The New Testament not only identifies Jesus as the Messiah but also sees in him the fulfillment of a number of disparate Old Testament passages. Traditionally, Christians have considered all of these passages to be “messianic.” However, most Jews in Jesus’ time did not read all of these passages as messianic prophecies. To understand the New Testament in its historical context, it will not do to identify all the passages that later were applied to Jesus, and call them “messianic.” In a historical