Matthew recorded:
“Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee.”
—Matthew 4:12
Mark penned:
“Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
—Mark 1:14-15 KJV
It was John’s imprisonment that initiated the gospel’s appearance.
There are times when some things must cease for something new to begin. Or, in the words to the Hebrews:
“’Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He does away with the first in order to establish the second.”
—Hebrews 10:9 ESV
Here the forerunner ceased, the way had been prepared, the law and the prophets were behind bars waiting to be freed in fulfillment, and the Lord was prepared to set the captives free!
Not only did Jesus identify the immediacy of the gospel of the kingdom, but He also proclaimed the kingdom was present in Him.
On that fateful day in Nazareth when He stood and read from Isaiah’s scroll:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19 KJV) and concluded with, “This day is the Scripture fulfilled in your ears”
—the gospel was there—in that very place—and it was in Him!
In T. Austin Sparks’ The School of Christ, he writes, “to learn Christ we must see Christ.”
And we must never think we have seen all of Him or graduated from this school regardless of our tenure, experience, calling, or function.
The Apostle Paul is an illustration of the need to be a constant “learner” of Christ.
In 38-40 AD he pens to the Galatians:
“But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.”
—Galatians 1:15-16 ESV
Yet, to the Philippians 23 years later he writes:
“That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
—Philippians 3:10 ESV
Even after all that Paul had witnessed and ministered, there was still an understanding of the vastness that is Christ Jesus—and a desire to learn more.
This is the gospel paradigm:
“Even so did the Lord ordain that they that proclaim the gospel should live of the gospel.”
—1 Corinthians 9:14 ASV
Yes, I understand the context of this passage; however, living of the gospel requires living the gospel.
