Jesus’s teachings are usually the opposite of the beliefs held by society as a whole.
For example, material wealth is looked up to across the world, but Jesus said it is something to be given away in full.
Status is also considered a good thing with awards, titles and so on all a mark of a person’s worth in society. Jesus said it was better not to have such things. He himself refused the title of even “teacher”.
Various minority groups, including disabled people and racial and religious minorities and even prostitutes declared “unclean” by the religious establishment, were sought out by Jesus. He found them better company than the mainstream society of the day.
And Jesus’s teachings about serving God promote a non-public approach with prayers, good deeds and financial giving all to be done in a way avoiding attention and approval rather than seeking it.
Jesus himself died in agony alone, his torture demanded and then cheered on by society at large.
In the world of reversals that Jesus spoke about, “...the last will be first...”, he is saying it’s an indication you’re on the right side of things if you’re not popular. That can feel scant consolation when you’re on the rack, but it’s better than no consolation at all.
It was certainly true for Jesus as a carpenter from an obscure part of the world internationally acclaimed for 2,000 years and counting and who millions have testified has a living presence throughout that period.
As I approach my life expectancy for a person with “high functioning autism”, I never thought I would get so far. I couldn’t have done it either alone or with too much human input.
To find out more about God as shown by Jesus, the World and the Bible there is a growing collection of short audio-sermons on this website. The first was for Remembrance Sunday during COVID-19 restrictions (could be controversial), the second is about prayer and then they will grow. They are 5 – 7 min length. I’ll try video-sermons one day...