What’s the story of Jesus and why does this “gospel” matter?

So you’re interested in Christianity, or even in becoming a Christian? At the centre of Christianity is what’s called the gospel, and believing the gospel, in fact, is the only way of becoming a Christian. 

Do you know the gospel? 

The gospel is good news

The gospel—a word that means “good news”—is a story centred around Jesus of Nazareth, a man who lived two thousand years ago. 

Some stories start with “Once upon a time” or, “In a galaxy far, far away.”

But that’s not what Jesus’ story is like. His story isn’t a legend, a fairy tale, or a fable. Yes, his story is filled with miracles, such as many acts of healing, the multiplication of bread and fish for a crowd of thousands, and people being raised from the dead. But all these things actually happened. His story is true. 

And people were drawn into what he was doing and saying.

Then he was killed. 

The story had ended, it seemed. A great movement had come crashing down (so they thought) with the death of their friend. All their hopes were crushed and their fears re-ignited. 

A handful of the people who had followed Jesus around (fishermen, scholars, government workers, activists, and so on) laid their friend to rest in a tomb, and wondered what they’d do now that he had died.   

What was so important about Jesus to these people? Why did they follow him around for three years? They saw what he accomplished and the message he shared with people. They saw the love he showed and the great miracles he did.  

The gospel is about Jesus

Jesus went around villages and cities sharing that God’s new family was on the horizon, and was open for all who would repent and believe in the good news. He welcomed people into this new family through his teachings and miracles.

At one of his first healing miracles, a paralyzed man was brought to Jesus and he was healed. The man stood up and walked. The watching crowd was amazed. 

In another instance, a person with leprosy came to be healed too. Having this skin disease meant he was stuck on the margins of his society. Jesus radically changed his life by healing him and welcoming him into God’s family.

Out in the wilderness, while speaking to a large crowd, Jesus took just a few loaves and fishes, and had his friends pass them around. Five thousand people were fed that day (and then four thousand in another instance), and there were even leftovers. 

Once, a blind man cried out to Jesus, “Have mercy on me!” Jesus asked the man, “What do you want me to do for you?” 

“Let me see,” the blind man requested. Jesus, gentle and kind, said to the man, “Your faith has made you well.”

This man could now see! No longer was he known as “the blind man,” helpless and begging on the streets. That was his old life. Now he’d be known as the man who had been healed by Jesus. In a grateful response, he followed after Jesus, into a new life.

Can you understand why Jesus’ friends felt defeated when he was killed?

The gospel is about death (and resurrection)

While all may have seemed lost to Jesus’ friends, he had to die; it was part of God’s plan. He told his friends that he “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life … for many” (Mark 9:45). 

Jesus also said that he “must suffer many things … and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). 

His friends just did not understand what he was saying. And when they witnessed what he said would happen, they were too traumatized to really make sense of it. 

It was the leaders of the day who didn’t like what Jesus was doing. Through his miracles and teachings, Jesus was making himself equal to God. They decided to have him done away with, to preserve the status quo. Jesus was handed over to the Roman governor, who then had him executed on a cross—a brutal method of death. 

But death could not hold Jesus. So when Jesus’ friends went to his tomb, they did not find him. Encountering heavenly messengers, they were shocked, scared, and grieved, but the messengers reassured them: “Do not be alarmed! Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified has risen. He is not here” (Mark 16:6). 

The heavenly messengers confirmed what Jesus himself had said during his life, that he would be killed and be raised from the dead a few days later.

So Jesus’ death wasn’t the end of the story. His resurrection brought a new beginning. 

The gospel is about reconciliation with God

Jesus reversed death. Just like he reversed paralysis, blindness, and skin disease. What does this all mean? It’s possible for the brokenness of the world to be healed. It’s possible for you to be made whole and reconciled with God. 

He could do this because Jesus is not only a human. He is also God. You might say that the author became a participant in the story too (in how many stories does that happen?). 

Jesus was even greater than his friends initially thought. More than just a local healer, more than a national messiah, he had—and still has—authority to rewrite the human story. 

God chose to enter into the human story and live as a human.

Here’s the human story: Everybody is in need of reconciliation with God. Every person is doomed to die because of a debt owed to God for the way they’ve mistreated him, others, creation, and themselves. The Bible calls this sin—an action or attitude that is the opposite of the very character and nature of God, whether it is carried out against God or other people. Sin has caused estrangement between God and the entire human race. 

Jesus came to earth to change the human story. He is a human being, like all of us, but did not sin, and therefore was not estranged from God. He lived his life in a perfect relationship with God, as the perfect image of God, so that he could welcome into God’s family all who would repent and believe. 

Because Jesus died voluntarily, and not because of his sin (don’t forget, he was sinless), every person has the opportunity to point to him and say, “Someone has paid my debt by dying for me.”

Jesus also came to live. His resurrection from the grave makes a promise that all can be restored. His friends would come to understand that because of Jesus’ return to life, they could receive new life in the present, and have hope that they would eventually be raised from the dead in the future. 

Remember Jesus healing the paralyzed man? Jesus didn’t actually heal him right away. When the man was brought to Jesus, Jesus first declared, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then Jesus healed him. The outward healing points to the inward healing that we all need most. 

This is the gospel story. The story of good news. 

The gospel is a story you’re invited into

What about your story? What story are you currently living in? 

Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus—still fully alive—ascended into heaven to take his place in the heavenly throne room with God. To be a Christian is to live trusting in this reality of Jesus as king over all things. 

Ten days later, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his friends so they might still have his presence and healing power. Even now, Jesus gives the Spirit to anyone who wants to belong to him. To be a Christian is to live under the direction of the Holy Spirit.  

Jesus invites each person to be part of God’s family. So he’s inviting you to join the story. 

How do you join? Do what Jesus says: Repent and believe in the gospel. 

• To repent means to turn away from your sins—that is, to change your mind and “rethink” the way the world works and how you should live in it.
• To believe the gospel means to embrace the story—that Jesus really loves you, actually died for you, and literally rose again for you—so that you might trust him enough to be and do what he says. 

This story isn’t finished when you first repent and believe, because each day is a new chance to repent and believe again. Being a Christian means that every day is an opportunity to discover the power of Jesus in your own life, as you open yourself up to him and the story he’s crafting. 

Do you believe and trust that Jesus lived, died, and rose again for you? Are you ready to let go of your old story of what’s true and how you should live? 

You can be healed from your sins and made a child of God. God does not exclude anybody who believes in Jesus and comes to him seeking his kindness.

What if it’s time to give up whatever story is currently controlling your life? Why not trust in Jesus, who wants to welcome you into his beautiful story?