What is The Gospel of Jesus?

Sunday, October 11, 2009, 10:58 PM [General]

(The Sermon On the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch, d. 1890)

Before we attempt an answer, before someone comes up with some improper notion of "gospel", distinct from (but in fact, opposed to ...) Jesus' Gospel, let's do a bit of lexical inquiry (and then some inquiry on the NT use), and try to establish some points.

Lexical Exam

The English word "Gospel", "Middle English, comes from Old English gōdspel (ultimately translation of Greek euangelion) : gōd, good;  + spel, news" (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language).

The Greek noun that (within the context of the NT) is translated in English as "gospel" (or, "good news") is εὐαγγέλιον (euaggelion - G2098).

The corresponding Greek verb (within the context of the NT) is εὐαγγελίζω (euaggelizō - G2097, "to bring good news", "to announce glad tidings").

It is interesting to notice that the active form of the verb (euaggelizō) is a late form, viz. only attested in the koine Greek, whereas classical Greek has only the form euaggelizomai (see LSJ, A Greek-English Lexicon), which is normally used as deponent (active meaning - passive form); as proper passive (of euaggelizō) it is ONLY attested in the NT. A further complication is in Luke, where we find euanggelizomai used both as deponent ("to proclaim good news" - Luke 4:43), and as passive ("the good news is proclaimed" - Luke 16:16).

The noun euaggelion, in the general context of Ancient Greek (see LSJ, A Greek-English Lexicon) has different meanings, which evolve in the course of time, and are reflected in its final adoption as "technical" Christian:

[A.] reward of good tidings, given to the messenger.

[II.] good tidings, good news, in which the idea of the reward is not (not necessarily) implied. In this sense we find it used in the LXX Septuagint. It is interesting to see it in conjunction with the Hebrew noun of which it is the translation (בשורה, bĕsowrah - H1309), and also with the corresponding Greek verb (euanggelizomai, deponent, "to bring good news") and with the relative Hebrew verb of which it is the translation (בשר, basar - H1319). In the Hebrew 2 Samuel 4:10, and in the relative Greek LXX, we find all these 4 forms:

[9 David replied to Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered my life from all adversity,] 10 when someone told me that Saul was dead – even though he thought he was bringing good news [basar, euanggelizomai] – I seized him and killed him in Ziklag. That was the [reward for the] good news [bĕsowrah, euaggelion] I gave to him!  (2 Sam 4:[9]-10)

Notice how David is making a (darkly ironic) play on words on the "reward" (death!) that he gave to the messenger in return for the "good news" of Saul's death.

[2.]  in Christian sense, the gospel, Ep.Gal.1.11, etc. [where euaggelion is used in a "technical", specialized sense; the process is similar to that undergone by the Greek word Χριστός (Christos -  G5547, "Christ"), which, in the beginning was a direct translation of the Hebrew title משיח (mashiyach - H4899, "Anointed, viz. King", "Messiah"), and then,already in Paul, was treated NOT as a title, but almost like a proper second name - or main name - of Jesus (Yehoshuah)]

Outline of Biblical Usage

The Greek noun εὐαγγέλιον (euaggelion - G2098, "gospel", "good news") is used a total of 74 times in the NT.

In the Four Gospels is only used by Matthew (4 times) and Mark (8). Luke never uses it in his Gospel (but we find it used in Acts - 2 times). John never uses it in his Gospel (we find it used in Revelation  - 1 time).

The NT author who used it by far the most is Paul (58 times).

It is attested in 1 Peter (1 time).

The Greek verb εὐαγγελίζω (euaggelizō - G2097, "to bring good news", "to announce glad tidings") is used a total of 52 times in the NT.

In the Four Gospels is only used by Matthew (1 time) and Luke (10). Luke also uses it extensively in Acts - 15 times. John, again, never uses it in his Gospel (we find it, though, used in Revelation  - 2 times).

Paul uses it 19 times throughout his Epistles.

It is also attested in Hebrews (2 times), and in 1 Peter (3 times).

What does Jesus mean by "gospel"?

A look at the use of the Greek words euaggelion and euaggelizō by Jesus throughout the Synoptic Gospels, makes us realize that:

* Until the turning point of Peter's Confession of the Messiahship of Jesus at Caesarea Philippi (Mat 16:13-20; Mar 8:27-30; Luk 9:18-21), the "gospel" ("good news", "good news of the kingdom") means essentially two inseparably joined notions:

§ Free forgiveness by God for all who truly repent.

§ Establishment of God's Kingdom (the Kindom of Heaven) on earth by the obedience of God's Commandment, the Great Commandment, the Law of Love.

* Only after Peter's Confession, Jesus' announcement of the "gospel" takes on the aspect of confrontation with the Jewish authorities, an apocalyptic aspect, and is joined with the inevitability of his passion and death.

What is the irony with the Gospel of Jesus?

What is ironic is that the authentic Gospel of Jesus (which, once again, was and is the "good news" of God's free forgiveness for all who truly repent, and of the establishment of God's Kingdom - the Kingdom of Heaven - on earth by the obedience of God's Commandment, the Great Commandment, the Law of Love), "Good News" in which Jesus' Passion and Death were NOT explicitly entailed, because of this inevitability of his passion and death (as Israel did NOT repent and obey), got distorted to the point that it was substituted, in particular by the Protestants, who misinterpreted Paul, with a "gospel" which:

# while it retained the faith in God free forgiveness for all who truly repent,

# OTOH associated this free forgiveness ONLY with the faith in the absolute efficacy of Jesus sacrifice, of Jesus atoning death, NOT with the necessary obedience to God's Law, the Law of Love.