The story of God working among us is all about teamwork. God sends Jesus. Jesus calls and then sends out the twelve apostles. Then later he sends out seventy two, in pairs. Finally, after his Resurrection, he sends all his disciples to the ends of the earth, equipped with the Holy Spirit, so they can share the Good News.
But what is this Good News? The Greek word translated as ‘gospel’ is used of official proclamations from emperors and kings. It’s not just, “have you seen the news in the papers today, it’s great!” The word ‘gospel’ carries far more weight than that. This is a proclamation from the Emperor, important news not to be ignored or dismissed.
But what is the Good News? Jesus takes the words of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 61.1-2) when he reads in the synagogue (Luke 4.14-20), early in his ministry, in what some theologians call his manifesto. Jesus says that God
has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour
Again in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus quotes from Isaiah when the disciples of John the Baptist ask him if he is indeed the Messiah:
“Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosyare cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”
This is incredible news! Liberty, release, healing, miracles, even raising the dead! Amazing!
This is not limited to the life of Jesus. This kind of news and these occurrences continued throughout the book of Acts, and throughout the early years of the Church. There are places today where such things still happen. You may have heard of, or seen such things.
od is all about healing and restoration and renewal. This is incredible news! Liberty, release, healing, miracles, even raising the dead! Amazing! This is not limited to the life of Jesus. This kind of news and these occurrences continued throughout the book of Acts, and throughout the early years of the Church.
The truly wonderful Good News is that God loves us, and has sent Jesus to show us that love, and to lead us back into restored relationship with Him, so that we are able to pray: “Our Father…”, knowing that He hears us, and will always answer….
http://dailydust.me/proclaim-the-good-news/
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Revd. Talisker