise in order to test the many, as [Daniel 11:35] states; “and some of the wise men will stumble, to try them, to refine, and to clarify until the appointed time, because the set time is in the future.”[37]
The Messiah, according to Maimonides, whose view is considered authoritative by most traditional Jews, will not be a miracle worker and he will certainly not die and then rise from the dead. Instead, he will be an extraordinarily gifted human being who will lead Israel and the nations back to God.
There is a tradition dating back to the Talmud that mentions a second Messianic figure, called the “Messiah son of Joseph,” although the origins of this belief are very difficult to trace.[38] According to some traditions, he will only come if the Jewish people are not yet worthy of Messiah son of David. (These figures are called Messiah ben David and Messiah ben Yoseph; traditional Jews say Moshiach rather than Messiah.) He will perform many of the Messianic functions before getting cut down in battle in the last great war, at which point Messiah son of David will raise him from the dead, perform the remaining Messianic functions and establish God’s kingdom on the earth. His death, however, is not viewed in vicarious, substitutionary terms—like the death of Jesus for our sins—and so this Messiah son of Joseph is a suffering Messiah but not a redeeming Messiah.[39]
There are many mystical beliefs associated with the coming of the Messiah, along with the belief that in every generation there is a potential Messiah waiting to be revealed. Thus it is that some of the most influential Jews of past generations—especially those steeped in mysticism—have been viewed after their death as the potential Messiahs of their respective generations, but their respective generations were not considered worthy and so this potential Messiah was never revealed. (For the Messianic expectations of the Lubavitcher Hasidim, see #2.)
This again underscores the traditional Jewish belief that the Messiah will be fully human, also explaining Talmudic traditions that state that if the people of Israel were to observe one Sabbath (or, according to other traditions, two consecutive Sabbaths), the Messiah would be revealed. (In other words, he is here in every generation but not recognized as Messiah and not revealed in his full glory or potential.) In keeping with this, and as formulated by Maimonides, traditional Jews pray and confess daily, “I believe in perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he delay, I will wait for him every day that he will come.”
This account in the Talmud has always moved me:
When R. Joshua ben Levi found the prophet Elijah standing by the entrance to the cave in which R. Simeon ben Yohai was buried, he asked him, “Will I be allowed to enter the world-to-come?” Elijah answered, “If this master here desires it.” R. Joshua later said, “I saw two [Elijah and myself] but I heard the voice of a third.” He then asked Elijah, “When will the Messiah come?” “Go and ask him yourself,” was his reply. “Where is he sitting?” “At the entrance to the city [of Rome].” “And by what sign may I recognize him?” “He is sitting among the poor who are stricken with illnesses; all of whom untie and retie all the bandages over their sores at the same time, whereas he unties and reties each bandage separately, saying to himself: Should I be wanted, I must not be delayed.”
So R. Joshua went to the Messiah and greeted him: “Peace be upon you, my master and teacher.” “Peace be upon you, son of Levi,” the Messiah replied. R. Joshua: “When will you come, O master?” “Today,” was the Messiah’s answer.
When R. Joshua came back to Elijah, the latter asked him, “What did he say to you?” R. Joshua: “Peace be upon you, son of Levi.” Elijah observed, “By that he assured you and your father of a portion in the world-to-come.” R. Joshua: “[How can I believe him, seeing that] he spoke falsely to me, for he told me that he would come today, yet he has not come.” Elijah: “When he told you, ‘Today,’ he was quoting the first word of a verse that goes on to say, ‘If you will hear His voice’” (Ps. 95:6).[40]
While teaching a Ph.D. class on rabbinic interpretation of Messianic prophecy as a visiting professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1998, I read this passage with the small class of students, almost breaking down in tears as my heart was torn for the redemption of our people. It was quite unexpected in an academic setting like that! The Messiah, seen here in his suffering, was so eager to redeem his people—“Should I be wanted, I must not be delayed”—but we were not ready.
Conservative Jews still expect a literal Messiah, but Reform Judaism, in its classical form, has put a greater emphasis on the Messianic era that will be realized through the mission of the Jewish people and the self-improvement of the human race. This is in keeping with the somewhat humanistic, antisupernatural outlook of Reform Judaism but is certainly out of step with historic Jewish beliefs.
It should be remembered, however, that the majority of Jews today—both in America and worldwide—are not deeply religious and therefore belief in a Messiah is not something on the minds of a great many Jews. For them, the concept of God must become central in their lives before they will give much thought to the idea of a Messiah.