The Rejection of the Messiah

The class on 10/18/09 began with a question:
Can anyone tell me what will be the basis of the Second Coming of the Messiah?
We're not talking about the Rapture here, which carries with it no preconditions. The Rapture i s imminent, or could occur at any time. The Second Coming does have a major precondition attached to it, which must be met before the Messiah will return to establish His Kingdom.
First, however, we need to look at the rejection of the Messiah to get a proper perspective.
Before reading Scripture, I quoted Dr. Fruchtenbaum, (affectionately...Arnold), as "make sure there is no offense between me and Thee, (Acts 24:16)". Also, studying God's Holy Word requires spiritual discernment and the mind at enmity with God cannot discern the things of God, (1 Corinthians 2:14, Romans 8:7). Psalm 119:18 says, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold Wondrous things out of thy law."
Matthew 12:22-37 was discussed as the background text.
Earlier, we had talked about the 4 Messianic miracles that the rabbis taught well before Jesus was ever born. I've been waiting to discuss the second one, (the healing of a person with a dumb demon). As seen in verse 27, Judaism also had exorcists. One had to first establish communication with the demon in order to discover the demon's name. Only then could the demon be cast out. We see Jesus using this method in Luke 8:30, but with a dumb demon, it was considered impossible. However, when the Messiah came, He would be able to cast out even this kind! That's why they responded the way they did in verse 23.
Verse 24 gives us the Pharisaic response; because He didn't fit their preconceived idea of what and Who the Messiah was.
Yeshua's, (Jesus'), response is found in verses 25-29 and judgment pronounced in verses 30-37. We also discussed the fact that the "unpardonable sin" was a national sin that that generation had committed. It is not an individual sin and Arnold says the following:
"the content of the unpardonable sin was the national rejection of the Messiahship of Yeshua while He was physically present on the grounds that He was demon possessed." The judgment came 40 years later in 70AD with the Temple's destruction and the Jews' worldwide dispersion.
Next week we'll continue looking at various Scriptures surrounding this amazing event that completely changed the whole purpose of His miracles and His ministry.