The Good News Arrives

1.17.16

The Old Testament's promise of a messiah, a savior, is fulfilled in the arrival of the Good News which is Jesus Christ. As we explored in the Good News-Prologue, the four gospels present the arrival of Jesus in various ways. In Mark there is no mention of his birth. Jesus appears on the scene and starts his ministry. John reaches back to before the founding of the universe and connects Jesus with the very foundation of creation - the Word of God.

In the gospel of Matthew, we find a different approach. Matthew 1:1 gives a brief but powerful introduction: "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of Davis, the son of Abraham." The term messiah comes from the word "anointed".  It denotes that Jesus was different. He was set apart and special. He is understood in the historical perspective of the Jewish nation to be a King. The King was anointed, set apart, and special. Matthew's listing him as the son of David confirms that Jesus is a king. Listing Jesus as the son of David also gives Jesus the status of fulfillment to the promise God gave David that his son would sit on the throne of Israel forever (cf. 2 Samuel 7:16; Psalm 132:11). Matthew establishes in his first sentence that Jesus was the expected savior and king. He also writes that Jesus is the son of Abraham, which is a fulfillment to Abraham that one of his seed would be a blessing to the whole world (cf. Genesis 22:18).

Matthew's genealogy follows the line of Joseph back to Abraham. The story of Jesus' birth begins immediately following his heritage credentials with the introduction of Joseph, the soon to be husband to Mary. Matthew 1:18-25 tells the story of how an angel appeared to Joseph and convinced him that the baby was not the result of Mary's unfaithfulness, but was the result of the Holy Spirit. Being in the lineage of David and historical heir to the throne, it is appropriate that the angel would make the announcement to Joseph. It is the proclamation of an new King!

But there is a problem. In Matthew's listing of ancestors, he uses the line of descendants coming from Jeconiah. The problem here is that Jeconiah was so evil  God cursed him saying that “Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.” (Jeremiah 22:30) So how can God grant Jesus the throne of David if he is a child of Jechoniah? Luke rescues us from this question in his lineage. In Luke 3:31 Luke lists David and then his other child, Nathan. Nathan was not cursed, so it is permissible for Jesus to claim the throne. 

Luke begins his story of the arrival of the Good News by telling the story from the perspective of Mary, the mother of Jesus. In Luke 1:26-38 we read the announcement of the pregnancy and the promise of this special Son of God to Mary. Mary is the vessel by which the whole world will be blessed! Her heritage allows Jesus to assume the throne. Luke also extends the heritage of Jesus past David and Abraham all the way back to Adam. Luke is demonstrating that Jesus is a descendant of man, as well as God. This heritage allows Jesus to atone for the sins of man, because a man must be punished by God for the sins of man. Luke demonstrates that Jesus is just such a man. 

Three things we can take away from the prologue and arrival of Good News?

1. We are the recipients of the New Testament (New Covenant).

2. We have four gospels so that we have a more complete picture of who Jesus was and is.

3. Jesus is the fulfillment of an everlasting king to David and the blessing promised to Abraham.

The Good News - Prologue

1.10.16


The Bible is traditionally divided into two parts: Old and New Testament. If you have been reading a bible for any length of time, you may have just accepted this division with little or no thought as to why these are sections named Old and New? The title "Testament" comes from a verse in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31:31-33
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt…This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God,  and they will be my people.”

The term "covenant" is translated as "testament" in the Latin Vulgate - the benchmark translation for the early church. God's promise to bring a new covenant or testament to his people is fulfilled by the coming of Jesus, his death, and resurrection. God's promise to put the law in the hearts and minds of his people is fulfilled in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have a "New Testament" with him. 

As we search the Gospels for understanding, there are a few keys to unlock its treasures:

1. The gospels are theological, not biographical. 

The four gospels are focused more on the how and why than they are on the who and what. Details such as a physical description of Jesus is left out, but inner thoughts and motivations are recorded. 

2. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are synoptic gospels.

These three form a picture together. They bring the details form various points of view to give us a more complete picture. In the 17th century, Flemish painter Anthony Van Dyck was commissioned to pain a picture of Charles I to be sent to Rome for a marble bust to be made. Van Dyck painted the face of Charles I looking left, looking right, and looking straight ahead all on the same canvas. This multiple perspective gave the sculpture the information needed to get a clear picture of Charles. The gospels serve in much the same way. 

3. The gospels are complete, but not exhaustive. 

The gospels provide all the necessary information about Jesus and his ministry, but they do not tell everything. John 21:15 tells us that Jesus did many other things not recorded. John goes as far to say that if they were all written, there would not be room enough in the world to hold it all! 

4. Each Gospel targets an audience with a specific purpose. 

Matthew writes to the Jews and shows that Jesus is King.

(cf. Psalm 72; Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5)

Mark writes to the Romans and shows that Jesus is the perfect Servant. 

(cf. Isaiah 42, 52, 53)

Luke writes to the Greek and presents Jesus as The Son of Man. 

(Genesis 3:15, 22:18; Isaiah 7:14-16)

John writes for all mankind and present Jesus as God. 

(Isaiah 40:3-5, 47:4; Jeremiah 23:6)

In Matthew and Mark there is no effort to explain why the author has written their respective gospel. Matthew begins simply with a listing of the genealogy of Jesus. Luke opens with an introduction that his writings are an effort to record what eyewitnesses experienced. He reports that he has carefully investigated everything and addresses his record to the most excellent Theophilus. He writes these things so that we can know with certainty the things that have been taught about Jesus. 

John takes a more philosophical and grand approach to his introduction. His well known "In the beginning was the Word" opens his rendition with a galactic story from another world which transcends time . John uses the Greek word "Logos" as his choice for "Word". It depicts unique meaning for Greeks and Jews. For the Greek it is a word which depicts the universal reason - the primary principle cause for the universe. For the Jew it meant God's creative word with divine wisdom which he used to form the universe. This quality is attributed to YHWH. So for both Greek and Jew, John starts his gospel with the telling of how Jesus is God come to earth in the form of man. 

He depicts this man as being light which interacts with the darkness of this world. John's opening statement (John 1:1-5) tells us that the "light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." This statement is written after the death and Resurrection of Jesus. The original language depicts the action of laying hold of something or possessing it. The possession can be either a mental or physical one, so John is saying here that the world could not comprehend Jesus while he was here and they are not able to hold him physically either. The light shines brightly in the darkness! 

These Gospels are just the beginning of the New Testament, but they outline for us the most important person to have ever lived: Jesus of Nazareth! 

Good News...But First Some Bad News

1.3.16

The "good news" or gospel of Jesus is recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; but this good news is the answer and response to the bad news which happened at the beginning of mankind. In Genesis chapter three we read the story of how mankind fell into sin. God created a world which was in harmony with itself and his creation was in harmony with him. But man disobeyed his commandment and the consequences were catastrophic. In Genesis 3:13 we read God's question to Eve, a question that is in fact for all of us: "What have you done?" I picture God in his all knowing state as the father he is,  scolding his child who has done something wrong. God already knows the wrong that has been committed, the question is really for the benefit of the child. The children fail to answer correctly. Neither Adam or Eve takes responsibility for their actions. They shift blame and point fingers. God gives judgement for their actions in verse fourteen, "Because of this thing you have done..." he proceeds before casting the man and woman from paradise.

But in this moment of judgement, while God curses man, woman and serpent for their actions, God gives a seed of hope. In verse fifteen we read that God tells the serpent that he will put an enmity between the serpent and mankind. This hope, this adversary will one day crush the serpent.

This seed of hope is reaffirmed when many generations later God makes another vow with one of Eve's descendants, Abraham, to whom  he promises to make a great nation from the family Abraham will give birth to one day. God promises that he will bless Abraham and his family so that they will in turn be a blessing to the world. Specifically, God promises a singular person in his family that will bring peace and bless the entire world.

Abraham finally has a child and his family grows. Through a series of situations controlled by God, the family of Abraham was moved to Egypt and later enslaved. After many generations, God sends a leader in the form of Moses to take the people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. When he establishes the new country, God tells them many rules to live by. The summary of his rules can be found in Leviticus 11:45, "Be holy for I am holy." God is holy, and he asked for his followers to live a life reflective of this fact. He gave the people of Israel laws and rules to help them, but they refused to follow them and rebelled.

In Zechariah 7 we find that God is lamenting the fact the his people, the Jews, had "turned their hearts to flint and would not listen to the words of God. Since they would not listen to him, he no longer listed to them. In his just holiness, God caused the people of Israel to be scattered. While they were in their rebellion, and suffering judgement, God still shared mercy with them. In Jeremiah 33:8, God promised to "cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.” God has always been shown mercy and grace when his people will repent and return to Him.

God's mercy included the sending of his son. God shared this promise through his prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 9 we read that to us "a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever." This son, this king, was Jesus. He is the Good News in answer to and in rebuttal to the bad news of sin.