Most of the hot water he got into was due to his consistent breaking of the numerous (and somewhat arbitrary) religious laws of the time. Nobody would have cared about this if he wasn't openly Jewish.

The people of that time were terribly provincial. You were either "our" kind or "their" kind. The key to the parable of the Good Samaritan is that, at the time, a Samaritan was considered an "outsider," somebody definitely from the Wrong Side of the Tracks. The parable was emphasized by having two people with very high positions in Jewish society (a priest and a Levite) pass the injured Jewish traveler by, while the lowly and despised Samaritan helps him. To imagine this parable in modern times, an injured Israeli might be aided by a Palestinian after two prominent and wealthy Israelis had passed him by.

During Jesus' time of preaching, it seemed clear in the Gospels that redemption was initially targeted specifically toward the Jews. Jesus even said as much once or twice. But as time went on, there are more instances of Gentiles and other outsiders being brought into the fold. In later years, during Paul's time, Paul made a specific point of establishing salvation as being for all people regardless of origin. Many of his letters (now chapters in the Bible) are discussions of how the basics of redemption are far more important than styles of worship, special diets, and the other trappings of the many different Christian factions of the very early church.