The Good News of Jesus

In the gospel of Luke, John the Baptist describes what will happen when the gospel arrives. “As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, ‘I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire’” (Luke 3:15-16, ESV).

John the Baptist had more revelation and insight into the gospel than any of the Old Testament prophets, and he predicted that when this gospel came, it would be a gospel of the Holy Spirit with fire. 

Jesus came with his fire and said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). That’s the gospel, and Jesus desires to bring it to the poor and those who do not have it.

“He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). 

The year of the Lord’s favor is known as the Jubilee year. Under the Old Testament law, every 50 years, slaves were set free and all debts were erased. It was a year of forgiveness, a year of Jubilee. People longed for this year to come, and now Jesus is saying that the gospel has come and is proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor. 

Do you know what the gospel is? It is Jubilee! It is setting the captives free! The gospel proclaims that this is the year of the Lord’s favor. It proclaims the good news that Christ has come. The Messiah is here, and the world has been turned upside down. Friends, that is what the gospel is all about. It is the good news of Jesus for our world!