Messiah: The Two Comings

The Paradox: Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David

One of the most common Jewish objections is: "If Jesus is the Messiah, why is there no world peace?" This page explains the concept of the "Two Comings."

The Prophetic Tension

The Hebrew Scriptures describe the Messiah in two seemingly contradictory ways:

1. The Suffering Servant: Described in Isaiah 53 as "despised and rejected," a "man of sorrows" who is "led like a lamb to the slaughter."
2. The Victorious King: Described in Daniel 7:13-14 as coming with the "clouds of heaven" to establish an eternal kingdom and destroy all enemies.

Mashiach ben Yosef vs. Mashiach ben David

In various Rabbinic traditions, this tension led to the theory of two different Messiahs:

• Mashiach ben Yosef: A suffering figure who dies in battle.
• Mashiach ben David: The king who reigns and brings peace.

The Messianic Synthesis

The Messianic claim is that these are not two different people, but **one Messiah in two visits**:

• First Coming: To deal with the problem of sin (the "Suffering Servant").
• Second Coming: To establish the physical kingdom (the "Victorious King").