Tax collectors were marginalised – they were considered outcasts in their own community because they often cheated people into believing they had to pay more money for tax. People do not like being cheated out of hard earned money and that’s why people rarely socialised with these tax collectors.
Samaritans were marginalised- they were seen as outcasts in their own community because they had married pagan invaders, and they had built their own Temple on Mount Gerezim.
An example of how Jesus treated the marginalised is in the story (Luke 5: 12-14) – “Jesus heals a leper” Jesus was in a town were there was a man with a dreaded skin disease. When the man saw Jesus he threw himself down at Jesus’ feet and begged “Sir if you want to u can make me clean” Jesus replied” I do want to, be clean”- the disease left the man and Jesus said “Don’t tell anyone………”
Another example Jesus set for us in our treatment of the marginalised is (Luke 18: 35-53) - “Jesus heals a Blind Beggar who has faith”- A blind man heard that Jesus was passing and he cried out to Jesus “Jesus son of David! Take pity on me”, he was told to keep quiet by the crowd, but he shouted even louder. Jesus heard his cry and said “what do you want me to do for you?” he said “ I want to see again” Jesus replied “then see, your faith has made you well” he could see again, and followed Jesus giving thanks to God.
The Jews would never associate with these people and when they saw that a man named “the Messiah” did this puzzled and annoyed them greately.
As these two examples show Jesus treated each and every marginalised person that he came in contact with a lot of respect and love. We should try to follow this example that Jesus has set for us all.
Jesus’ attitude through out his life often provoked a hostile reaction from some Jews, as he would often challenge their laws and way of life. He condemned their behaviour towards one another and this displeased them greatly. They felt Jesus was a threat to their good name, and they set about changing this. An example of how Jesus would anger them is (Luke 14: 1-24) - “Jesus heals a sick man on the Sabbath” Jesus was at a leading Pharisees house and people were watching him closely. A man whose legs and arms were swollen came to Jesus begging to get healed. So Jesus said to the Pharisee “Does our law allow healing on the Sabbath or not?” the Pharisee could not answer Jesus then healed the man and sent him on. The Pharisees were looking at Jesus and he said to them “if anyone of you had a son or ox fall into the well on the Sabbath would you not pull him out at once?” they were unable to answer this question. Jesus often put the Pharisees in positions like this, and over time they got so outraged that they plotted to get Jesus crucified. The Pharisees and other religious leaders of this time were not as good hearted as Jesus, and they couldn’t compete with him. They accused him of blasphemy and this is why he outraged them and caused a hostile reaction.