Gospel Paper 2022

What is the Gospel?

In order to define a word, we ought to seek the origin of the word. Who said the word first? What did they mean by it? When we seek to define the word gospel, at the very core we can define this word as “good news”. The origin of this word is “euangelion”, a Greek word meaning “good news”. We think of “gospel” as a Bible word, but this word was being used by Roman culture before Jesus of Nazareth was ever born. Loud cries of “euangelion!” could be heard every time a messenger from Rome entered into your town to announce a new victory for the imperium. In fact, not long before Jesus of Nazareth was born, another little boy entered the world; Caesar Augustus. Consider this announcement we find on the Prien Calendar inscription:

“Since Providence, which has ordered all things and is deeply interested in our life, has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit humankind, sending him as a savior, both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things, and since he, Caesar, by his appearance (excelled even our anticipations), surpassing all previous benefactors, and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done, and since the birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning of the good tidings [εὐαγγέλιον] for the world that came by reason of him,”

The birth of a god. A man who will end war and “arrange all things”. Good news? If the tidings are true, good news indeed. It is in this cultural milieu that another little boy is born. The story of his life, death, and resurrection are recorded by 4 eye witnesses. Men we know as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Knowing how the Roman empire used the word “gospel”, it is shocking to see how Mark starts his eye witness account. Mark 1:1

Mark 1:1 HCSB

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus Christ IS the gospel. How can a man be good news? Because it is in Jesus that we find the Word incarnate. The literal fusion of word and deed. Caesar Augustus announced a word that he would end war and arrange all things. But did he do it? History answers the question. What did Jesus announce?

What I find to be the definitive moment of announcement for Jesus is after he has returned from the wilderness where he has been tempted by Satan to throw away his birthright as the firstborn of all creation. We see this story pick up in Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4:14–21 HCSB

14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread throughout the entire vicinity. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, being acclaimed by everyone. 16 He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As usual, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and unrolling the scroll, He found the place where it was written: 18 The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. 20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”

We learn two vital things about the gospel here.

First, the good news that Jesus proclaims is a gospel of liberation to those who are bound. Those bound by others, those bound by themselves, those bound by Satan, and those bound by sin. The biblical narrative teaches us that ALL men are bound by sin and in critical need of liberation. This good news that Jesus proclaims is truly for the nations, as every man, woman, and child who draws breath is dead in sin, and oppressed by Satan and other humans. Jesus, in His gospel, is announcing the end of this bondage. This far surpasses the ironically violent “keeping of the peace” that the “god” Caesar Augustus offers us from his grave.

Second, we learn that Jesus of Nazareth is the fulfilment of Israel’s story. The trajectory of this small little nation-state throughout the generations before Jesus birth was reminiscent of a roller coaster. These people, chosen by God to be the nation by which all other nations would be blessed (Gen 12:1-3), had experienced astonishing heights in their stunning liberation from Egypt, their victories in Canaan, the majesty of kings David and Solomon, and the mysterious and perpetual reality that God Himself had made his home among them, first in a tabernacle, and then in a glorious temple. This nation was formed in and around God’s word and law. As their story progresses we see that as they transgress God’s law, they experience their equally astonishing lows. Plague, civil war, regicide, infanticide, demon worship, and finally, removal from their homeland in exile to be the property (yet again), of nations that do not honor God as King. In this exile, Israel’s prophets speak God’s words of comfort to them. That a Messiah would be afforded to them. That God himself would liberate them from their oppressors, and usher in the next age.

It is precisely this hope and promise that Jesus is laying claim to as he stands in the synagogue and reads the prophet Isaiah. The Hebrew people viewed the timeline of history as having two chapters. Chapter 1 consists of everything down wind from Adam, marked by sin, death, and destruction of all things that God made good: humans, animals, culture, and the cosmos.