Good News?

by David Gibson

His mission

The Bible calls him “a righteous and holy man” (Mark 6:20 NASB). Jesus said of him, “He was the lamp that was burning and was shining ...” (John 5:35).

The task of John the Baptist was to prepare the people of Israel for the coming Messiah. John’s preaching consisted of two main themes: repentance, and the Coming One.

Concerning repentance, he preached the necessity of demonstrating a genuine change of heart by refraining from mistreating others and by sharing with those in need (Luke 3:7-14; Matthew 14:3-11). He was bold enough to rebuke Herod Antipas for his sins—and consequently was imprisoned and beheaded (Luke 3:29-20).

Concerning Christ, John said of Him, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world . . . . this is the Son of God” (John 1:29, 34).

His message

William Barclay says of John’s preaching, “... whatever the message of John was, it was not a gospel. It was not good news ...” (The Gospel of Luke, p. 28). I beg to differ. The New Testament specifically states that John preached the gospel (Luke 3:18). The word "gospel" means "good news." It’s true, John preached fire and damnation (Luke 3:7, 9). He had to announce the bad news before the good news could be fully appreciated. Only when we learn we have a life-threatening illness are we open to a cure.

The good news John preached was that, despite God’s wrath against sin, He has sent us a Savior who will rescue us from a fate far worse than death.
As William Hendriksen has written, “The Baptist’s warning, dire and dreadful though it may seem, is filled with mercy, for its purpose is that men may be converted” (New Testament Commentary: Luke, p. 212). That was the message God sent John to preach, and he faithfully preached it.

And it really was Good News!