The Good News of Jesus

 For two thousand years, people across the world have tried to understand Jesus. We too join that long search. Setting aside the beliefs that later developed about him, we attempt to return to his own land and time, to see him as clearly as we can.

Our first task is to understand the good news Jesus proclaimed. Strangely, most Christians have never paused to ask what that good news actually was. Even those regarded as knowledgeable often struggle to answer. For two millennia, many ideas have travelled under the banner “Christian gospel,” yet most are not the message Jesus himself announced.

When we look in the Scriptures, we find his message compressed into one sentence: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God has drawn near.”

For years I searched its meaning—reading scholars and interpretations—yet none satisfied me. Only recently did I glimpse an answer, and it is that understanding I attempt to explain here.

Jesus travelled widely proclaiming this message and sent his disciples to do the same. What made it so important? What did people hear when he spoke of the “Kingdom of God”?

The gospels contain many parables about this kingdom, yet even after reading them, a clear definition does not easily emerge. Modern sermons differ from one another, revealing that even preachers remain unsure.

To understand any message, we must know its context: Who spoke? To whom? When? Where? Why?

Who? Jesus

To whom? His own people

Where? Israel

When? First century

Why? To tell them something new, something life-changing

How? Walking from village to village, speaking directly to the people

Their world was filled with fear and hardship. In their own land, they lived under Roman domination. The empire interfered not only politically but even in matters of worship. Luke mentions an incident where Pilate’s soldiers killed Galilean worshippers within the temple precincts. Revolt always seemed likely. Spies blended with the crowds. Perhaps this is one reason Jesus often used parables—to speak what could not be stated openly.

Taxation was crushing—both from the government and the temple. The gap between rich and poor widened. Many survived like Lazarus, feeding on crumbs from rich tables. Farmers who lost their land became wanderers or thieves. Families sold themselves into slavery to escape debt.

Diseases were common. Lepers moved from place to place. The pool of Bethesda was filled with the desperate. Many suffered mental illness, understood then as demonic possession.

Understanding “Kingdom of God”

A few clarifications help us move forward:

“Kingdom of God” and “Kingdom of Heaven” mean the same.

Heaven and the Kingdom of Heaven are not the same. Heaven is God’s realm; the Kingdom refers to something happening on earth.

People of Jesus’ time believed earth was ruled not by God but by Satan. (Luke 4:5–6; John 12:31; Eph 2:1–3; etc.)

Whether Satan exists is not the issue; what matters is that they believed he ruled the world.

Thus “Kingdom of God” meant, for them: God will soon take back the world from Satan.

Life was harsh. If a just God ruled the world, they reasoned, life would not look like this. So they concluded that God’s enemy must be on the throne. The solution? God had to remove Satan and appoint someone who obeyed Him. That person was called the Mashiah, the anointed king—also called “Son of God” in the sense of being God’s representative.

People longed for this deliverance and cried, “Hosanna! (Yahweh, save us!)” Whenever a child was born or a leader emerged, people wondered if he might be the Messiah. Even John the Baptist was asked.

The Pharisees taught that the kingdom was delayed because people were not observing religious laws properly. Into this setting John the Baptist appeared, announcing that the Kingdom of God was near. The people believed him. They expected Satan’s downfall and the Messiah’s arrival.

A Message of Joy—and Anxiety

This expectation produced both joy and fear. Joy—because God was about to rule the world. Fear—because the Messiah would judge all people, separating them into two groups. The righteous would enter the new kingdom; the wicked would be cast out. People asked anxiously, “What must I do to enter the Kingdom of God?”

The Pharisees answered: strict observance of the law.

John’s answer was different: show mercy, share with the needy, do good. Rituals matter less than righteousness. Many came to him for baptism as a sign of turning toward goodness.

Jesus was among them. His baptism shows that he accepted John’s call to walk in the good path.

Jesus’ Turning Point

After baptism, Jesus withdrew into solitude for forty days. He experienced this as a confrontation with Satan. Satan demanded worship, claiming authority over the world. Jesus rejected that claim. God alone deserves worship. Humans, by choosing evil, had enthroned Satan—not God.

Jesus’ Good News

Jesus returned with a message that went far beyond John’s:

God is the true ruler of the world. Satan has no rightful authority. Humans have enthroned him by following his ways. We must withdraw that authority and return to God.

To a people waiting helplessly for a future kingdom, Jesus said: the decision is ours. Reject Satan’s rule; accept God’s. Enter the Kingdom now.

Up to John, the message was: “The kingdom will come one day.”

Jesus’ message: “The kingdom is already here.”

Life resembles hell not because God has abandoned us, but because we have abandoned God. The moment we turn back, we enter His kingdom. Like the prodigal son, we need only return to the Father whose love has never changed.

Jesus said John was the greatest born of women, yet “the least in the kingdom is greater than he”—because John still waited for a future kingdom, while many who heard Jesus had already entered it.

When asked when the kingdom would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God is among you.” It is not something to observe. It is something to enter.

The Dominant View—Then and Now

In Jesus’ time the Pharisees dominated religious thinking. They believed suffering was due to Satan’s rule, and that God alone could remove him. Even after the Messiah came, people still risked ending on the wrong side of judgment. Their proposed solution was to win God’s favour through ritual and religious strictness.

John the Baptist differed only in that he emphasized compassion over rituals.

Jesus went deeper.

The problem is not Satan, but human refusal to walk with God. The solution is not to change God’s mind, but to change our own.

The parable of the prodigal son illustrates this: the Father’s love is constant. Those who recognize it return in repentance. Those who do not, justify themselves like the elder son.

Three Responses—Then and Now

Then, as now, life is full of suffering. The gap between rich and poor widens. Illnesses multiply. Violence and despair rise.

Many still wait for a transformed world.

Jews await the Messiah.

Christians expect Jesus’ return.

Muslims await the return of Isa.

All expect a future judgment after which earth will become heaven.

Communism, influenced by messianic patterns, attempts to create heaven by political force—executing judgment now. This resembles Pharisaic thinking: building heaven through strict systems and harsh justice.

Voices like John’s—calling for humanity and fairness—still emerge in our world. But Jesus’ voice is rarely heard.

If Jesus lived today, he might say:

“You need not wait helplessly for a future heaven. The world is already under God’s reign. Recognize His love. Return to Him. Do not blame God or others. Take responsibility. Transform yourself—and through you, the world.”

Conclusion

We tried to understand our age using Jesus’ time as a mirror.

Today’s Jews, Christians, Muslims, and communists stand where the Pharisees once stood—waiting for a future saviour or trying to execute judgment themselves. A few individuals and groups who treat all humans as equals resemble John the Baptist.

But few dare to stand where Jesus stood—because such a person, even today, risks crucifixion.

A Critical Re-examination of Paul’s Influence on Christianity

Paul of Tarsus was not a follower of Jesus during Jesus’ lifetime. He never met Jesus, never heard him teach, never walked the roads of Galilee or Judea with him. Everything Paul knew about Jesus came to him second-hand—through hearsay, fragmented stories, and popular beliefs circulating after Jesus’ death. He likely heard that Jesus was executed by Rome as a political threat, and that his followers later claimed God had raised him from the dead. Paul’s own turning point came not through personal interaction with Jesus, but through a visionary experience which he interpreted as an encounter with the risen Christ.

This in itself need not have been a problem. Converts throughout history have become sincere and transformative leaders. But what happened next is the key issue. A new convert who never met Jesus ought to have humbly learned from those who actually walked with him—from Peter, James, John, and the Galilean disciples who knew Jesus’ voice, his character, his priorities, and his vision of the Kingdom of God.

Had Paul taken that path—had he listened first and spoken later—the entire story of Christianity might have unfolded differently. But this did not happen. Paul quickly developed his own interpretation of Jesus, and he defended it fiercely, often independently of, and even in tension with, the eyewitness disciples in Jerusalem.

Paul’s Foundational Mistake

Paul accepted without question the circulating belief that Jesus was the long-expected Mashiah (Messiah). But he did not pause to examine what Jesus himself said about this title. The Gospels often portray Jesus as redefining, resisting, or even avoiding the political messianic expectations of his time.

Instead of asking, What did Jesus teach? What did he actually proclaim as good news? Paul focused on a different question: What theological meaning does Jesus’ death and resurrection have?

This led him to develop a unique conclusion:

• that Jesus’ Messiahship began after his death,
• that the crucifixion was a predetermined divine plan,

and that salvation depended not on Jesus’ teachings but on believing in the saving power of his death and resurrection.

Paul called this message “the word of the cross.”

This shift—from Jesus’ proclamation to Paul’s proclamation—became the central pivot of Christian history.

The Consequences of Paul’s Interpretation

Whether one calls it a mistake, a misunderstanding, or a theological innovation, Paul’s reinterpretation of Jesus had enormous consequences. Jesus left no written record of his message. This absence allowed Paul’s letters—the earliest Christian writings we possess—to dominate the formation of Christian theology.

Because Paul lacked clear, reliable knowledge of Jesus’ own gospel, he effectively constructed one himself. He traveled the Roman Empire proclaiming his message, establishing communities, and writing letters that later became Christian Scripture—often given equal or greater authority than the words attributed directly to Jesus.

For nearly two millennia Christians have read Paul’s writings as the “true” interpretation of Jesus. Churches have preached Paul more than Jesus. Salvation has been defined according to Paul’s categories rather than Jesus’ kingdom-centered teachings.

This has shaped:

• the doctrines of atonement,
• the concept of original sin,
• the structure of the church,
• the exclusion of Torah-observant Jews,
• the moral teachings about the body and sexuality,
• the separation of faith from works,
• and the idea that belief in Jesus’ death is central, while Jesus’ own teachings are secondary.

Whether one admires Paul or criticizes him, it is undeniable that his voice became louder than Jesus’ own.

A Turning Point for Christianity Today

For the first time in history, a growing number of scholars and laypeople are recognizing that Paul’s gospel and Jesus’ gospel are not identical. Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God—a transformed world, justice, mercy, reconciliation, and human transformation. Paul spoke about personal salvation through Christ’s sacrificial death.

Christianity, therefore, has largely been built not on Jesus’ message, but on Paul’s interpretation of Jesus.

Today, traditional Christianity is struggling worldwide—its credibility, moral authority, and unity are fracturing. Many see this crisis not as a threat but as an opportunity:

a chance to rebuild Christianity on the foundation of Jesus’ original teachings rather than Paul’s theological innovations.

If Christianity is to survive and remain meaningful in the future, it may need to recover the Gospel of Jesus, not merely the Gospel about Jesus.

That requires:

returning to the ethical and spiritual heart of Jesus’ message,

re-centering the Kingdom of God,

emphasizing transformation rather than dogma,

and recognizing that Paul’s voice, though powerful, should not drown out the voice of the teacher from Nazareth.

This recovery may finally free the world from a historical misunderstanding that has shaped two millennia of belief, conflict, and confusion—and reopen the path that Jesus himself intended.