Read Matthew 4 at Bible Gateway.
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sicknesses and all kinds of disease among the people. Mat 4:23
What is the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus preached?
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Mat 4:17
He preached the same gospel of repentance that John the Baptist preached.
Repent – turn around, change your direction – of what, though?
To the first century Jews — Matthew’s Hebrew audience — there was no question: repent of not walking with God and living according to His way as described in Torah. We saw yesterday that righteousness and sin are defined by Torah. To repent, then, is to turn around, to bring one’s actions into agreement with God’s definition of righteousness and sin. It is to obey where we have not obeyed before.
The kingdom of heaven is the Messianic kingdom God’s people have been waiting for. Jesus preached that it was at hand: the time to submit to God as King was at hand. Kingdoms have kings, you know. 🙂 Citizens of a kingdom obey the king of that kingdom and the laws of that kingdom. If you do not obey, you are not a citizen but an outlaw – you have placed yourself outside the law. The law of the kingdom of heaven is contained in Torah and explained throughout Scripture.
The gospel of the kingdom is not and never has been, God saves us by grace, so now we can ignore the law of His kingdom. No, Jesus taught, Repent of sin (violations of the Law), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
For further reading:
Matthew 4, resisting the devil (2009)
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