The Greatest Story Never Told

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom

(Luke 12:32). 

On December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright made history by successfully flying a motorized airplane. They sent a telegram to their family back in Dayton, Ohio informing them of their achievement, urging them to share the news with local newspapers so they could be the first to break the story. The telegram also mentioned that they would be home in time for Christmas. The Dayton Daily News decided to run the story, but not on the front page. They put it in a section reserved for local news under the headline, “The Wright Boys Are Coming Home.” The article gave passing reference to their experiments with a flying machine but emphasized the big news that Orville and Wilbur would be home for Christmas! This piece of journalism has gone down in history as one of the most underwhelming newspaper stories ever written.  

Most Christians today preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in a manner similar to the way the Dayton Daily News told the story of the world’s first airplane. They put the emphasis in the wrong place! It’s not that their account of the good news about Jesus is inaccurate. They are simply telling the story the wrong way. They claim that the gospel is a method of personal salvation rather than the bold announcement that the world is under new management. The words may be true, but the main point of the story is lost.  

Getting the gospel right is priority number one for the church today. And there is no better place to begin in understanding its true meaning than with Jesus himself. Mark’s Gospel begins by describing what is undoubtedly one of the most earth-shaking moments in human history.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew… And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:14-18).

By placing these verses at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Mark intends for us to see their crucial significance in understanding both who Jesus is and why he came. They set the stage for all that follows by establishing three revolutionary truths about the gospel.

The gospel exists even before Jesus’ crucifixion.

For most of my life, I understood “the gospel” to be synonymous with the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary when he gave his life for the sins of the world. I equated the gospel with the plan of salvation: receiving forgiveness so I could go to heaven when I die. Therefore, it was a theological challenge for me to imagine that Jesus could preach the gospel three years before his crucifixion. But as I have studied the New Testament, I now realize that though Jesus’ death obviously plays an essential role in the gospel story, it is not the totality of the message. The good news about Jesus is much bigger than the cross. It can be accurately summarized using five verbs: Jesus came. Jesus died. Jesus rose. Jesus reigns. And Jesus will come again.

His death is part of this story, but not its entirety. 

In announcing the arrival of the kingdom of God, Jesus was putting everyone on notice that the world was now under new management. The kingdom was at hand precisely because the king was here. To preach the gospel is to proclaim that Jesus has come as Lord and Christ to establish his rule over all the earth (Ps. 2; Ac. 2:36; Phil. 2:10-12; etc.).  

The gospel announces the arrival of the kingdom of God on earth.

The words Jesus uses to launch his public ministry sound more like a breaking news story than the inauguration of a new religious movement. He is announcing that a new kingdom is being established, that what the prophets had foretold long ago was now breaking in to the present world order. Hear ye, hear ye; the kingdom has come! In contrast to preachers today who preach the gospel of personal salvation, Jesus is proclaiming “the gospel of the kingdom” (see Matt. 4:23; 9:35; Lk. 8:1; etc.). 

One marvels at the nuanced mystery contained in the words “the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk. 1:15). Is Jesus saying that the kingdom is near? Or perhaps that it is here? The ambiguity is certainly intentional. As we read the rest of the New Testament, we discover that both realities are true – at the same time. The kingdom is both near and here, now and not yet, visible and invisible. The gospel does not permit us to choose one or the other. We are constrained to live in the paradoxical tension of the present/future kingdom of God.

The gospel demands a response.

No one can remain neutral once they have heard the proclamation that the kingdom of God has come to earth. Some will laugh at the lunacy of such a claim. Others will attack the messenger. Some will want more time to consider the matter. Jesus, however, outlines the proper response to the gospel by urging those who hear his voice to do three things: 

• Repent. The word means to turn around, to change the way you think. If you can’t see the kingdom that Jesus is proclaiming, it’s because you are facing in the wrong direction. You are expecting the wrong thing. Do a U-turn. 

• Believe. The word means far more than giving mental assent or cognitive agreement to what Jesus is saying. It means to pledge one’s allegiance, to step out in trust, and to walk in obedience to whatever King Jesus asks you to do.

• Follow me. But no one can repent and believe without divine help. These are not actions you can do on your own. So Jesus says to those whom he has chosen, “Follow me” (Mk. 1:16-20). Let’s walk together. Imitate my example. Go where I go. Do what I do.    

Yes, in the church today, the gospel of the kingdom is the greatest story never told. To preach a gospel of personal salvation without giving priority to the kingdom of God is to make the same mistake as the Dayton Daily News: it puts the emphasis in the wrong place. A gospel that leaves out the kingdom is no gospel at all! Missionary evangelist E. Stanley Jones said it well: “The greatest loss that has ever come to the Christian movement in its long course in history was this loss of the Kingdom. For the thing that Jesus called the Good News, the Gospel, has been lost” (The Unshakeable Kingdom, p. 52). 

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Image credited to John T. Daniels, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons