Good News

At that time, John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” When the men came to the Lord, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” At that time Jesus cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits; he also granted sight to many who were blind. 

And Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” (Luke 7:18-23)

“…the poor have the good news proclaimed to them….”  What is this good news Jesus proclaimed?  His followers knew.  They schooled under his wisdom that pointed towards values of generosity, experiments in how to live, and bonding with each other such as at fellowship meals. They explored his understanding of kindness and joy, and they mutually supported each other. 

The good news of Jesus and his friends inspired people to resist Roman power and violence.  The good news was ways to exist and survive the Roman world of imperial violence.  These ways are described in the 2021 book “After Jesus, Before Christianity: A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements.”  

Crucifixion marked the nature of that violence.  Crucifixion was the act of nailing a person to a makeshift tree until they slowly died.  Romans crucified hundreds of thousands of those they conquered. Such government crucifixions were intentionally undertaken as public torture and terrorism. Many of the early communities of Jesus (the Anointed One) emphasized the centrality of crucifixion for defining who they were.

Telling the story of Jesus’ crucifixion in an open way, and celebrating it, was an act of resistance to Rome, according to the authors of the aforementioned book.   They also said: “Most of the stories of Jesus’ crucifixion also proclaimed that Jesus was vindicated and raised up by God.  This claim would have been understood as an anti-Roman claim of victory over Roman violence."  That was good news.

Deacon David Pierce