Introduction
I will use this blog as an opportunity to dive into a couple of specific interpersonal interactions Jesus had with members of several outcast groups in ancient antiquity. These interactions, which take place predominantly in the Book of Luke, allow us to better understand the societal structure of the ancient biblical world. With the correct picture of the ancient antiquity society structures in mind, we will be able to better understand how the early apostles proselytize, and why the concept of proselytizing to a group of people outside of the Jewish heritage would be so impactful in the progression of the early Christian church. Before I begin my blog on the historical accounts of Jesus interacting with social outcasts in the book of Luke, and how the historical accounts of Jesus’ interactions, were used to proselytize to Gentiles within ancient antiquity, I think it would be beneficial to explain exactly what would be considered an “outcast group” in the biblical world.
The Various Social Outcasts in Ancient Antiquity
An easy way to observe the different social outcast groups within the Gospel is how religious leaders react whenever Jesus eats with, speaks with, touches, and heals various individuals. Typically, their reaction seems to stem from confusion and surprise, as seen in Luke Chapter 7 Verse 38. Because it is commonly known in ancient biblical society to abstain from interacting with people of these outcast groups (Sang, R), Jesus goes directly against the standards that the Roman and Jewish leaders set by interacting with and healing these people. These interactions eventually led to the religious leaders using these instances to conspire a campaign to punish and imprison Jesus (Olive Tree Blog). Within my blog report, I will write about the five instances of interactions Jesus had with social outcasts in Ancient Antiquity, and how these interactions were used to proselytize Gentiles. These outcast groups include Lepers, Tax Collectors, Prostitutes, Demon Possessed Individuals, and the story of the Lost Son (Sang, R).
Reframing our Outcast Groups
Considering the subject of this paper, which serves to focus less on the specific nature of what happened during the historical stories of Jesus’ interactions, and rather focuses more on how these stories were used as a way to speak and relate to Gentiles, I think it would be ineffective to limit the scope of these interactions to the exact type of person Jesus met with, and minimize the greater impact of these interaction. I believe that it would be much more applicable to expand these groups into a broader group of people. We will do this by expanding our outcast groups from what they are on a literal level (ex: a Tax Collector) to what they are on a universal level. To continue with my previous example, rather than saying Jesus ate and lived with Tax Collectors and Prostitutes, we will reframe these two groups of people into a broader scale of Immorally Corrupt Individuals, whether that be Sexual Immorality or Financial Greed. We could also reframe Demon Possessed Individuals to be people who live their life outside of God in a way that pleases the Devil, I will explain this more clearly in this specific chapter. And lastly, we could reframe the story of the Lost/Prodigal son to someone who is lost or left their religion. As you can see, each specific person Jesus interacts with, which I mentioned was taboo in ancient antiquity, can be expanded to a larger range of people and can be made to be more relatable. I believe that when we begin to dive into each of the historical accounts of Jesus interacting with specific outcasted individuals, it will be much easier to grasp the methods that the apostles used when proselytizing to the Gentiles, and even the Jews, with the reframing we did in this section of the blog.
What is a Gentile, Gentile Relations in Antiquity, and Reason for Proselytization
On a basic level, to be a Gentile is to be someone who is not Jewish, and not of Jewish descent (Nelte, F. W). Considering only 2 percent of the modern world’s population is Jewish (Pew Research), the term, in its present context, seems, at first, extremely unnecessary, and more importantly, ineffectually broad. But, bringing this term back to its original historical context, it becomes a term with much more significance. Although trade began in the early beginnings of the first century (Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art), the average citizen living in ancient antiquity would probably not know much about the many different races and religions outside of their connected geographical regions. In ancient antiquity, the predominant Gentiles were Romans and Greeks (Wikimedia Foundation). And because there were roughly three main groups of people who could potentially be considered either a Gentile or a Jew, it makes it much more likely that this term of Gentile carried much more weight in ancient antiquity. Although the term Gentile meant more in antiquity, the people were still as unconnected and lost as today. Gentiles in ancient antiquity were primarily Roman and Greek, and they typically followed a non-Jewish Hellenistic culture (Klawans, J.). This culture could be anything under the sun; There were no guidelines for viewpoints on mythology, morality, philosophy, and politics (Niles, R.), it was largely open to individual interpretation and beliefs. Hellenism lacked the guidance of a specific set of viewpoints and had a polytheistic-centered relationship with the Gods, which is quite different from the structured and monotheistic relationship in Jewish culture. Because of these differences in beliefs, Jewish people considered the Gentiles unclean and were representatives of a culture that partake in sinful activities (Klawans, J). Although the two cultures lived in relative peace (PBS) – there were still conflicts that occurred between them – they typically stuck to their matters and worshiped their own God(s) as they wished. Jews were typically hesitant to interact with Gentiles because many considered the Hellenistic culture to be sinful and ritually impure (Klawans, J.). In Ancient Antiquity, it was the Gentiles who ruled over the Jews, so typically the Gentiles allowed the Jews to worship their God since they respected the “ancient” nature of the religion (Thatcher@uoregon.edu). Although the Gentiles ruled over the Jews, as I mentioned earlier, it did not make their collective faith any more secure than the Jews (Jackson, W). Because the Hellenistic culture of the Gentiles could span so many different things, and there was no relatable base for the religion to stand on (Niles, R.), and although I am sure the Gentiles were comfortable and content with their religion, it seems as if the general Christian community considered the Gentiles to require direct guidance. For example, the Apostle Paul, who we will get into later in the Blog, considers himself the “Apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13), and that the Gentiles are the lost sheep who need a shepherd to guide them to God, and his mercy and deliverance (Religion 101 Podcast).
How the Christian Guidance of Gentiles Relates to the Gospel of Luke
I believe that the direct guidance and attention early Christians gave to the Gentiles, no matter how small relative to that of the guidance given to the Jewish people, can best be shown in the Gospel of Luke. This claim is especially apparent by the consistent accounts in which Jesus interacts with these Outcasts. Considering the previous point made about how Jesus interacting with these people is considered taboo, and also that Jewish people in antiquity typically abstained from interacting with Gentiles because they saw them as “unclean” and living life of sin, I think these accounts serve to paint a picture of acceptance to Gentiles. These stories in the Gospel of Luke (and other Gospels too, but I am focusing on Luke) serve to tell the Gentiles that no matter who you are, who you are born from, what you believe in, and what you have done in the past, there is always acceptance within the religion of Christianity. Even better, the stories serve to show the Gentile readers that because even Jesus, the trailblazer of Christianity and Son of God, could come down to the worst and live with and save the bottom of their society, even you, a non-Jewish person, could be saved and welcomed into the Religion of Christianity. Highlighting these historical interactions in the Book of Luke, which is written for a Gentile audience (White, M, L.), was very helpful in illustrating to them that they are welcome into the Christian Religion, if they believe that Jesus is Christ, and genuinely trust that He will wash their past away and allow them to start fresh as a Christian.
Jesus’ Interaction with the Tax Collector
The first interaction I will highlight occurs in Luke Chapter 5: 27-32. Within this short collection of verses, Jesus walked past a working Tax Collector named Levi and called him to follow him. The next verse relates to the Gentiles in quite an obvious way. In this verse (Luke 5: 28), it says “and Levi got up, left everything and followed him”. Levi left his entire life, and high-paying job behind and began to follow Jesus (as a disciple named Matthew) and submit to God. Eventually, Levi takes Jesus to a party with many other Tax Collectors. The fact that Jesus attends a party with these Tax Collectors was extremely confusing to the local Pharisees (Luke 5:29-32), most likely because they believed that Tax Collectors were sinners who worked for the Roman rule (Ryan, J.), and were confused as to why a Jewish Man would stoop to the level of a Tax Collector – they were self-righteous, which will be applicable later. Moving on, in response to the Pharisee’s confusion, Jesus says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. This passage is extremely applicable to the historical context of Gentiles in ancient antiquity, and it is hard to argue against its use as a method to Proselytize them. By stating that a Tax Collector, who is typically hated by the entire population (Ryan, J.) because of their corruption and greed, can be called to serve Jesus and become a disciple with him, you, a lost Gentile can too. Even more so, Jesus’ last quote about being placed on the earth to serve the sick instead of the healthy is perfect in showing the author’s goal when proselytizing to Gentiles – You, a Gentile, who are considered unclean and sinful from the self-righteous Pharisee, can still be saved and is the goal of (Lukes) Jesus.
The Parable of the Lost Son
The next example I will look at takes place in Luke Chapter 15: 11-32. Using the same format as my previous example, I will walk you through the story, and then relate it to the proselytizing of Gentiles in antiquity. The context behind the parable is extremely similar to the prior example. Jesus is gathered around Sinners and Tax Collectors, presumably eating with them, and this leads to confusion and skepticism from the Pharisees (Luke 15: 1-2). To explain his reason for hanging out with the sinners, Jesus begins to teach them with a couple of parables that are quite relevant to the proselytization of Gentiles. The most memorable is the Parable of the Lost Son. The story begins with the backstory of the wealthy family and how the younger son asks for his father’s inheritance, only to leave the family once he receives the inheritance, and blow through the money shortly after he goes on his own (Luke 15: 11- 13). Once the money given by his father ran out, he was forced to work meager jobs for money that was too low to even feed himself (Luke 15: 15-17). Eventually, he realized that his miserable lifestyle of eating pig slop was worse than the life of a servant his father owned, and thought it would be best to humbly ask his father to become a servant, as he believed that because he betrayed his father, he would not be accepted as a son, and could at least become a servant in his old house (Luke 15: 17-20). To his surprise, his dad welcomed him with open arms and threw him the biggest party (Luke 15: 17-24). His older brother was surprised and mad at the father for throwing his son a party when he “squandered his property with prostitutes” (Luke 15: 25-30). The father, in response to his jealous oldest son, said a very striking quote that proves to be especially relevant to the subject of the blog: “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found “. I believe this story was influential in the process of proselytizing to the Gentiles in ancient antiquity. As we stated earlier in the blog, Gentiles were considered the “lost sheep” since they had no basis for a united belief system, Gentile beliefs could be anything and everything (Niles, R.). And, on top of that, since Gentiles were considered sinful and taboo by Jewish people, they could also be thought of as lost and wandering in their beliefs. By showing them an example where a son turned on his entire family and to sin, but was forgiven and celebrated because he humbly repented of his actions and asked for forgiveness, it teaches the Gentiles that no matter how lost in sin they are or regretful of the decisions they once made, there is always a chance to repent and clean yourself of them when you turn to christianity.
Conclusion
I hope this blog was successful in providing the historical context of the Jewish and Gentile relationship and was useful in explaining how the Gospel of Luke was used to proselytize to the Gentiles in Ancient Antiquity. This subject was quite interesting to research, and I hope you enjoyed learning about the specific historical accounts of Jesus’ interactions with the “outcasts” of ancient antiquity.
Thank you, William Marhold
Bibliography
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