#ReCenterCHRIST ~ "Christ’s gospel of the kingdom of God is fulfilled in Himself."

[Reimagine Curator]

What Is the Gospel? Part 2 - The Gospels Robert Condly If you’re a Christian, you have a pretty good idea of what the gospel is. After all, you became a Christian by believing in it! But sooner or later you discover that some churches emphasize different aspects of the message about Jesus than others do. Some focus on the cross, while others stress the Lord’s resurrection. Still others describe the gospel as God’s plan of salvation. Obviously, there’s a lot to the gospel; it seems to resist simplification. But we still try! Thanks for reading Discipleship Matters! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Pledge your support Not because we suppose our streamlined approach is exhaustive. Rather, we want to secure our faith and keep ourselves from falling prey to deception. I decided that gathering and reading through all the verses that mention the nouns and verbs associated with the gospel was time well spent. And the best way to go about this process is to read from left to right. Start with the Old Testament and proceed from there. So that’s why last week’s post covered the Old Testament passages that mention “gospel” in one form or another. And I noticed two main themes in these passages. First, many of the recipients of news were leaders, particularly royalty. This makes sense because if authority figures are going to make good decisions, they need access to reliable news. Second, several verses proclaimed the saving acts of God on behalf of His people. Before we even get to the New Testament, we can see how these themes should inform our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s easy to connect the second theme to our Savior. The best news we could ever spread is that Jesus died and was resurrected for our salvation! But what about the first point? I believe the emphasis on royalty draws on God’s original intention for humanity to exercise dominion over the world (see Genesis 1:26-28). If so, the gospel of Jesus Christ somehow restores this ruined or damaged authority. Something to consider! Well, with these themes in the back of our minds, let’s move on to the next section of Scripture, the Gospels. The Greek words I searched for in these books were euaggelion (“gospel”) and euaggelizo (“proclaim the gospel”). The former occurs four times in Matthew and eight times in Mark. We find the latter only once in Matthew but ten times in Luke. And yes, John’s missing! Good for you to notice! I’ll comment on this at the end of the post. The main point I want to make in this post is that in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the kingdom of God is the principal theme of the gospel. While each writer has distinct emphases, they’re united in presenting the kingdom of God as the central message of Jesus Christ. For example, in Matthew, Jesus virtually identifies the gospel and the kingdom. “Jesus was going about in all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.” - Matthew 4:23 “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.” - Matthew 9:35 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” - Matthew 24:14 Luke follows a similar track. “But He said to them, ‘I must also preach the kingdom of God to the other cities, because I was sent for this purpose.’” - Luke 4:43 “Soon afterward, Jesus began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him” - Luke 8:1 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John came; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.” - Luke 16:16 And let’s not leave out Mark! “Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the gospel.’” - Mark 1:14-15 The good news Jesus announces covers both time (“the time is fulfilled”) and distance (“the kingdom of God has come near”). This is no trivial report; it requires a response. The Lord calls for His hearers to repent and believe in what He’s saying. Serious business! What characterizes the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed? First, it belongs to God. While news reports are often addressed to royalty in the Old Testament, Jesus declares that God is King. Everyone must humble themselves before the One who governs heaven and earth. Second, the kingdom is powerful. Miraculous signs accompany Christ’s preaching of the gospel. “Those who are BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and those who limp walk, those with leprosy are cleansed and those who are deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.” - Matthew 11:5 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO BRING GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED” - Luke 4:18 “And He answered and said to them, ‘Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: people who were blind receive sight, people who limped walk, people with leprosy are cleansed and people who were deaf hear, dead people are raised up, and people who are poor have the gospel preached to them.’” - Luke 7:22 “And as they were leaving, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.” - Luke 9:6 It’s one thing to say that the kingdom of God is here, but it’s another thing to prove it. Jesus backs up His claims! Third, it’s global. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” - Matthew 24:14 (also Mark 13:10) Matthew 26:13 - “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.” - Matthew 26:13 (also Mark 14:9) “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” - Mark 16:15 Jesus fulfills God’s plan to bring the nations, not just the Jewish people, back to Himself. The gospel announces that Christ is Lord of humanity. Salvation is not restricted to any one ethnic group; it’s available to all. Fourth, it’s costly. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” - Mark 8:35 “Jesus said, ‘Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.” - Mark 10:29-30 The leaders of this world will resist the demands of the gospel. To acknowledge that Jesus is Lord seems a price too steep for those in power to pay. So they attack the good news and those loyal to it. The authorities, Jewish and Roman, rejected Jesus to the point of crucifixion, so He understands what His followers will face. But He stayed faithful to God’s will and He expects us to stay true to the gospel. To summarize then, we can state that Jesus integrated the Old Testament themes of news and salvation into His message. He did so by exalting God as King whose reign was being realized in Christ’s ministry. The invitation to enter the kingdom is open to everyone, but only those who repent of their old way of life and embrace discipleship will find God’s fullest blessings. To experience the kingdom, people must ally themselves to Christ. As God’s Messenger, His gospel is trustworthy. And as the Agent of the kingdom, He is the Father’s designated Ruler. And that brings us to John. While the apostle doesn’t use the specific gospel vocabulary that the other writers do, he still presents the good news of Jesus with unmistakable clarity. John does so by stressing the key issues of belief and witness. This gospel abounds with testimonies of who Jesus is, and such witness calls for faithful commitment to Him. In short, believing loyalty is the appropriate response to credible witness. And in the last verse of his gospel, John shares the reason for his efforts: “These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name.” - John 20:31 Combining Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we can say that Christ’s gospel of the kingdom of God is fulfilled in Himself. In terms of who He is and what He does, He brings the presence of God to people and frees people to live for the Lord. This is the good news of the kingdom! (The verses in this post are from the NASB20 version of the Bible.) (Image is from https://mbird.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Jesus-preaching.jpg.) Thanks for reading Discipleship Matters!