Jesus Christ and His Audience: A Study of the Reception of His Message within the Socio-Political Context of the New Testament
Keywords:
Jesus Christ, New Testament, Kingdom of God, Roman Empire, Second Temple Judaism, historical Jesus, socio-political context, early ChristianityAbstract
The reception of the message of Jesus Christ cannot be understood apart from the socio-political, economic, and religious realities of first-century Palestine. The New Testament presents Jesus as a teacher, prophet, healer, and Messiah whose ministry generated both acceptance and opposition across different segments of society. This study investigates how various audiences received Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom of God within the historical context of Roman imperial rule, Second Temple Judaism, economic inequality, and widespread messianic expectations. Employing historical-critical and socio-historical methodologies, the study examines the responses of ordinary people, religious authorities, political leaders, women, and marginalized groups to Jesus' message. The findings suggest that reactions to Jesus were shaped not only by theological concerns but also by social location, political interests, economic realities, and religious expectations. The paper argues that the varied responses to Jesus contributed significantly to the emergence and expansion of early Christianity and continue to provide valuable insights into the relationship between religion, society, and political power.
References
1. Blumenthal, C. (2021). Die Raumfrage als Schnittstelle von Theologie, Politik und Sozialgeschichte: Kulturwissenschaftliche Raumwende und neutestamentliche Exegese. New Testament Studies, 67(4), 475-495.
2. Brown, A. A. (2020). Honour not non-violence: Retrieving a concept from the first-century context of Christian marginalisation. Neotestamentica, 54(2), 209-222. https://doi.org/10.1353/neo.2020.0016
3. Crossan, J. D. (1995). Jesus: A revolutionary biography. HarperCollins.
4. Dunn, J. D. G. (2003). Jesus remembered. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
5. Evans, C. A. (2012). Jesus and his world: The archaeological evidence. Westminster John Knox Press.
6. Fiensy, D., & Hawkins, R. K. (Eds.). (2013). The Galilean economy in the time of Jesus. Society of Biblical Literature.
7. Horsley, R. A. (2003). Jesus and empire: The kingdom of God and the new world disorder. Fortress Press.
8. Jeremias, J. (1969). Jerusalem in the time of Jesus: An investigation into economic and social conditions during the New Testament period. Fortress Press.
9. Ladd, G. E. (1993). A theology of the New Testament (Rev. ed.). Eerdmans.
10. Malina, B. J. (2001). The New Testament world: Insights from cultural anthropology (3rd ed.). Westminster John Knox Press.
11. Malina, B. J., & Rohrbaugh, R. L. (2003). Social-science commentary on the Synoptic Gospels (2nd ed.). Fortress Press.
12. Moscicke, H. M. (2020). Jesus, Barabbas, and the crowd as figures in Matthew's Day of Atonement typology (Matthew 27:15-26). Journal of Biblical Literature, 139(1).
13. Neumann, J. N. (2019). Thy will be done: Jesus's passion in the Lord's Prayer. Journal of Biblical Literature, 138(1), 161-182. https://doi.org/10.1353/jbl.2019.0009
14. Proctor, M. A. (2019). Who is my neighbor? Recontextualizing Luke's Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Journal of Biblical Literature, 138(1), 203-219. https://doi.org/10.1353/jbl.2019.0011
15. Sanders, E. P. (1995). The historical figure of Jesus. Penguin Books.
16. Taylor, J. E. (2021). Jesus as news: Crises of health and overpopulation in Galilee. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 44(1), 8-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0142064X211025481
17. Theissen, G., & Merz, A. (1998). The historical Jesus: A comprehensive guide. Fortress Press.
18. Wright, N. T. (1996). Jesus and the victory of God. Fortress Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Articles published in the Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Studies (JAMS) are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), unless otherwise stated. Authors retain copyright of their work and grant JAMS the right of first publication.
