The Gospel of the Kingdom of God V. Georgekutty, Karunagappally
"The Kingdom of God is not a matter of getting individuals to heaven, but of transforming the life on earth into the harmony of heaven." (Walter Rauschenbusch) The word gospel means ‘good news’ or ‘glad tidings’. What was the ‘good news’ Jesus had preached? Somof the answers this question might evoke would be, ‘the gospel of love’, ‘the gospel of grace’, ‘the gospel of redemption’, ‘the gospel of salvation’ etc. Also, the gospel is often described as the ‘Gospel of Christ’ and the ‘Gospel of God’. These are all valid answers in the light of the ministry of Jesus. Nevertheless, the Gospel according to Mark, apparently, provides the most fitting answer. Mark says, “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”” (Mark 1:14-15). So, what Jesus had preached was essentially the ‘Gospel of the Kingdom of God’. We can find matching definitions in other gospels too. For instance, Matthew says, “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people”, (Matthew 4:23). This is not to say that the other definitions of the gospel are invalid. For instance, Apostle Paul says, "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain", (1 Corinthians 15:1-2). Paul here points to the gospel ‘by which you are saved’ or ‘the gospel of salvation’. Paul makes this explicit in his Epistle to the Ephesians: “And in Him you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, having heard and believed the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13). Paul also describes the gospel as the ‘gospel of peace’ (Ephesians 6:15) and the ‘Gospel of the Grace of God’ (Romans 20:24). Some scholars argue that Jesus and Paul were not preaching the same idea of Gospel. While Jesus preached the gospel of the ‘Kingdom of God’, Paul preached the ‘Gospel of the Grace of God’. Paul writes to the Romans, “… I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed” (Romans 15:8). The indication here is that Jesus had come as the Messiah of Israel, to fulfil the promises given to Jewish Patriarchs. Jesus himself admitted that his ministry was focused exclusively on Jews (Matthew 10:57). The two exceptions we find in the Gospels are those of Jesus acceding to the pleas of the Canaanite
woman (Matthew 15:21-28) and the Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:1-13; Luke 7:1-10). Jesus seems to have agreed to provide succour in these cases entirely because of their great personal faith in him. People mostly assume that the disciples ministered to Gentiles as well as Jews in the light of the so-called “Great Commission”, (“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19)). But biblical evidence suggests that the disciples of Jesus continued to address only the Jews. They recognized the Jewish priority in the scheme of God’s kingdom proclaimed by the Old Testament prophets. Their understanding was that the Gentiles were to be blessed through Israel since God had promised Abraham, "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice" (Genesis 22:18). All through his earthly ministry, Jesus had ministered under the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17-18). He constantly referred to the Mosaic Law as the foundation of His ministry. Gentiles had nothing to do with the Mosaic Law. Consequently, non-Jews had no share in the Kingdom of God. God gave His Law to the Jews, not Gentiles (Ephesians 2.11-13). Thus, orthodox Christianity in the beginning was an exclusive faith of the Jews, by the Jews and for the Jews. But the situation changed substantially with the entry of Apostle Paul. The commission of Paul was as “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13). He became the “Jewish agent” to bless the Gentiles. He typified a bornagain Israel. This was why he referred to himself as one “untimely born” (1 Corinthians 15.8). Paul was born under the Mosaic Law. He was a Pharisee, who knew the Law well and enforced it rigorously and even ruthlessly (Philippians 3:5-6). But after his conversion, Paul taught that those who believed his gospel were not under the Law of Moses. He taught that believers were under the administration of grace rather than under the bondage of the Mosaic Law. His view was that the Law had no claim upon the believers due to their identification with Christ in his crucifixion and resurrection. Paul apparently believed that only by becoming dead to the Law could one live in Christ. The reality of the situation seems to be that God had a program for Israel that He revealed to the prophets of the
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