I'm want to show you the Gospel that Jesus preached, a message which is supposed to change everything but a message which has been lost. In part one we saw that Jesus preached the Gospel. In part two we saw that when Paul and the disciples and Jesus preached the Gospel miracles, healings, supernatural manifestations happened. In part three we looked at what it was that Paul preached. In part four we saw what Jesus preached and what he taught his disciples to preach. Now I want to look a little more closely at the actual word's that Jesus used.
What did they say? What were the actual words Jesus used when proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
Here’s a summary version of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God that Jesus preached:
Mark 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Here's Matthew’s version:
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And the Phillips’ translation:
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “You must change your hearts and minds–for the kingdom of Heaven has arrived.”
Jesus told his disciples to preach the same message he had been preaching.
Matthew 10:1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. … These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Phillips’ translation:
Matthew 10:7 As you go proclaim that the kingdom of Heaven has arrived.
These were his instruction not just for the twelve but for the rest of his disciples as well:
Luke 10:1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. …8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: 9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
That’s the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God: The time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand. That's what Jesus and the Apostles actually "said," those are the words they actually used, when they preached the Gospel.
Before we can go on we need to look at the expression, “is at hand.”
In Greek, (See also here.) as in English, the expression “at hand” ("come nigh" in Luke 10:9 is the same Greek word, translated "at hand"elsewhere.) can mean physical nearness as in:
I always keep a notebook close at hand,
or time related nearness, as in:
The ships departure is at hand.
If something is physically at hand, it is here, it is present, it is touchable. If something’s at hand-ness is time related however, it isn’t present yet, it’s about to show up, i.e. the time for its appearance is almost here but it isn’t touchable just yet.
So,“the Kingdom of God is at hand,” can mean either, the Kingdom of God is here, in this place, right now, or it can mean the time for the appearance of the Kingdom of God is almost here. Which is it? Is Jesus saying the Kingdom of God is here or is he saying it’s about to show up? This is probably the most important issue in understanding the Gospel of Jesus, i.e. the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. How you understand what Jesus means by "at hand" effects how you're going to understand what he means by "the Kingdom of God."
If you conclude that Jesus means it's here, it's touchable, then you'll look at what happened when Jesus said it was here to understand what that means. But if you conclude that he meant something like, it's on the verge of showing up, then what he means by the Kingdom of God is open to a much wider interpretation, perhaps, limited only by your imagination.
I’m convinced Jesus is saying the Kingdom of God is here, it is present, it is touchable. The Gospel that Jesus preached, the announcement of victory he procalimed was that the Kingdom of God is here.
Mark’s Gospel makes this especially clear, since the statement “the kingdom of God is at hand” is preceded by the statement, “the time is fulfilled.” It wouldn’t make much sense to follow the statement, “the time is fulfilled” which essentially means, “time’s up,”with a statement which means,“the time is almost up.”
Here’s another way to see that Jesus meant the Kingdom of God is here, it is present, it is touchable.
If we translate the Greek back into the Hebrew which it is fairly certain Jesus spoke, then it becomes clear that Jesus is saying that the Kingdom of God has arrived. Bob Lindsey, an expert in the Greek and Hebrew language of the Gospels, explains:
“In Luke 10:8-9 we read that Jesus sent his disciples out to preach and teach, and instructed them that when they entered a village or town, they were to eat and drink in the homes that accepted them. Upon healing the sick they were to say, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” (In Greek “come near” is the same phrase translated “at hand” in Mark 1:15. gm)
In the Greek text, the phrase “has come near you” appears to be a reference to time. However, translated into Hebrew it becomes kar·VAH a·le·KEM, and in such a context it should be understood not in the sense of time but of space. This is an idiom that connotes physical intimacy, and is even used seven times in the Hebrew Scriptures as a euphemism for sexual intercourse (Gen. 20:4; Lev. 18:6; Lev 18:14; Lev 20:16; Deut. 22:14; Isa. 8:3; Ezek. 18:6).”
God’s rule is demonstrated when a miracle of healing occurs as much as when a demon is cast out. When the disciples exclaimed, “The kingdom of God has come near,” they were interpreting the healing as the immediacy of God’s presence in power. In effect, the kingdom was not near, but already present. Their Hebrew declaration meant, “God has taken charge here.
C. H. Dodd, who wrote the influential The Parables of the Kingdom in 1935, argued for this interpretation of the passage. Had he believed that the gospel texts strongly reflect a Hebrew original, he might have achieved more success with his theology of “realized eschatology.” The failure of many scholars to understand Jesus’ use of the expression “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of Heaven” lies largely in their failure to take seriously the highly Hebraic character of a great deal of the gospels. Robert Lindsey, Jerusalem Perspective, Published: 01-Jan-2004, )
And another way…
A couple of the modern translations clearly translate “at hand,” as meaning that the Kingdom of God is here.
Mark 1:15 (Phillips Translation) saying, “The time has come at last–the kingdom of God has arrived. You must change your hearts and minds and believe the good news.”
Mark 1:14-15 (The Message) After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee preaching the Message of God: "Time's up! God's kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message."
And another way…
Here’s another scripture which demonstrates that the Gospel message is the present-ness of the Kingdom of God:
Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!.
The phrase, “that bringeth good tidings,” translates the Hebrew word “basar,” the word Jesus would have used, which was later translated into Greek as “euangelion” and even later into English as “Gospel.” So we could substitute “gospel” for “good tidings” in this scripture:
Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings the gospel, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings the gospel of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!.
The Apostle Paul associates this scripture with the Gospel he preached:
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
This scripture from Isaiah is a preview of THE Gospel, i.e. the gospel that Jesus preached.
Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings the gospel, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings the gospel of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
Look at the last phrase, “thy God reigneth.” According to Isaiah 52:7 the message of the Gospel is “…that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” That's what the Gospel preacher says. I like the Bible in Basic English translation of this verse:
Isaiah 52:7 “…who says to Zion, Your God is ruling!”
If this phrase truly previews the Gospel, as its wording and the Apostle Paul’s reference to it suggest, then the phrase, “Your God is ruling,” is a preview of Jesus’ expression “the kingdom of God is at hand.” In fact this expression sounds a lot like Lindsey's translation, "God has taken charge here." The Targum on Isaiah, an ancient Jewish translation of the Hebrew scriptures into the Aramaic language, even uses Kingdom of God language to translate it:
Isaiah 52:7 “…saying to the congregation of Zion the Kingdom of thy God is revealed.”
Now here's what I want you to see.
Isaiah, in his preview of Jesus’ gospel message, states that the Gospel preacher’s message is, “your God is ruling,” not, ‘your God will someday rule,’ but your God is ruling right now. Can you see how that confirms what I’ve been saying above; that the Gospel is about the Kingdom or reign of God and that the Gospel message, the good news that Jesus proclaimed, is that God is now reigning, not that his reign will appear at some point in the future, but that He is reigning right now? The news of victory that Jesus proclaimed was that the kingdom of God is here, your God is reigning here and now, your God is taking charge right now. Whoo hooo!
The basic, summary, message that Jesus, and his disciples preached was: The Kingdom of God is here. This is the good news Jesus said he was sent to proclaim. This is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. This is the lost gospel of Jesus: The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has arrived.
The essence of Jesus' message is the here-ness of the Kingdom of God.
When I first learned that Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, when I first started studying this subject, I thought, and said, that the essence of Jesus’ message was the Kingdom of God. But after much study I've come to realize that the point of his message isn’t the Kingdom of God so much as the here-ness of the Kingdom of God. The point of Jesus message is that the Kingdom of God is here now, it is present, the long awaited has finally appeared.
Most Christian's reject this conclusion through unbelief.
Most Christians reject this conclusion, not for lack of evidence but for lack of faith. They reject the clear scriptural evidence that the message of Jesus was, “the Kingdom of God is here” because it's contradicted by what they see. They read the words of Jesus and conclude that those words can’t mean the Kingdom of God is here, present, touchable, right now because if it were, they'd be able to see it. 'If Jesus really meant the Kingdom of God is here, we'd be experiencing the kingdom of God right now.' That's what the people of Nazareth thought too. Most Christians fail to understand that the Kingdom of God appears only in response to faith. It’s manifestation, it’s appearance depends on our believing that it is here. Concluding that the Kingdom of God awaits some future manifestation because we don't automatically see it, touch it or feel it, is a kind of doubt which keeps us from seeing it, touching it and feeling it.
Most Christians fail to see that consigning God’s promises to the indeterminate future is doubt. Putting God's promises off into a future that never arrives is a form of unbelief. They don’t recognize their unbelief because they use the vocabulary of faith to describe it. They say they “believe” the Kingdom will come someday, but what they mean is, they’ll know the Kingdom of God is really here when they have something more than just the word of Jesus about it.
Some of the jewish rabbis of Jesus' day understood that this form of unbelief kept the Jewish people from entering the Kingdom of God. David Flusser, a Professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and a Rabbi, in his book Jesus, gives a couple of examples.
“The dangers inherent in a purely futuristic idea of God's kingship were understood by the Greek translators of the Book of Exodus. The closing words of the Song of Moses (Exodus 15:18) 'The lord will reign for ever and ever' are translated into Greek, 'the Lord is reigning for ever and ever' Later on, Rabbi Yose from Galilee (beginning of the second century A.D.) recognized the same dangers. 'If Israel at the Red Sea had said, 'He is king for all eternity,' no nation or language would have ruled over them, but they said … 'the Lord will reign forever and ever.'” Flusser in Jesus, p. 264, (Emphasis mine, GM)
That’s what most Christians are saying, ‘The Lord will reign… someday….’ But Jesus, the disciples and the Apostle Paul said, ‘God is reigning now’ and they exhorted people to believe that and when the people did, God reigned in their lives. Most Christians are from Nazareth.
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