Tuesday
Tuesday
The Good News
Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Mark 1:14–15
These words are of particular interest, partly because they are the first recorded words of Jesus in his public ministry and partly because Mark twice calls them “good news.” So what was the gospel according to Jesus? It consists of a statement followed by a summons.
The statement concerns the coming of the kingdom. Of course, Yahweh has always been King, ruling over both nature and history. Many times in the Old Testament we hear the splendid cry of faith, “Yahweh reigns.” But the prophets predicted a time when he would establish a much more intimate kingdom than his general sovereignty in the world. The Messiah would inaugurate it. Characterized by righteousness and peace, it would extend throughout the world and last forever. It would offer a new life and a new community.
The Good News was that this kingdom had drawn near. Jesus did not quite say that it had arrived, for its fullness was still to come. Yet already it was a present reality, for the time had been fulfilled, and he had ushered it in. Moreover, people could now “receive” or “enter” the kingdom. The way to do so was to repent and to believe, that is, to turn decisively away from all known sin and to turn in faith and commitment to Jesus as King.
This first proclamation of the gospel lays down a pattern for all true evangelism. We too need to make a statement (a thorough exposition of the Good News of Christ crucified, risen, and reigning) and then issue a summons to people to come to him. The exposition and the exhortation belong essentially together.
For further reading: Matthew 9:35–38