Kingdom Disciples

Jesus proclaimed a new political reality, the Kingdom of God, which bears little resemblance to the political systems and regimes of this age . Jesus appeared in Galilee proclaiming the Kingdom of God – “ Repent, for the kingdom is at hand .” The Kingdom promised by God was arriving in Christ’s life and ministry. He is the Messiah and King of Israel who summons all men to turn from their wicked ways and submit to his lordship while the opportunity remains.

Forgiveness connects the call of the tax collector to the healing of the paralytic – Christ’s authority to forgive sins – Mark 2:13-17. When Jesus pronounced the paralytic man’s sins forgiven, he offended the Scribes and Pharisees. But he went on to alienate them even further by showing mercy “ to sinners ,” individuals considered unacceptable by religiously observant Jews. Seeing him eating with “ tax collectors ,” the Scribes and Pharisees insinuated that Jesus was also a notorious sinner – (Mark 2:1-17).