Foundations Series: The Good News

What is the Good News?

The word gospel is derived from the Anglo-Saxon term god-spell, meaning “good story,” a rendering of the Latin evangelium and the Greek euangelion, meaning “good news” or “good telling.”

The question at hand is: what is the Good News? We hear it used of a lot of things. It is used of section of Scripture referring to Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John.

In many Christian circles, it is referring to the crucifixion and resurrection of Yeshua.

Is that the Gospel though? Is the Gospel the life of Yeshua? Is it his death and resurrection? I’d like to submit that the Good News of Yeshua is much grander and much more inspiring than any one event or simple definition can provide us.

The Hebrew Usage

Lexham Theological Wordbook Concept Summary

The main family of Hebrew words for the concept of good news includes the noun בְּשֹׂרָה (bĕśōrâ, “message; good news”) and the verb בָּשַׂר (bāśar, “to announce a message; to share good news”)

These Hebrew words carried with them a rich context and connotation that is used in various ways throughout the Torah and the Prophets. Basar communicated military victory, the announcement of a child’s birth, and deliverance from enemies. What I found striking and hard to avoid was how often basar was used heavily in the writings of Isaiah, specifically when discussing the good news of their deliverance from captivity.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 40

9 Get yourself up on a high mountain,

O Zion, bearer of good news,

Lift up your voice mightily,

O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;

Lift it up, do not fear.

Say to the cities of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might,

With His arm ruling for Him.

Behold, His reward is with Him

And His recompense before Him.

11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,

In His arm He will gather the lambs

And carry them in His bosom;

He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 52

How lovely on the mountains

Are the feet of him who brings good news,

Who announces peace

And brings good news of happiness,

Who announces salvation,

And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,

They shout joyfully together;

For they will see with their own eyes

When the LORD restores Zion.

9 Break forth, shout joyfully together,

You waste places of Jerusalem;

For the LORD has comforted His people,

He has redeemed Jerusalem.

10 The LORD has bared His holy arm

In the sight of all the nations,

That all the ends of the earth may see

The salvation of our God.

This last one is a very famous one, because it is this exact passage in Isaiah that Yeshua read in the synagogue and declared that this particular prophecy spoke of Him.

English Standard Version Chapter 61

61 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

2  to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

It’s important to remember that Isaiah is describing a time of humiliation for the Israelites. They were once an independent nation, and now they have been taken into captivity in an attempt to shed them of their cultural identity and their faith.

The Good News mentioned in these passages are intended to communicate God completely delivering His people from their enemies in total. Israel is restored and it becomes the kingdom it was always intended to be and put on display for all the nations to see. In other words, God is creating a true Utopia out of the Israelite nation with Him as their Sovereign King. There’s no more need for substitute kings any longer. I, Yahweh, the one who delivered you, will do the work of Shepherding and residing as King over you.

These passages do the work of describing in typical ANE fashion just how good this news is. It describes a Kingdom of complete peace and justice. There is no longer reason to despair, because this victory is complete. Now that all that captivity is behind them, they will begin an era of plenty, an era of peace, an era of safety, and an era of rejoicing and celebration. At last, the long awaited time when their Righteous King will personally rule and shepherd His people and keep them from the trifles they had previously experience. Finally, the Israelites get to look forward to a civilization that will be the zenith of all other civilizations.

For a people that had suffered so long, this really was good news.

The unfortunate thing is that when Israel left captivity, this didn’t happen. They made valiant attempts at achieving this, but these prophecies never came to fruition when they returned to their land. In fact, the Israelites continued to experience a lot more of the same things they had been experiencing up to this point.

Roughly 750 years would go by from the time of Isaiah’s prophecies to the time that the Scripture would make mention of them again. During this time, Israel went from war to war, and from occupation to occupation. Empires rose and fell. Each new empire wanted to subsume Israel into their kingdom and continued to keep Israel in a state on constant upheaval. Israel watched as various kingdoms conquered the earth and declared themselves the greatest empires of their times, meanwhile watching with anticipation for the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that Israel would become the greatest of all civilizations.

During this period, Israel went through a lot of changes, and their concepts about their Creator and the world they lived in became very distinct from the surrounding nations. Unlike the Israelites during the time of the Exodus and the Monarchs (kings) who had beliefs similar to that of the neighboring nations. Their beliefs and theology had become very unique and informed by the prophets that had proceeded them.

Judaism preserved the scroll of Isaiah and the Good News that was promised to them wasn’t forgotten within Judaism, and it was longed for immensely under their Roman occupation.

By this time the Hellenized Jews primarily spoke Greek, and many were losing their ability to read the Torah and the Prophets in the Hebrew. They translated much of the Scriptures into Greek. Even though the Scriptures had taken on a new language, the concepts surrounding the words had been retained. The Septuagint translates the word besorah (good news) into εὐαγγέλιον.

Lexham Theological Wordbook Concept Summary

The Septuagint translates these Hebrew words with Greek words related to εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion, “good news, good message”).

εὐαγγέλιον was the word the Apostles incorporated into their own writings to communicate the doctrine of the Good News.

We’ve done the labor of building context around the idea of good news until this point. I want to build on that with how Yeshua and the Apostles talk about the Good News.

As I’ve said already, Yeshua read from the scroll of Isaiah on the synagogue.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 4

14 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.

15 And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,

BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.

HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,

AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,

TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Yeshua enters into the timeline here, 750 years after Isaiah and says, “That promise that was made to you back before you went into captivity is being fulfilled today, here and now.”

I don’t know that I can adequately describe what a claim Yeshua was making here in this synagogue. For 750 years they’ve awaited this fulfillment, and Yeshua stands in the synagogue and plainly tells them the big reveal is here, and He’s the one that’s going to bring this utopia to pass.

Now, unfortunately, I feel like I must say this because there are going to be people that are going to try to pervert Yeshua’s declaration here in the synagogue to mean that Yeshua wasn’t the fulfillment of this passage. There’s really no denying it. In Matthew 11:2-6, Yeshua makes this point quite clear.

English Standard Version Chapter 11

2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Here, Yeshua line by line uses Isaiah 61 to refer to Himself. Yeshua is explicitly telling them that the good news Isaiah had told them about will be fulfilled in Him. A new era has begun in Yeshua. God had revealed His morality (ethos) and His plans for Israel’s future, and the future of the world in the Law and the Prophets, but Israel failed to uphold God’s standard. The Good news has come, and the long awaited time is about to begin. Here’s where people misunderstand the Good News though. They believe the Good News begins an era in which the Law and the Prophets are no longer necessary, and that the good news has replaced the Law.

Ironically, this is completely contradictory to the teaching of Yeshua.

English Standard Version Chapter 16

16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

The Good News didn’t come as a replacement for the Law, but it came in addition to it. In fact, this particular passage refers to the Good News as the “good news of the Kingdom”, and this makes sense, because as we’ve already established this word “Good News” is being pulled from Isaiah’s writings, and Isaiah is writing about a future Israel where they will be made into a great kingdom. But it’s really important to understand, kingdoms have laws. Any kingdom, that is going to be a kingdom of peace and justice, will have laws. Laws, specifically just laws, maintain peace and justice. So the good news of the kingdom doesn’t abrogate the Law, but instead subsumes the Law under a better and more righteous administration, namely the kingship of Yeshua.

The Good News is about a kingdom. Many have this notion that the Good News is an individual message, and in some ways it is, but you’ll notice the passages we have read thus far are corporate. The Good News thus far has been about Israel (corporate) and a Kingdom (once again corporate). Often times, when people preach the gospel they make it very individual, and it becomes about their place in judgment and whether they go to heaven or “hell”. While there is an individual aspect to the Good News, namely repentance, the overall message of the Good News is that the result of this repentance (turning to God) is that you are grafted in to a nation. A path has been set forth for you to enter into this nation. You have a national identity.

Furthermore, this isn’t just for the Jew that has acknowledged the kingship of Yeshua, but this is for the Gentile that has acknowledged it. In fact, the good news isn’t just the restoration of Israel as the utopian kingdom, but the ingathering of the Gentiles into that nation.

English Standard Version Chapter 24

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Ephesians 3:1-10

English Standard Version Chapter 3

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

The Good News is that a way was made through Yeshua. Here’s where the crucifixion and resurrection come in. I’ve given a message in the past about being made in the Image of God. All of humanity, Jew and Gentile, have been made in God’s image. This means all of humanity, in the garden, was given the honor of representing God’s character and authority here on earth. Mankind rebelled and betrayed the call given to them, and thus they were held responsible for their treachery and since their rebellion, the nations (Gentiles) have been unable to be right before Him. This is why God selected a nation, Israel, not only to create a Kingdom out of, but to establish a King, Yeshua, and through His atonement, all rebellious Jews and all rebellious Gentiles would be restored and united into this kingdom together.

The Apostles had a number of ways they described this Good News. As, we’ve already seen, Yeshua often calls it the Good News of the Kingdom. Mark 1:14-15 calls it the “Good News of God”. Paul calls it on numerous occasions the “Good News of Messiah”. In Ephesians 1:13 it is called “Good News of Peace”. In Acts 20:24 it’s called the Good News of Salvation. All of these are phrases found scattered across the prophets. There’s a reason the Good News is given with so many descriptors. It’s because the Good News is the culmination of all the Prophecies related to the everlasting establishment of utopian Israel. I say Israel, because God isn’t starting some new institution. He is reestablishing, restoring, and expanding the one that He had already begun. I’m going to repeat myself here, we often fall into an individualistic mentality about going to heaven or hell, but God’s Good News isn’t about that. If you look at all the prophecies preceding the Messiah throughout the Law and the Prophets, they’re all about the final and perfect establishment of His people and the addition of the Gentiles into that covenant family. God’s Good News, in every place of Scripture, is about enjoying Him forever in His Utopian Kingdom.

There aren’t two different Gospels, one for the Jew and another for the Gentile. Scripture makes this abundantly clear.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

This is really important, because I have encountered those in my ministry that believe there are two different Gospels. The belief is that there is one for Gentiles, and they must believe in the Messiah, and there is another for Jews that don’t recognize the Messiah, and they attain entrance into the God’s Utopian Israel via Torah observance. This simply isn’t true. There is one way to enter into this kingdom, and it’s by making a covenant of peace with the KING of that kingdom.

English Standard Version Chapter 15

6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

I will conclude this sermon here.

There are a number of directions this sermon could have went. I did my best to lay out the foundation of the Good News in the time allotted.

I think the best way to end this sermon is by offering the Good News to each of you. What I just did was tell you what the Good News is. I want to now offer you an opportunity to not only hear the Good News, but a chance to make this Good News a good news for you.