As a Jew who was raised in the Orthodox faith for 22 years and attended an Orthodox Hebrew school for 10 years, I would never follow Y'shua (Jesus) as Messiah if the evidence proving his Messiahship was not simply overwhelming.

How I started investigating:

When I was about 19 years old and in the military, someone showed me Psalm 22 from the Hebrew Scriptures. Upon reading it I immediately thought that someone had made a mistake and given me a New Testament to read instead. When I mentioned this, the person who gave me this Psalm to read assured me that it was the Hebrew Bible.

The first words in this Psalm are, "Eloi, Eloi Lama Sabachtani" which in English is "My G-d, My G-d, why have You forsaken Me?" Although I knew very little about Y'shua, I did know that these were some of His last words while on the cross. My immediate reaction was that the Christians must have translated this Psalm because so much of it sounded like someone being crucified, even if it was not Y'shua.

Expose the Error:

I decided that I would expose this error and go and read my Tanach (Hebrew Bible) at home in the Hebrew. I thought that surely it would be totally different; otherwise all Jews would naturally believe this was probably referring to Y'shua on the cross. So I went home and studied Psalm 22 in my Tanach, in the Hebrew and even the Jewish translation into English. To my utter amazement it seemed very similar to the English translation from my "Christian" friend.

Even though I knew little about Y'shua or his life, I was familiar with the fact that they cast lots for Y'shua's clothing, and that in verse 18 of Psalm 22 it says, "They divided My garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots." The only difference between my Jewish translated Bible and the "Christian" one was in verse 16 where the Jewish translation was, "Like a lion my hands and feet" versus the Christian one translated as, "They pierced my hands and feet." In reality, however, the Hebrew can be translated either way. Besides, the way someone is crucified is very similar to the way a dead lion would be tied up on a beam of wood in those days anyway; it would make it easier to carry the corpse.

So, why did the translators choose, "Like a lion" over "they pierced?" If we are so confident as Jews that Y'shua could not be the Messiah, why replace the more obvious and accepted translation of that verse for one that does not make as much sense in the context? Even though "they like a lion my hands and feet" still sounds like a crucifixion, why should we be threatened by even the POSSIBILITY that this could be talking about Y'shua of Nazareth?

Actually, it was more the MOTIVATION that caused the translators to replace "they pierced" with "like a lion" that got me interested to study our Tanach (Hebrew Scriptures) even more closely, especially the Messianic prophecies. As I studied this Psalm in more detail, I noticed how verse 14 said, "I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint." That is exactly what happens to someone who is crucified; their bones eventually go out of joint from the pressure of the weight of the body pulling on the joints. Verse 17 then says "I can count all My bones. They look and stare at me." Again, this is another symptom of one's arms being stretched out in the the crucifixion position. This causes the skin to be stretched taut so that you can see the rib cage and even "count the bones," so to speak.

But then, there was something else that bothered me. Was there such a form of punishment as crucifixion in existence in the days of King David, the author of the Psalm? I did not remember anything in the Tanach, apart from this Psalm, that referred to anything remotely like crucifixion. After some research, I found out that this form of punishment was only "invented" by the Romans about 700 years after the death of King David. Could it be that David was not only a great King and Psalmist but an inspired prophet of G-d as well? The only possible conclusion I could come to, as incredible as it may seem, is that G-d was revealing an event to King David that was to happen approximately 700 years in the future.

I have shared mostly from Psalm 22 because it had the greatest impact on me personally in studying the claims of Y'shua concerning His Messiahship. This evidence alone was enough to convince me that He is indeed the promised Deliverer and Redeemer we have been waiting for, but that is not where it ends. Here are some other major Messianic prophecies you can study in your own Tanach and ask G-d to show you the truth on this matter:

More Scriptures:

JEREMIAH 31 v 31 - 34 speaks of a NEW COVENANT that G-d will make with Israel to take away their sins and bring them into a closer relationship with Him.

ISAIAH 7 V 14: Messiah was to be born of a virgin. In Hebrew the word is ALMAH which can also mean YOUNG MAIDEN. In Old Testament times the word was used interchangeably; a young maiden was always a virgin in those days and in that culture.

ISAIAH 9 V 6 & 7: Messiah is to sit on the throne of David and rule forever. Y'shua's genealogy proves that He is a direct descendant of King David both on his mother's and father's side (even though his father did not conceive him physically because he was conceived by the RUACH HA'KODESH (Holy Spirit). These genealogical records were meticulously recorded and stored in the second temple archives. The early disciples, Matthew and Luke, copied these genealogies from the temple records to prove the authenticity of Y'shua's claims.

PSALM 16 V 10 & PSALM 110 v 1: Messiah had to rise from the dead to prove that he was and is the promised Messiah of the Scriptures.

MICAH 5 V 2: Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem and belong to the tribe of Judah. Y'shua was born in Bethlehem and belongs to the tribe of Judah. (Rev 5 v 5)

DEUTERONOMY 18 V 18 & 19: In this portion of the Torah, G-d says that Messiah will be a prophet "like unto Moses"; in other words He would be similar to Moses in performing great signs and wonders amongst the Jewish people. This Y'shua did in healing the sick, raising the dead and feeding the multitudes by multiplying a few fish and loaves.

ISAIAH 52 V 13 - ISAIAH 53 V 12: This is probably the most important Messianic prophecy in the Scriptures, written 700 years before Yeshua. Read this passage and ask yourself: to whom is the writer referring.

Messiah had to be a Jew:

Last, but not least, Messiah had to be a Jew or he simply could not be the Messiah. Naturally, Y'shua was and is a Jew, but the good news is you don't have to be Jewish to believe in Y'shua. But if you are Jewish and study the evidence and have an open heart to the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you will see that the evidence for Yshua's Messiahship is overwhelming.

Naturally, this is a short explanation of why Y'shua is the Messiah. There are dozens of more prophecies that He fulfilled. But what matters the most is that the G-d of Israel sent Y'shua the Messiah to be the KAPPORAH (Atonement) for your sins because He loves you so and wants to give you peace with G-d through faith in the death, burial and ressurection of His Son, Messiah Y'shua.

Find out for yourself...
Study the Scriptures for yourself and ask G-d to reveal the truth to you as He has done to me and tens of thousands of Jews around the world. He will restore you back to Himself, for He loves you with an everlasting love.