People in the Land of Israel, the Jews, had been turning away from the Law. Under the harsh leadership of the Romans, they were restricted from carrying out the tenets of the Torah and the Temple. They were taxed ruthlessly, imprisoned, tortured, and killed. Hashem's people were suffering greatly. They had lost their Land, and with this brought great discouragement.
Hashem has always loved His chosen people. And throughout time, He has sent many messengers to direct His people back to repentance and obedience. Hashem has always wanted to co-exist with His people through the structure of the Temple, but times were challenging, and people were straying. He sent Yeshua to save the lost sheep of Israel, and that is exactly what he attempted to do.
I believe the reason Yeshua had such a great following, even though he was so controversial, is that he explained the Torah and how to serve Hashem so wonderfully. He taught through miracles, parables, and stories, and by example. He explained the greatest commandments were to love Hashem and love others (Matthew 22:37-40).
Hashem also called on Yeshua to be the Messiah. Only he was rejected by the people in this role. If only the people had believed, the Messianic Age would have been initiated. But, they did not, and Yeshua became the suffering servant, the Messiah Ben Josef. Zechariah 9:9-10 describes this Messiah:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
He is just and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
And He will speak peace to the nations;
And His dominion will be from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
However, Zechariah then gives another description of the coming Messiah. This time as a warrior and conquering king.
For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured. Then Hashem will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. On that day, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem to the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. (Zechariah 14:2-4)
Yeshua will return as the Messiah, helping Hashem fight and redeem Israel. During this Messianic Age (1,000 years), Yeshua will be the Messianic King of Israel. Once again representing Hashem and acting as His shaliach.
Messianic Judaism believes that Yeshua came once as the Messiah Ben Josef and that he will return in the future Messianic Age as the Messiah Ben David. In both roles, he serves Hashem and His Torah. In both roles, his purpose is to bring all of us back to Hashem through repentance and obedience.
For this, we are grateful.