For too long Christianity in general has been critical of Judaism. They assume incorrectly that since the Jews were a part of crucifying Jesus, they committed the unpardonable sin. That is not how the New Testament Bible looks at the Jewish nation. In fact the Apostle Paul himself was a Jew and a "Pharisee of Pharisees" who became converted to Christianity. Although Christians were persecuted by the Jews in the early centuries, Paul never lost his passion for his Jewish brethren.
Let us look at Jewish history for a moment. From God first called Abraham from the pagan Chaldean city of Ur and told him to go to the land of Canaan which later became the Promised Land for the Jews. He made a covenant with Abraham that all the nations would be blessed through him. God reckoned Abraham righteous because of his faith. That covenant is still viable today for Jews and Christians alike. Neither denies that you need faith to walk with God.
For the next 3000 years, all the nations were not blessed. Tiny Israel was cloistered away from the nations. God had told them not to associate with the surrounding nations or their religions. Israel throughout their history, the Jews were unable to follow that command. Time and again they adopted the religions of the surrounding Canaanite peoples to the point that God had to judge them over and over again. There were intermittent times when a good King would tear down all the idols and return Israel to the true God, but invariably they would go back to Baal worship or honoring one of the many Gods of the pagan peoples. Israel was taken into captivity or defeated in battle during these times of apostasy. Finally the nation was all but destroyed by the Babylonians around 500 B.C., and most of the nation was taken into captivity.
God had given Israel His law through Moses in the Sinai wilderness. In addition to the 10 Commandments there were some 600 other laws that the Israelis were to follow. God promised that if they followed those laws, He would bless them. Of course, Israel was unable to follow the laws as God required and thus their rocky history (to say the least).
One thing Israel did right was to preserve the Word of God. The Word went from oral to written form and the overall opinion of scholars is that the Word was accurately copied and translated down to the First Century. The Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Hebrew manuscript we have, turns out to be substantially similar to the versions we have today. God, who can do anything, used Israel to protect His Word, despite being done through imperfect channels. As a result, despite all the speculations to the contrary, thousands of years later we have a Bible that is God's Word period. Nothing He does is imperfect, so we Jews and Christians alike have His word to light our paths, just as it did throughout Israel's history.
The Messiah, for Jews and Christians alike, was to come and deliver Israel from bondage and thereafter rule with a rod of iron. This is reflected and even predicted in the writings of many Prophets, whose words are recorded in the Jewish and Christian Bibles (Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel and nearly all the others) prophesy the coming of the Messiah (see Isaiah Chapters 9 & 53; Jeremiah Ch. 33; Daniel Chs. 10-12 and a multitude of others. Jesus, the Messiah of the Christians, acknowledged this by saying to the Pharisees: "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; [The Messiah] (John 5:39). And it is true, after close study that nearly the entire Old Testament speaks of a Messiah. The New Testament quotes scriptures from the Old Testament countless times.
Yes, the Jews were instrumental in the crucifixion of Jesus, apparently without any justifiable cause. The Jews of that day feared Jesus and used His seeming violation of Jewish law as a reason. Does thus then exclude the Jews from the Kingdom? No, says the Apostle Paul, and he goes into some detail in the New testament Epistle to the Romans.
The New Testament recognizes the Law of the Jews. The writer of Hebrews says the Law was a type and shadow of things to come (Hebrews 8:4-5). Christians believe that when Jesus came the first time that he was the fulfillment of the Law (Matthew 5:17).Likewise, through Him, humanity also becomes able to do what Jesus did. The law becomes our teacher to lead us to the Messiah. "But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ [the Messiah], (Galatians 3:23-24).
