Did Jesus Preach the Gospel?

This past week, I had the privilege of attending a conference in Dallas with about 1500 Presbyterian pastors and elders. One of the reasons I attend these conferences is because I find them both challenging and inspirational, and this year was no exception.

The main speaker was a pastor and writer from Australia, the Land Down Under, and some of the things he said certainly turned some of my traditional thinking on its head. For instance, he challenged us with the question, Did Jesus ever preach the Gospel?

My initial reaction was that the question was absurd. Of course Jesus preached the Gospel! What else would he preach, and what else did he come for? As the speaker unpacked his thoughts, I began to understand what he meant.

Many of us tend to narrow the gospel down to the limited understanding of personal, individual salvation. Don’t get me wrong; I think that is a very important part of the Gospel message, but sometimes we talk and act like it’s the only part. I believe that Jesus died a sacrificial and atoning death, and was raised by God to live again. I believe that faith in that event is crucial for personal salvation. Jesus paid the price for my sins, and everybody else’s. But is that all there is to the Gospel message? If it is, you can see the point that Jesus never really preached that message. That is the post-Easter message. Except for intimate meetings with his disciples, Jesus’ preaching was prior to his death and resurrection.

Admittedly, Jesus did talk about his own death, but mostly he was either not believed or misunderstood. The idea of substitutionary atonement doesn’t figure high in the public ministry of our Lord. But if Jesus didn’t preach what we normally consider the gospel message, what did he preach?

A thorough study of the Gospels quickly reveals that Jesus’ message was primarily about the Kingdom of God. According to Mark, in 1:14 (as well other gospel texts, MT 4:17) the essence of Jesus’ message was, “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe the good news.” So the good news, the Gospel, is that the Kingdom of God has come near, it has arrived!

That thought challenged me to think differently about the gospel message. What does it mean for the Kingdom of God to be here, among us? How should we live and act as citizens of that kingdom?

As I said, these conferences are both challenging and inspirational. The challenge for me was this new way of looking at the gospel message, and doing so has inspired me to work on a new series of sermons for this fall that looks at the message of Jesus, the nearness of the Kingdom of God, and how we can and should live in its light.

As you make your plans for the fall, I hope you will include this study on the Kingdom preaching of Jesus. I think it will be a good one.