Socio-Cultural

World of
Jesus
The political situation of first
century Jewish Palestine was
a domination system marked
by peasant society, purity
society, and patriarchal
society.
-Marcus Borg
 Jesus lived in Jewish Palestine
in the first century. This is the
historical/cultural/social
context in which He must be
understood.
At that time, Palestine was part
of the Roman empire, under the
domination of a foreign empire.
Rome ruled indirectly:
Galilee: In the north
• Ruled by Herod Antipas
(son of Herod the Great)
• Herod owed his
appointment to Rome
Judea: In the south
• Ruled by a circle of the
Jewish aristocratic
elite
• These elite collaborated
with the Roman
government
 This domination system
was marked by:

➢Peasant Society
➢Purity Society
➢Patriarchal Society
 Peasant
Peasant Society
society refers to a pre-
industrial agrarian society where:
1. Peasant agricultural production
is the only real source of wealth
2. There is no manufacturing
3. There is no industry except
small scale handcrafts
Peasant societies are marked by an
enormous gulf between rural peasants and
urban ruling elites.
 The Urban Ruling Elites like king, aristocratic
families, high government officials:

= Comprise 10% of population

= Extract 66% of the value of rural
production through:
Taxation - civil and religious (tithes are
taxes on agricultural produce to be
paid to the temple authorities)
Land rent - direct payment or sharecropping
= Enormously wealthy in the standards of the
day
= Don't produce anything and hardly provide
any services except an army for warfare
 In other words…

Peasant society was

1. politically oppressive
2. economically exploitative
3. religiously legitimated
+ The central social structure of the society was
organized with purity as the core value.
+ Purity systems generate a class of
untouchables and outcasts.
+ Purity was the core value structuring the
society:
a. Purity was not an individual virtue
b. Purity was political
+ It was the ideology of the temple elites
+ The Jerusalem temple was geographically and
symbolically the center of the purity system
 Pure Impure
clean unclean
righteous outcasts, sinners
(sin is a matter of being unclean, not behavior)
male female
(generally but not automatically (automatically impure)
pure)
rich poor
(generally but not automatically (conventional wisdom said the poor hadn't lived
pure) right)
Jew gentile
(generally but not automatically (impure by definition)
pure)
well/healthy/whole ill/maimed/diseased
(social meaning of being impure)
agricultural produce on which taxes agricultural produce on which taxes were not paid
were paid (declared unclean, boycotted by the righteous)
 The purity system creates a society with
very sharp social boundaries.
The temple elites were also the
economic elites and the purity elites.

Patriarchal society is:

•1. Male dominated
•2. Hierarchical
•3. Mirrored in the
family structure
Jesus as
Social
Prophet
 Jesus not only
challenged the politics of
purity, but advocated the
politics of compassion.
-Marcus Borg
+ Of all the figures in his tradition,
Jesus was most likely to the
classical prophets of Israel.
+ Their role as messengers of God
flowed out of intense
experiences of the Spirit, vivid
in the Spirit-filled tradition of
Israel.
+Especially characteristic was their
passionate and critical involvement
in the historical life of their people in
their own day.
The prophets were:
+ Voices of religious social protest
against the royal theology
+ God-intoxicated spirit persons
+ Bearers of the dream of God - a
world of justice and compassion
+ Concerned with:
A. the immediate present of their
people
B. the immediate future flowing
out of the present
A threefold pattern marked the
message of the prophets:

1. Indictment
2. Threat
3. Call to
change
Evidence that Jesus was a social
prophet is found in texts reporting:

+ Conflicts with Pharisees

committed to the purity system
+ Anti-temple sayings and actions
+ Anti-purity sayings and actions
+ Forgiveness of sins apart
from the temple and purity
system
 A. Proclaim the Word of God with authority (WORD)
B. Accompany this word with signs & wonders (DEEDS)
C. Suffer a martyr’s fate (FATE)

Jesus taught & preached the

Kingdom of God with certainty &
authority & power
He used parables to illustrates
God’s Kingdom
DEEDS
➢ He performs miracles

➢ Not just wonder maker – he worked with a

healing ministry & invited people for
personal faith & discipleship
➢ noted for his celebration of kingdom in table-discipleship

FATE
He suffered a martyr’s death

Jesus as Savior / Redeemer

➢ He was proclaimed redeemer ever before his birth
➢ His name literally means “God is salvation”

➢ The salvation w/c Christ won for all of us is not

yet complete. It must be completed in our
free lives as believers.
➢ Christ redeemed us by his blood & death on the cross
but NEEDS our free acceptance for it…through
witnessing
 The meaning of the Kingdom of God
➢ the good news to the poor

➢ a banquet, a table fellowship, a joyful

communion with the Lord &
fellow human beings
➢ It is an experience of God in the here & now of our lives

➢ it is when we experience peace of mind &

are at peace with one other
➢ It is an experience of God in the here & now of our
lives but NOT yet complete because man is prone to
commit mistakes.
Kingdom of God cont…

How do we experience the Kingdom of

God in the here & now of our lives?
Lord when did we
see you hungry,
or suffering, or
imprisoned?
Whatever you
do to the least
of my brothers
you do it unto
me?
 Essentials of the Kingdom of God
Christ begins his public ministry by proclaiming; “The Reign of
God is at hand! Reform your lives & believe in the Gospel!” (Mk
1:15)

❑ Conversion & repentance

Real repentance demands “TOTAL PERSONAL conversion
(METANOIA) a change of life-style & priorities
PCP II reiterates that conversion can not merely be private &
individual but must entail commitment to SOCIAL
TRANSFORMATION

❑ nature of membership is Discipleship

✓ A radical following of Christ, follow the gospel paradox
✓ requires humility & personal commitment
Essentials of K.G. cont…

Life Characteristic of the Kingdom

❑ Loving service grounded on God’s love
❑ God has loved us & has sent His only Son for
us… we must also love one another
❑ love must have direct effect on our Fellowship
(KOINONIA) and Service (DIAKONIA)

Norm in the Kingdom

❑ the New Law of the Spirit
❑ not a legalist attitude but a filial one
❑ the norm is “Seek first the Kingdom of God
& his righteousness & all things will be given
besides”
Essentials of K.G. cont…

Characteristic or Hallmark of the Kingdom

❑ set fort in the Beatitudes
❑ not just series of commands but they
picture for us the face of Christ
❑ highlights the essential qualities, actions &
attitudes of Christian living
❑ the requirements of the beatitudes are
possible to be attained, but needs
commitment, & acceptance of
responsibility
Response to the Kingdom of God

Respect for the worth of others

❑ our dignity & intrinsic worth comes from God

Solidarity
❑ firm & persevering determination to
commit oneself for the good of all & each
individual, being responsible for all
❑ solidarity helps us see the ‘other’
whether a person, people or nation, not
just as some kind of instrument but as our
neighbor
Fidelity
❑ Fidelity to God & one another demands watchfulness & prayer

❑ Human experience of fidelity is not once-and for all a

reality, but a continuing challenge with consequences
Kingdom of God & Church Mission

Christ life & works are expressions of his mission

The Church considers her mission as a CONTINUATION of

Christ liberating mission

Church has social mission in the society; a religious mission

Church has the duty & authority to teach &

interpret the message of the Gospel to the
present context

Calls the church to be in constant touch with

prevailing situations
 TELL WHAT TYPE OF SOCIETY IS DESCRIBED:
1. Matthew 1: 1-6
2. Matthew 1:19
3. Matthew 6:5
4. Matthew 9:37-38
5. Matthew 10:1-4
6. Matthew 14: 20-21
7. Matthew 15:16-20
8. Matthew 20:1-2
9. Matthew 21: 12-13
10. Matthew 21: 33-34
11. Luke 21: 1-4
12. John 4: 5-9