The Gospels

What do we mean by Gospel?

Verses in the Bible which contain the Greek word for “Gospel”, “good news” or “preaching the good news” use two main forms of the Greek: Euaggelion “Good news”; and Euaggelizó “To announce good news”. According the Online Etymology Dictionary:

gospel (n.) Old English godspel “glad tidings announced by Jesus; one of the four gospels,” literally “good spell,” from god “good” (see good (adj.)) + spel “story, message” (see spell (n.1)). A translation of Latin bona adnuntiatio, itself a translation of Greek euangelion “reward for bringing good news” (see evangel).

When we refer to the “good news” or “Gospel” in relation to the New Testament it can therefore have a number of meanings:

  1. The Gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John
  2. The salvation Gospel proclaimed by Paul
  3. The Kingdom Gospel proclaimed by Jesus

In terms of what order these occurred, the first ‘Gospel’ or ‘good news’ was the proclamation of the Kingdom by Jesus, which we find recorded at the start of Jesus’s ministry in Matthew and Luke and then confirmed again later on:

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. (Matthew 4:23 ESV)

but he said to them, “I must preach the good news [euaggelizó] of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” ‭‭(Luke‬ ‭4:43‬ ‭ESV)

“Until John, there was only the Law and the Prophets. Since then, the good news of God’s kingdom is preached, and everyone is urged to enter it.” (Luke‬ ‭16:16‬ ‭CEB)

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)

After the oral teachings of Jesus (and presumably the oral teachings of his first disciples) came the teachings of Paul which we now have recorded in letter format (the Epistles of Paul).  And then a bit later still, the full books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written down – combining the oral teachings of Jesus with a wider narrative context.

The version of the Gospel most people are familiar with is the Gospel of salvation derived from the teachings of Paul. The Gospel of the Kingdom runs in parallel to this and has a slightly different focus.  Whereas the Gospel of salvation is more concerned with when we die, the Gospel of the Kingdom is concerned with the present.  We are urged to seek the Kingdom first and to enter it now.

Three main sets of teaching

As to which teachings comprise the Gospel of the Kingdom, the oral teachings of Jesus that we have recorded today can be divided into three main categories:

  1. Beatitudes
  2. Commandments and teachings
  3. Parables about the Kingdom

We are taught that we should seek the Kingdom first above all else (from the commandments), we are taught the ways into the Kingdom (from the commandments) and that it is of the highest possible value (from the parables). We then get glimpses of the nature of the Kingdom from both the beatitudes (“Blessed are…”) and the parables (“The Kingdom of Heaven is like…”). 

Which teachings are key for the Kingdom Gospel?

Arguably all three types of teaching are needed for the full Gospel of the Kingdom, although different authors emphasise different parts of this. 

For example, some of the earliest Christian texts refer most to the commandments in the Sermon on the Mount, without referring to the more mystical elements of the Kingdom.

In contrast, Jesus devotes attention to all three aspects. The commandments are clear and are required for entering the Kingdom, but clues to the nature of the Kingdom have to be unpacked separately in numerous parables.