Why do most Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah?

from the old testament

• Old Testament Scriptures prophesied about Jesus (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53; Micah 5:2). Religious leaders of Jesus’ time would have known the prophecies, but they sought to elevate themselves, so they didn’t submit to Jesus.
• Still, not all Jews, then or now, reject Jesus, and Israel, as a nation, still has a role to play. In the millennial kingdom, God will once again look to Jews to be His chosen people. Jews will flock to Israel (Ezekiel 34:11-13). They will come to accept Jesus as their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10). God will restore their relationship with Him (Ezekiel 11:17). And Jesus will rule the world from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:4), bringing peace to the nations (Isaiah 11:6-9).

from the new testament

• The Jews of Jesus’ time rejected Him because they valued glory for themselves over glory for God. Jesus made it known that “they preach, but do not practice,” attempting to establish righteousness based on their works. They “tithe[d] mint and dill and cumin” but “neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23). Their confidence in their own righteousness prevented them from accepting Christ as the Messiah.
• The apostle Paul noted this same problem about the Jews of his time: “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness” (Romans 10:2-3).
• Spiritual blindness also caused the Jewish religious leaders of the time to reject Jesus. Jesus told them, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, . . . . Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me” (John 5:39, 45-46). They failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah prophesied in the very Scriptures they studied.
• Many Jews were so blinded that even the miracles that proved Jesus was no ordinary man, such as Jesus’ raising of Lazarus (John 11), did not impel them to turn to Christ. In fact, they plotted to kill Lazarus because he was living proof of Christ’s power (John 12:10).
• Ultimately, as Jesus told Nicodemus, who was “a ruler of the Jews,” people rejected Jesus as Messiah because they “loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19). Love of sin causes people to reject Christ.

implications for today

“REJECTED.” Stamped on an application or flung as an insult, it hurts. The worst rejection in history, though, was the Jews rejection of Jesus. For centuries, God had told them of the gift that He would give them: a Messiah who would bring peace. They expected their own political victory, but Jesus' purpose was much more significant: to bring personal peace between people and God. Even more shocking, that peace was to be offered to the Gentiles just as freely as to the Jews.

Most Jews today still reject Jesus and dismiss the notion of humankind’s sin nature. They don’t believe reasonable, conscientious people can sin so much they cannot find forgiveness through their own efforts. If no sin nature exists, there’s no need for a sacrifice purer than human effort and intent. To many modern Jews, "Messiah" no longer means a single person, but a force through history that will avenge the Jewish people and restore Israel as a mighty power. They also reason that if Jews had followed Jesus' pacifist ways, there would be no more Jews. Finally, many in the Christian church historically have blamed Jews for Jesus' horrible death, ignoring that Jesus voluntarily laid down His life. The corporate memory of persecuted people is long, and violence in the name of Jesus has left a mark on Jewish thought.

Still, not all Jews, then or now, reject Jesus. The apostles were Jewish, and it's estimated that there are more than a quarter-million messianic Jews in the U.S. today. And Israel as a nation still has a role to play (Ezekiel 11:17, 34:11-13; Zechariah 12:10; Isaiah 2:4, 11:6-9). Until then, Christians should equip themselves to witness to Jews so that they can accept the only way to eternal life (John 14:6).