Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 5 Study # 1
December 4, 2018
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(034)
1901 ASV
14 Now after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,
15 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe in the gospel.
- I. There Is One Textual Issue in This Two Verse Paragraph.
- A. The Textus Receptus contains the qualifier "of the kingdom" between the words "gospel" and "of the God" ("...the gospel of the kingdom of God..."); the Nestle/Aland 26 omits that qualifier ("...the gospel of God...") because the support is weak enough to give the reading a "C" rating in Metzger's A Textual Commentary On The Greek New Testament, indicating a weak level of support.
- B. The issue is only of real significance if "the gospel of God" (1:14) and the announcement of the "nearness" of the kingdom of God (1:15) are somehow unrelated. If related, the "gospel" of 1:14 is all about the "nearness" of the kingdom of God of 1:15 making the textual issue a non-issue in terms of real impact. And who can say the two verses are not related?
- 1. The "Gospel" is "qualified" in the New Testament by several attending phrases.
- a. Mark, himself, began his record by saying it was "the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" (1:1).
- b. He "associated" the word "gospel" with the phrase "the kingdom of God" (if the Textus Receptus is to be held as accurate), or, at least with the shorter phrase "of God" (if the Nestle/Aland 26 is to be taken as the accurate text) in his very next reference to "gospel" (1:14).
- c. In all of the other times Mark referred to "the gospel", he left it without any identifying "qualifying phrases", leaving it up to his readers to decided if these several references have any link between the "qualified" "Gospel of Jesus Christ" and the "unqualified" "gospel" to which he was referring.
- d. The other authors of the books of the New Testament were, like Mark, used to putting "qualifying" phrases in association with the "gospel" when it served a specific purpose of directing the minds of their readers in a certain direction. It is a grave mistake to think that because "the gospel" has multiple "qualifying phrases" associated with it that those "qualifiers" indicate multiple "gospels". Multiple qualifying phrases simply indicate how many directions "gospel" can take in the minds of readers and the attempt by the author to direct his readers into a specific vein of thought.
- e. Paul, in Galatians 1:6-7, declared, in effect, that there is only "one" Gospel. He called it "the gospel of Christ". However, the context of the book of Galatians is this: at issue is the precise issue of the "methodology" of justification before God as a matter of "faith" as opposed to "works". In this respect, "justification" is argued to be "by faith" in all ages and among all peoples so that any "gospel" that subverts this "by faith" methodology is not the gospel at all. Thus, we may conclude that, as to "justification", this "gospel" is part and parcel to every reference to "gospel" in all of the Scriptures, whether the "qualifying phrases" run in all kinds of directions or not. In other words, "the gospel of the kingdom of God" contains this "methodological" aspect of "gospel", as does "the gospel of the kingdom of heaven", as does "the gospel of God", as does "the gospel of the grace of God", as does "the gospel of God's Son", as does "the gospel of Christ", as does ... well, you get my point. It is the nature of "qualifying phrases" to direct readers' thinking in specific directions, not, necessarily, to make distinctions between multiple "gospels". Obviously, "the gospel of the kingdom" is the "good news" that the kingdom is "at hand", but that is only "gospel/good news" if the persons who are hearing it are "justified by faith" for without "justification" the nearness of the kingdom is "threat and terror" not "good news".
- 2. It is abundantly clear, from the extremely close proximity of "the gospel" in Mark 1:14 to the actual words "preached" and revealed in 1:15, that the particular focus of the "good news" in this brief paragraph is Jesus' announcement that "the kingdom of God is near". This, for those justified "by faith in the gospel", would be, indeed, good news ("gospel"). That the focus is upon the nearness of the "kingdom of God" does not at all mean that the issue of "methodology" is non-existent, for as we said above, without a "method" for being accepted by God, the nearness of His kingdom is not "good news" at all.
- II. The Theological Significance of the Various "Qualifying Phrases" Attached to "The Gospel".
- A. In Matthew's record, there are 5 references to "the kingdom of God" and 32 references to "the kingdom of heaven". No other New Testament book refers to "the kingdom of heaven" in those precise words. It seems clear from Matthew 19:23-24 that the "kingdom" to which Jesus referred with the "qualifying phrase" "of heaven" in v. 23 is the same "kingdom" to which Jesus referred with the "qualifying phrase" "of God" in v. 24. That He switched "qualifying phrases" is significant, but the significance is not that there are two "kingdoms" in view, only that there are two "foci of attention" being introduced.
- B. The particular "point" of the variations in the "qualifying phrases" is simply that the authors wished to tie certain truths to "the gospel" in their writings that would direct their readers into a consideration of the significance of the particular issue involved with the gospel to which the words of the "qualifying phrase" direct their thinking. For example, "the gospel of the grace of God" is not a different "gospel" than "the gospel of the kingdom of God" as it relates to the primary issue of "gospel" (good news), but it does focus upon the "grace" methodology of the gospel in distinction from the impact that God's "kingdom" will make upon believers.
- C. So far in Mark's record, the "good news" is "about" the impact of Jesus Christ upon people who believe in Him ("the gospel of Jesus Christ"). It is also "about" how that impact will be realized (the good news that repentance will bring forgiveness of sins). And, in our current text/context, it is "about" the setting in which that impact will be primarily realized (the gospel that the setting for the realization -- the kingdom of God -- is "near"). In other words, Mark's record, thus far, is the "good news" that "Jesus Christ" is going to do something that will make it possible for repentance to bring about the forgiveness of sins and that the setting of what it means to be "forgiven" is "near".
