By Barry Rosenfeld<\/p>\n
Isaiah 52 and 53 describe a \u201csuffering Messiah\u201d who is beaten and disfigured. This is recorded in Mark 15:15-19\u2014\u201cWishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.\u201d<\/p>\n
These verses that are so descriptive of what we read in the New Testament about what Yeshua suffered are explained by the rabbis as pertaining to Israel as opposed to the person of the Messiah. For example, this is the position of the Spanish Jewish scholar Ibn Ezra. This is also the position taken by writers in the Talmud, Zohar, and other ancient rabbinic texts. <\/p>\n
(Outreachjudaism.org) Marshall Roth writing for the Aish.com website also sees the suffering servant as being Israel. He cites earlier passages in Isaiah that refer to Israel as God\u2019s servant such as \u201cYou are My servant, O Israel\u201d (41:8) and \u201cYou are My servant, Israel\u201d (49:3) He also references the Holocaust as further proof of Israel\u2019s suffering. <\/p>\n
Other rabbis refer to the Messiah described in Isaiah 53 as the \u201csuffering servant.\u201d They describe two Messiahs, one referred to as Messiah ben Yoseph (Joseph suffered in Egypt) and the other as Messiah ben David, the conquering Messiah, neither of whom have yet to appear. It is believed that Messiah ben Yosef will appear first and fight a war against Israel\u2019s enemies, only to be killed in it. He will be followed by Messiah ben David who will be the conquering Messiah. <\/p>\n