It may seem strange that the gospel or good news that Jesus proclaimed did not sound like the gospel that is proclaimed in Christian churches today. Today the gospel message that is proclaimed tells us the good news of a promised Messiah who has come, a personal savior who has come in the person of Jesus to save us from the eternal consequences of their sins? He had not yet died. He had not yet risen from the dead. He did not continually proclaim that he was the Messiah. Yes, he did make this known (John 4:25, 26), but he also told his disciples not to broadcast his messianic identity openly (Matthew 16:15-20). Jesus is called the Son of God which simply meant that God was born as all human sons are born. Theologians know this process as the incarnation. Jesus was actually God who loved us so much that he came to earth born as a human being to free people not from tyrannical and evil earthly governments, but from the eternal consequences of having offended God with our sinfulness. The good news is that Jesus, the Son of God, perfectly expressed the Divine love to all people of every time and place through his life, suffering and death on a cross and then demonstrated the truth of it all through his resurrection to life again. Jesus did all of this for us so that we could live with God as his loved children now in this life and even after we die. The bible pretty much summarizes this good news in these words, God so love the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16,17). As we have mentioned, at the time Jesus proclaimed the good news, or gospel of the kingdom, he had not yet suffered and died on a cross, nor had he risen from the dead. So, the gospel that Jesus proclaimed was necessarily expressed quite differently than how it is generally expressed by Christians today. Considering that the good news of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed must have necessarily been stated differently intrigues me and at the same time it does seem rather mysterious. Just what was this mysterious gospel of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed? Excerpted from Jesus and the Mysterious Gospel of the Kingdom: Can You See the Bird's Nest in My Mustard Tree? by Roger H. Grummer All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
