Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus taught about God’s impending kingdom, and demanded that people get their lives in order to be ready for it, even as signs of the kingdom were breaking in around them. In view of the coming kingdom, his followers needed to be ready to relinquish family ties, possessions, and even their lives for the greater prize of the kingdom. Many of these sayings also indicate that the followers need to relinquish these goods for Jesus, who therefore clearly holds a role more prominent than that of a mere sage. Jesus perceives following him as a necessary part of preparing for the kingdom (hence presumably views himself at least as a significant eschatological prophet).
In light of the coming kingdom, Jesus also spoke and acted as if God would invert the present order, exalting the lowly and casting down the proud. Many others also expected such an inversion, but Jesus acted on it in sometimes distinctive ways in his ministry, welcoming children, focusing on healing the sick and disabled, and even welcoming those marginalized from society for moral reasons. Such values also cohere with his impending confrontation with some elite persons of status in the present age and his submission to a shameful death in expectation of God’s vindication.