Rethinking Bible Language: The Gospel

The word "gospel" is a shorthand way of referring to the entire narrative arc of the Christian Bible. It provides a quick point of reference for the central theme of God's redemptive work in rescuing humanity from exile and bringing us back to Eden. Because this word carries the weight of an entire epic narrative, the temptation is often to restrict the word to mean something much smaller in scope. In this post, I hope to take what is commonly understood as "the gospel" and place it within the entire biblical story.

At its most basic meaning, the gospel simply means "good news". An inscription on a Roman building dating back to 6 B.C.E. mentions "the gospel" of Caesar Augustus, whose birth is described as the coming of a divine savior whose kingdom will bring lasting peace and order. The New Testament authors certainly have this in mind as they describe an alternative and subversive gospel of a different kind of kingdom ushered in by Jesus, the kingdom of God. The good new of the kingdom of God is also directly connected to Israel's own prophets who looked forward to time when the world would be made right again, where the oppressed would find justice and humanity would know true peace.

Modern Christians often default to the apostle Paul's words regarding the gospel. Paul points to Jesus' death and resurrection as "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." (Rom 1:16, Rom 10:9-13, 1 Cor 15:3-4) Unfortunately, many Christians stop here without considering the wider context and meaning of Paul's words. If taken alone, we might make the assumption that the gospel is simply the historical account of Jesus dying and then rising from the dead; an account which requires our belief in order to ensure that we go to heaven after we die. While that may sound clear and simple, it misses the historical context of these words.

Before Paul wrote those words, Jesus himself proclaimed the gospel saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel." How could Jesus possibly speak of the gospel prior to his death and resurrection? For Jesus, the good news in which he asked his followers to believe in was the arrival of the kingdom of God. In contrast to the earthly kingdom of Rome who achieved peace through violence and oppression, Jesus was ushering in a kingdom of peace and justice that cannot be seen with our old ways of seeing the world. This invisible kingdom would require us to believe in a reality that transcends this world and its power structures. Jesus spoke in parables and metaphors about a present kingdom that was emerging right in front of us, a kingdom that would require new eyes to see. It would require dying to our old patterns and discovering a new life no longer devoted to earthly empires of violence and oppression.

For Paul, Jesus' death and resurrection was vindication that the power of death and oppression was broken by the arrival of God's kingdom. Jesus now represented a new humanity seated at the right hand of God's throne. Rome, or any other earthly empire, would no longer have the final word. Glory and honor would no longer belong to the powerful, but to the least among us. Jesus, and any who would follow him, are entrusted with the work of setting the world right through non-violence and love, and bringing life and light out of death and darkness. Unless Jesus' death is understood in that context, we are already missing a huge part of the "good news". The gospel announced by Jesus and Paul was the arrival of God's kingdom that would set the world right through love rather than violence, a love expressed by God through those who see and believe. The good news is that we don't have to wait for the world to be set right, it has already begun and we are participants in this new act of creation and redemption here and now.

More than 700 years before Jesus' birth, an Israelite prophet named Isaiah would say, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'" (Isaiah 52:7). These words were likely written during the Babylonian exile where Israel looked forward to their liberation from this oppressive empire. They weren't looking forward to dying so they could escape these unpleasant circumstances, they looked forward to actual liberation from their oppressors. The reign of God meant this world being made right, here and now, and not merely in some heavenly afterlife existence.

Towards the beginning of Jesus' ministry, he went to the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth and read the words of Isaiah:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18)

After speaking these words he sat down and said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." The New Testament authors understand Jesus to be the king of a long-anticipated kingdom. Jesus represents the arrival of reign of God, co-ruling through humanity to bring justice, love, and peace to this world. This kingdom transcends nationality, gender, and social status since all are co-rulers in this kingdom. To those who awaken to this new reality, they embody this new kingdom on earth. They participate in the liberation of those who are oppressed and captive under the world's empires. They aren't simply offering hope of something better after they die, rather they are actively upending the power structures of the world as they bring heaven to earth. In this kingdom, heaven and earth are one. As co-rulers in the kingdom of God, divinity and humanity are one.

Too often Christians trade Jesus' teachings of the kingdom of God for something we might call Christendom. Christendom could refer to a distorted imitation of the kingdom of God in which Christianity is forced upon the world through manipulation and fear. It borrows the tactics of Rome to spread "Christian values" through coercion. It include those who assimilate and excludes those who do not. It goes to war against the world's cultures instead of shining a light where there is darkness. Rather than of a kingdom revealed through love towards those unlike ourselves, we instead become gatekeepers for an empire unknown to Jesus.

The biblical narrative begins and ends with an Edenic vision for humanity in which heaven and earth occupy the same space - where humanity and divinity are in perfect union. Everything in between these narrative bookends are stories of violence, exile, and oppression - stories where humans choose to live their lives divided from each other and from God. The drumbeat throughout these stories is reconciliation, bringing back together those things which are divided. Once humanity is made whole again, they can lay down their swords and return from exile. They finally give up their divided kingdoms to dwell together beneath the tree of life, no longer lost in the death of exile.

In summary, the gospel isn't about saving us from this world. The gospel is about saving the world through us. The gospel isn't about forcing a new morality upon others. It's about seeing reality with new eyes and letting love guide our choices. Instead of bowing before oppressive empires who rule with violence and coercive power, the gospel of the kingdom of God invites all of humanity to share God's own throne in the loving care for all of creation. The good news invites us to see the world through the lens of divine love and live as though the kingdom of God is here, right now.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, turn around and believe in the gospel.” - Jesus