Jesus' sacrifice and its basis in Judaism

[Herakles]

The central concept of the New Testament is that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross freed people of their sins so that they could go to heaven. But does this have any basis in pre-Christian Judaism? In other words, were the Jews expecting a savior for their sins or was it an idea later developed after Jesus? Atonement seems like a concept totally foreign to Judaism and more in line with the Hellenistic mystery religions.

[Starboy]

I'm not an expert but I have read in several sources that the Jews of that era expected their messiah to free them from the Romans. Jesus didn't do that so as far as they were concerned he was not it.

Starboy

[Enlighten Me]

There is an ancient Hebrew ritual at Yom Kippur in which a goat is symbolically heaped with the sins of the people and sent to wander in the desert---hence, the term "scapegoat". Christians believe that the practice foreshadowed Christ's taking the "sins of the world" upon himself...

[mark9950]

Jesus was a false prophet and was killed because they believed the torah and had according to God, kill the false prophet.

[Kilgore Trout]

Christianity completely goes against Judaism in just about every way. You are supposed to sacrifice animals, not humans or god-men. In the Torah, god does not let people be "creative" with their sacrifices. If he wanted a god-man to be sacrificed for sins, he would have said so.

Christianity is a rip-off of mithraism. The followers is mithra bathed themselves in the blood of a bull to wash away their sins. Christians, likewise think of themselves as "washed clean" by the blood of jesus.

Here is a good link that explains why jesus is not a sacrifice.

Could Jesus' Death Atone For Any Kind of Sin? (http://www.outreachjudaism.org/jesusdeath.html)