Jesus and the Reign of God

Jesus: Ministry and Message
Ordinary citizens in 1st Century Palestine struggled with the basics of everyday life and were awaiting a messiah who would bring them a new teaching of God to follow. Jesus did this by introducing the concept of the ‘Reign of God.’ Thus to a significant extent Jesus’ words and actions in relationship to outcasts in 1st century Palestine revealed the Reign of God, through love, forgiveness and sincerity he embraced outcasts who would have otherwise been left to struggle alone. Many people are still excluded from society therefore his teachings are still relevant in several contexts today.
Life as a Jewish outcast in 1st Century Palestine was a helpless struggle as they were disregarded from the church because they were considered to be ‘impure.’ This in turn led to rejection from almost every aspect of society, even forced to live on the outskirts of towns (Roberts, 2010). In Jesus’ time Judaism was not just a religion but a lifestyle that had   very strict laws. One rule was that followers were expected to be pure and clean to enter the temple. People such as tax collectors, prostitutes, the sick and mentally ill were considered to be ‘impure’ and denied entry (Schreck, 2012).   An example, of in particular, a lepers further alienation from this unforgiving society is that in Leviticus it states, “The person with the infectious skin disease is to tear his garments and loosen his hair. He is to cover his mustache and shout out, 'Unclean! Unclean!” (Leviticus 13:45). This is evidence that outcasts such as lepers lived a humiliating and helpless life as they could not be part of everyday society and had to constantly be reminding people that they were outcasts. Jesus disagreed with this treatment and challenged society through his words and actions to become more inclusive.
Jesus’ most vital teaching was about the Kingdom of God, one of the biggest impacts he made was through the teaching of love, as he was able to demonstrate that he...