THE GOSPEL All four gospels accentuate how much Jesus’ remarkable life was deeply embedded in Israel’s history. In fact, Jesus and his disciples were all Jewish! Jesus is indeed the King, Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. In many ways, Jesus is like a “new Moses”: he is tempted in a desert for forty days; he gathers a small entourage of twelve disciples; he clarifies the true meaning of God’s laws; and he leads his people to the promised land of eternal life!
Jesus also came to usher in “the kingdom of God” so that we may live in it—that is, that we may live under God’s reign now and forevermore! We understand the coming of God’s kingdom as manifesting in two stages: 1) when Jesus came to die for our sin, and 2) in the future when Jesus returns with power and glory. So, we must train our heart and mind to think of the kingdom of God as “now but not yet” fully realized.
- Who was Jesus? What was he all about? What are the three things NT Wright points out?
- NT Wright also offers a fabulous (but lengthy) presentation about the kingdom of God