The church of the first century was a phenomenon that began in the region of Palestine and then spread all over the ancient Mediterranean world. So what began as a phenomenon distinctive of first-century Judaism worked its way through the pagan culture of the Roman Empire. With this in mind, let’s consider some of the terms we find in the “New Testament”–the ancient texts from the first century regarded by the Christian church as authoritative.
What is meant by the term gospel?
Gospel is a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon word godspell. It is used to translate the Greek word evangel which means “good news,” “glad tidings,” or “joyful message.” Since the New Testament was originally written in Greek, this has become an important word in Christian circles. Consider the following ancient texts:
Some uses of gospel in ancient Palestine:
And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
—Matthew 4.23 (c.f. 9.35)
And after John hade been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and trust the good news.
—Mark 1.14, 15
And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him [Jesus]. And he opened the book and found the place [Isaiah 61.1, 2] where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the good newsto the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
—Luke 4.17-19
{Jesus said:] The Law and the Prophets were preached until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
—Luke 16.16
Some uses of gospel among Gentiles:
For I am not ashamed of the good news, for it is the power of God for deliverance to everyone who trusts, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
—Paul’s letter to the Romans 1.16
But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different good news which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.
—Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians 11.3, 4
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different good news; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the good newsof Christ.
—Paul’s letter to the Galatians 1.6, 7
In him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the good newsof your deliverance—having also trusted, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the liberation of God’s own possession for the praising of his glory.
—Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 1.13, 14
I thank my god in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your sharing in the proclamation of the good newsfrom the first day until now.
—Paul’s letter to the Philippians 1.3-5
And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, ye he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death, in order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—if indeed you continue in the faith [or continue trusting], firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the good news that you have heard; which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
—Paul’s letter to the Colossians 1.21-23
It was revealed to them [the Hebrew prophets] that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.
—Peter’s First letter 1.12
So what does the term gospel mean in the shared context of Palestinian Judaism and the pagan Roman Empire of the first century? The background in the Hebrew scriptures is revealed by the quote from Jesus given above from Luke 4.17-19. Here are a couple of other passages.
Isaiah 40.9
Get yourself up on a high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of good news.
Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Lift it up, do not fear.
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your god!”
Isaiah 52.7
How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces deliverance,
And says to Zion, “Your god reigns!”
Some context might be helpful in explaining both these Hebrew poems. They refer to a promised return from exile. Israel was conquered and deported by Babylon and then by their successor emperors. The temple (which was located in Jerusalem on Mount Zion), where Israel’s god resided, was destroyed. These political events had incredible religious implications for the Hebrews. After all, YHWH (the god of Israel whose name remains something of a mystery for translators) was the true king of Israel. The fact that he gave up his kingdom in Israel, and permitted his people, the Israelites, to be taken away from the land he had given them was a horrible thing. But eventually, it was prophesied, YHWH would again reveal his kingship. He would restore the Israelites to the land and would once again reside among his people in Jerusalem.
The above passages referred to a change in political fortunes–the return from exile. They were not only religious sayings, but political dynamite at the time of Jesus when Israel was suffering under pagan oppression in the form of the occupying Roman Empire and the puppet regime in Palestine that ruled on its behalf.
The popular pagan use of the term gospel had very similar connotations in the Roman world of the first century. Here’s an example of it from an inscription about the birthday of Augustus Caesar that was written about 9BC
The providence which has ordered the whole of our life, showing concern and zeal, has ordained the most perfect consummation for human life by giving to it Augustus, by filling him with virtue for doing the work of a benefactor among men, and by sending in him, as it were, a deliverer for us and those who come after us, to make war to cease, to create order everywhere . . .. ; the birthday of the god [Augustus] was the beginning for the world of the good news that have come to men through him.
Here we have a very similar (though contrary) use of the term gospel. In this case, a political ruler is given religious honors—made into a god.
What is meant by “Christ”?
Christ is not the last name of Jesus. Nor is it some sort of mysterious religious title. Christ simply means “anointed one.” Israelite Kings were installed into office by being anointed. Since YHWH was understood to be the one who chose kings to rule as his representatives, kings were believed to be anointed by the god of Israel (see for example Psalm 2). For Jesus to called Christ simply in first century Palestine, simply means that he is YHWH’s promised king for Israel. In a time when Israel was dominated by a foreign empire, this was a dangerous claim. Yet it was one made by several young men both before and after Jesus. Lots of Israelites would follow a leader who claimed to be God’s chosen liberator to defeat the pagans.
Thus, Jesus Christ simply means “King Jesus.” It means he has been “crowned” (anointed) by God. It is important to realize that this meaning was not lost when the church moved out into the gentile world. Consider Paul’s declaration to a mixed crowd of Jews and Gentiles in the city of Antioch, far away from Israel:
And then they [the Israelites] asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And after he removed him, he raised up David to be their king, concerning whom he also testified and said, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do my will.” From the offspring of this man [David], according to promise, God has brought to Israel a deliverer, Jesus.
—The Acts of the Apostles 13.22, 23
David was, according to the Hebrew scriptures, God’s chosen king. YHWH had promised that his descendants would rule forever. To point out Jesus as the descendant of David is to explicitly call him the promised king.
There are some who try to evade all this and say that, among the Gentiles, the term Christ did not mean “anointed one,” but was simply a mysterious title for a divine figure. But that is impossible. Consider Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians:
Now, he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed [chrisas] us is God.
Why honor a defeated deliverer?
As mentioned earlier, there were plenty of Jews who offered themselves as YHWH’s promised king. Like Jesus, they were eventually killed by the Romans. In every case, the result was that their followers scattered and renounced these “christs” as pretenders to the throne. After all, to falsely claim to be YHWH’s promised king was an evil thing to do. And if anyone were truly YHWH’s king, then he would not be defeated, but would conquer the pagans and vindicate Israel.
All the sources we have state that Jesus’ followers expected him to go to Jerusalem and establish his kingdom, not get crucified. So why didn’t they scatter and renounce him afterwards?
The only answer is the one we are given by his followers. God raised him from the dead. He didn’t bother to merely defeat the Romans; Jesus defeated death itself.
Notice how all these themes (gospel, Christ, descendant of David, resurrection) come together:
Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy (2.8):
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel.Paul’s letter to the Romans (1.1-4):
Paul a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God; [the gospel] which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures; [the gospel] concerning his son A. 1. who was born 2. through a descendant of David 3. according to the flesh, B. 1. who was ordained the son of God with power 2. through the resurrection from the dead 3.according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Notice the parallelism. Jesus goes through death to a new life.
John’s letter to the seven churches in Asia (commonly called “Revelation”) (1.4,5a, 17b, 18):
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne; and from the Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. . . . And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as a dead man. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
Some things to think about & discuss:
1. There is no other reason than the resurrection why Jesus would have a continued following after he died.
2. If Jesus was raised from the dead, we have good reason to think that the god of Jesus was the true god—the maker of heaven and earth.
3. If Jesus was raised from the dead, then we have good reason to think that death is a curse, which needed to be conquered.
4. If Jesus has conquered death, does this not substantiate his claim to be the “ruler of the kings of the earth? (c.f. Rev 1.5a just above)