What is the gospel?

 

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." (Mark 1:14-15)

This week I was scrolling through social media (as one does), and I came across a reel by the late Christian Apologist RC Sproul. He was explaining what the gospel is not. If you belong to an evangelical denomination like I do, you have probably heard sermons on sharing the gospel. You may have attended classes designed to teach you how to share the gospel with others.

You may have been told, "Just share your personal testimony of what Christ has done for you." This is not the gospel; it is the result of the gospel in your life. You may have been given gospel tracts, small booklets that are meant to help you share the gospel with others. A popular one begins this way: "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." That's not the gospel, either.

When I was in seminary, there was a required course called Personal Evangelism, and we were taught to recite a program written and produced by an organization called Evangelism Explosion. It begins with the question, "If you were to die today and had to stand before God, and God were to ask you, 'Why should I let you into My heaven,' what would you say?" Friends, this is not the gospel.

Here's what Dr. Sproul had to say:

The gospel is a clearly defined message. If you want to see what it is, go to the servants and in the preaching of the book of Acts, and notice and underscore the content of those sermons. There you will discover what the gospel is. It's about Jesus. He was born according to the Scriptures, and He lived a sinless life, and He died an atoning death on the cross, and for our righteousness God raised Him from the dead and carried Him in glory to Heaven for His coronation as our king, and for His installation as our great High Priest who ministers for us every day, and who will come again at the end of the age to bring the fullness of His kingdom, which has begun already but will not be completely manifested and consummated until His return. That's the object of the gospel, but it's only part of the gospel. The rest is the question of the subjective appropriation of the benefits of Christ that accrue to us. So the objective data is the data concerning the person and work of Jesus that is to be received, savingly, by faith, and by faith alone.

In other words, the object of the gospel is the words and work of Jesus, who, though He was sinless, took our sins upon Himself so that we, the subject of the gospel, could be saved from God's wrath and eternal punishment for sin. When presented with that message, we can either accept it by faith, or we can deny it. It is only by God's grace that we may be able to hear that same gospel message and be given that same choice to make another day.

We get a glimpse of this in our passage today from John chapter 18. Last week we read the first part of the chapter, where Jesus was confronted by Judas and arrested by the Roman guard under the control of the high priests and Pharisees. Today's narrative begins after they have led Jesus away to the house of Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas the high priest.

And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in. Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, "You are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not." Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself. The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. Jesus answered him, "I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said." And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, "Do You answer the high priest like that?" Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?" Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?" He denied it and said, "I am not!" One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?" Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed. (John 18:15-27)

Now there are many interpretations of this passage, such as "If we deny Jesus, it is like a slap in the face to Him." Friends, that is not the gospel.

I believe the gospel is found in this narrative. John is telling us about what happened to Peter. Some think that he is the "other disciple" who was known to the high priest and who granted access to Peter into the courtyard. Other commentaries say that the "other disciple" had to be either Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea, because how would a young fisherman be well known to the high priest? Regardless of the identity of the "other disciple", we see that Peter had disobeyed Jesus. When Jesus was arrested, He told the Roman guard to take Him only, and leave the others alone. 

Peter should have run to safety. Commentator NT Wright, in his book John for Everybody writes these words:

He (Peter) has come because he's loyal; but he had never understood more than half of what Jesus was saying, and it's the half he hasn't understood that is going to let him down now. He is cold and tired, drained of the sudden rush of energy in the garden. He must know that if the guards realize he'd not only been there, but had maimed one of the high priest's servants with that senseless swish of his sword, then Jesus might well have the company of His senior associate as he went to meet His fate--something Jesus was at pains to avoid. But all these thoughts come together and produce fear, panic, lies and disloyalty.

 Warren Wiersbe writes in The Bible Exposition Commentary, 

As you watch Peter, you see him gradually moving into the place and temptation and sin, and his actions parallel the description in Psalm 1:1. First, peter walked "in the counsel of the ungodly" when he followed Jesus and went into the high priest's courtyard. Peter should have followed the counsel of Jesus and gotten out of there in a hurry! Then, Peter stood with the enemy by the fire (v 16, 18), and before long, he sat with the enemy (Luke 22:55). It was now too late, and within a short time, he would deny his Lord three times.

In the middle of this story of Peter's unfaithfulness, John inserts a story emphasizing Jesus' faithfulness. Jesus is interrogated about His teaching and His known associates. He is treated much like a terrorist. if a suspected terrorist is arrested and interrogated today, the scene would be much the same. The arresting officers must have probable cause, so they already know about his teaching and his known associates, but the questions are asked nonetheless. In this case, Jesus gives the logical defense: I have not spoken anything in secret, but was very public in My speaking. You know what I said, because you were there. Jesus is not going to give up the whereabouts of His disciples, but He will challenge the interrogators about this line of questioning.

The point is, Jesus did not deserve to be struck.  Peter, who had already lied once and was about to lie again, not once but twice more, deserved the slap in the face, not Jesus. This, my friends and readers, is the gospel. Jesus took the punishment of our sin upon Himself, so that we could be spared. Just as this vignette is a foreshadowing of the crucifixion, where Jesus would take on the punishment for ths sin of the whole world upon Himself, it is also a vivid example of an atoning sacrifice.

You see, Peter was guilty. He had disobeyed Jesus. He had been disloyal to Jesus. He lied. All of these sins weighed heavy on Peter's heart, and in Luke 22:62 we see that Peter went out and wept bitterly. The guilt and shame overwhelmed him.

Yet Jesus forgave Peter. This is the gospel. Peter's story of redemption fulfilled comes later in John's narrative, after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. I love what NT Wright had to say about this.

There is a part of the human brain which seems to be closed off for much of the time, but which can be reached at once through the sense of smell. You can be walkig down the street, thinking of something completely different, when a single sniff of someone's pipe tobacco, or a single breath from a particular tree in a garden, can take you back twenty years or more to a memory you didn't even know you had. You can recall the place, the people, what was said, and particularly what it felt like.

There is one feature of this sad story, the story of Peter telling people he didn't belong to Jesus when his heart was crying out that he really did, which comes into this category. Charcoal fires have a particular smell to them; I can't possibly describe it, but you'd know it if you smelt it again. And you'd remember what you were doing, and what was said, last time you came upon one. Well, not very long after this, there is another charcoal fire that comes into the story (John 21:9). It calls up Peter, and for Jesus, the memory of this sad night. And it does so (this is the way the gospel of Jesus works, after all), in order to heal the open wound that this sorry tale has left in Peter, and perhaps in Jesus as well.

If you don't recall the story of John 21, let me remind you here. After the death of Jesus, the disciples were trying to go back to normal (though, after the realization of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, you can never go back to the old normal). Peter and Andrew and James and John went back to their fishing boat. They fished all night, and caught nothing. 

Suddenly, a barely visible outline of a human figure appears on the shore. "Did you catch anything?" A typical question posed to fishermen. "Nope, not a thing." A typical fisherman response. 

Then the man on the shore says, "Try the other side of the boat."

The fisherman shrug. They may have argued with the man, had he been closer. "Look," they might have said. "We've done this all our lives. Our families have done this for a living for generations. We know what we're doing."

Nevertheless, they throw the nets on the right side of the boat, and lo and behold, a catch so big that the nets start to break. Peter shades his eyes and squints toward the shoreline. "It is the Lord," he exclaims.

While the others are struggling to haul in the catch, Peter dives into the water and swims to Jesus. Jesus has a fire built, with a fish already cooking over it. The smell of the charcoal fire may have affected Peter, because he is quite humble in his response to the next few questions.

"Peter, do you love Me?" Jesus uses the word Jesus used is agape, meaning a deep and sacrificial love.

"Lord," Peter responds, "You know I love you." The word Peter uses is phileo, which means a brotherly love. 

"Here's what I want you to do: Feed My sheep." Jesus restores relationship with Peter, forgives him his past sins, and gives Peter a purpose. Peter takes this new mission, this calling, to heart. He becomes an evangelist, a faithful servant, even unto death.

This, my friends, is the gospel.