Jesus Announces the Good News!
Jesus Announces the Good News
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Reflection: We see today the first thing Jesus did was, "proclaim the Good News of God!" As the cliche goes, "Put first things first!" Jesus does this today when the first thing He does is to "proclaim, preach, and announce" the Good News. The idea of proclamation is one of boldness, clarity and conviction. So many times people think the Church is about Bad News, when the first thing Jesus does is announce the Good News! The counter cultural thing that should distinguish the Church from the world is that we have Good News. Astonishingly Good News!
And what is that Good News! The Good News was that the time had come. The long awaited time, or "kairos", was now upon the world. The word "kairos" is different than "chronos", as they are the two Greek words for time. "Chronos" means "running time", and "Kairos" means, "the right time, or opportune time". This is the time all history had been waiting for, when Jesus would proclaim the Good News. All of history had waited for the Good News and this was it. And what is the content of this Good News? The clarity of the content is: "The kingdom of God has come near!"
Kingdom is where God rules or reigns. It what life is like in heaven, but up until this time the world had seen only glimpses of God's kingdom reigning, when God intervened for His purposes in the Old Testament. But now Jesus is saying, "the kingdom has come near!" But in what way? It was coming near in a person. It was coming through Jesus Christ. The Law came through Moses, but grace and peace comes through Jesus Christ, the apostle John writes. The kingdom of God's rule and reign was coming in the person of Jesus, and he would demonstrate what it looked like through every thing he would do and say. Jesus would be a conduit of how God's kingdom comes through a person.
And so finally with this proclamation a response was called for. The Good News about the kingdom of God coming near was being announced by Jesus as he inaugurated it, but what would be the appropriate response? Jesus says it clearly when he says, "Repent and believe the Good News!" Repent means to turn from what you know is wrong. Literally it means to have a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior. It is not just thinking about something, but doing it! The proof is in the pudding. But when you turn from something you need to turn to something. And in this case it is the Good News in Jesus Christ. As the people turned from sin and believed in the Good News that Jesus was bringing, they would be saved and born again. Born of God to live a new life bringing in the kingdom as Jesus' disciples.
These two short verses say a lot. And the thing about it is our whole lives, we are repenting and believing the Good News. It is a daily thing that we need to repent of self-reliance, self service and self gratification and trust in the Good News in what Jesus did for us. And through believing we have life in His name and begin to do the things that Jesus did! Sound exciting! I hope so! Amen.
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Reflection: We see today the first thing Jesus did was, "proclaim the Good News of God!" As the cliche goes, "Put first things first!" Jesus does this today when the first thing He does is to "proclaim, preach, and announce" the Good News. The idea of proclamation is one of boldness, clarity and conviction. So many times people think the Church is about Bad News, when the first thing Jesus does is announce the Good News! The counter cultural thing that should distinguish the Church from the world is that we have Good News. Astonishingly Good News!
And what is that Good News! The Good News was that the time had come. The long awaited time, or "kairos", was now upon the world. The word "kairos" is different than "chronos", as they are the two Greek words for time. "Chronos" means "running time", and "Kairos" means, "the right time, or opportune time". This is the time all history had been waiting for, when Jesus would proclaim the Good News. All of history had waited for the Good News and this was it. And what is the content of this Good News? The clarity of the content is: "The kingdom of God has come near!"
Kingdom is where God rules or reigns. It what life is like in heaven, but up until this time the world had seen only glimpses of God's kingdom reigning, when God intervened for His purposes in the Old Testament. But now Jesus is saying, "the kingdom has come near!" But in what way? It was coming near in a person. It was coming through Jesus Christ. The Law came through Moses, but grace and peace comes through Jesus Christ, the apostle John writes. The kingdom of God's rule and reign was coming in the person of Jesus, and he would demonstrate what it looked like through every thing he would do and say. Jesus would be a conduit of how God's kingdom comes through a person.
And so finally with this proclamation a response was called for. The Good News about the kingdom of God coming near was being announced by Jesus as he inaugurated it, but what would be the appropriate response? Jesus says it clearly when he says, "Repent and believe the Good News!" Repent means to turn from what you know is wrong. Literally it means to have a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior. It is not just thinking about something, but doing it! The proof is in the pudding. But when you turn from something you need to turn to something. And in this case it is the Good News in Jesus Christ. As the people turned from sin and believed in the Good News that Jesus was bringing, they would be saved and born again. Born of God to live a new life bringing in the kingdom as Jesus' disciples.
These two short verses say a lot. And the thing about it is our whole lives, we are repenting and believing the Good News. It is a daily thing that we need to repent of self-reliance, self service and self gratification and trust in the Good News in what Jesus did for us. And through believing we have life in His name and begin to do the things that Jesus did! Sound exciting! I hope so! Amen.
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