Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
And I thought to myself: "preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God...believe the gospel... but the gospels weren't written yet!" What did Jesus then preach?
Well, the obvious answer is - whatever's in red text in the book of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John!
His teachings were about God's standard of righteousness, and that it was not enough to just keeping the rituals, the letter of the law; He called people to believe and follow the Lord with all their HEART, not just all their actions. He taught about the Kingdom of heaven, and who would be counted in it. He taught many things, exhorted, warned, challenged, rebuked, and contrasted plainly God's ways and standard against the accepted standards of men.
What are we preaching in our churches? Jesus, even in an informal conversation managed to bring up the 'gospel of the Kingdom of God' - think of His encounter with the Samaritan woman. It was His whole life, His focus, His being.
What is in our focus, our conversations? Is it the gospel that Jesus told us to preach? If the servant cannot be different from the Master, then does it follow that we should preach what Jesus preached? How do we fare against the standard He made so clear?
Makes you wonder doesn't it?
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