Download The Teaching of Jesus in Context

Why was what he was saying so radical at the time?
 Remember – Jesus was preaching to commited Jews. A
pretty hardcore bunch who were very serious about
their religious beliefs.
 They were all expecting God to send them an almighty
Saviour to rescue them from the awful Romans.
 The zealots, Sadducees, Pharisees and Essenes all had
different expectations of what this saviour would be
like.
 It is true that all of these groups believed in the one
God.
 But they did differ in
 In how they viewed scripture and the law.
 Their beliefs as to why there was suffering in the world
 Their understanding about God’s direct role in helping
the human race
 The Jewish people at the time genuinely believed that
‘the end is nigh’ – that the world as they knew it was
coming to an end
 There had been a long line of Prophets in Judaism who
had claimed the end of the world
 These prophets preached that people needed to repent
their sins NOW before it was too late.
 When somebody calls for immediate repentance this is
known as METANOIA (THIS IS AN IMPORTANT
WORD TO KNOW).
 In his preaching about the Kingdom of God – Jesus
also called for Metanoia
 Jesus was a prophet.
 He called for people to turn away from sin and towards
God.
 He was well aware of the beliefs of the people he was
preaching to.
 He challenged people to change their lives
 His teachings can best be summed up in the phrase
The Kingdom of God.