What Is the Gospel?

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

Many times in church culture 'the Gospel' is supposed to mean only 'justification by faith through grace because Jesus died as a substitutionary atoning sacrifice.’ And yet the Bible says that Jesus “went around preaching the Gospel” - even though he hadn’t died and wasn’t resurrected yet. So what did he preach?

We know that ‘gospel’ literally means ‘good news’ and it was commonly used by messengers to proclaim a royal birth or a great victory. Perhaps Jesus wasn’t spending all his sermon time talking about his death and about atonement - but about how God wins, how love is at the heart of the universe, and how broken and lost people are sought after by the God of the universe. In fact, if you read the first four books of the New Testament, these are the sorts of things you’ll read about!

Thank God for the good news of Jesus in all its fullness. Ask God for the grace to receive and embrace the good news that we are not alone, that God has not abandoned us, and that Jesus came to teach us a whole new way to live.