This is the Good News
I had an opportunity to be a part of a mighty move of God this week, where youth and young adults from the entire Cleveland area partnered to put on an evangelistic series where close to 20 people decided to get baptized. Instead of an audio version of the devotional, here is a link to the sermon so that you can listen to it as you drive, work out, or go along your day and get the text from a slightly different angle than the written devotional. The sermon starts at an hour and 18 minutes (1:18:00).
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”
Luke 2:8-11 NLT
Read Time: 13 mins, 44 secs
I want you to imagine it with me. The year is 490 BCE, and a deep sense of fear and hopelessness is overwhelming you and your Athenian community as the powerful Persian army approaches. They’ve had a long history of conquest that leaves a trail of slavery, cultural erasure, tears, and death in their path, and it looks like you’re next. Led by King Darius I, they have been moving from east to west, destroying every person and thing in their path. I love how secular history and archeology helps to color biblical narratives because this is the same Darius mentioned in the books of Ezra, Haggai, and Zachariah, a distant relative of Cyrus the Great, the king mentioned in the books of Daniel, Ezra, and Isaiah (over 100 years before his birth) and father of Xerxes I, the king mentioned in the book of Esther. Looking back on the biblical stories we know of the Persians, we can imagine the fear their arrival brought. The Babylonians had conquered Daniel and his community years before but do you remember Daniel’s prophecy in the 5th chapter of his book that Belshazzar's Babylonian kingdom would be divided between the Medes Persians that led to the Babylonian king being killed that night? That all aided in the snowball-like wave of conquest we see in our story today. The Athenians believe that they’ll meet the same fate as so many others who came before them so they’re shaking in their boots.
Some historians argue that death, conquest and slavery seemed so imminent in the Athenian community that some desired to simply hand themselves over to their fate as the Persians got closer. Imagine the frantic anxiety as families choose which children they will sell into slavery to possibly purchase their freedom. Imagine the fear as an army three times the size of yours with a track record of conquest approached.
You know, I remember getting in trouble as a kid and the worst part wasn’t always the spanking as much as it was waiting for it. I remember how my mom wouldn’t punish my brothers and I, she’d just tell my dad and tell us to wait for him to come home. It’s a terrible feeling when you know punishment is imminent. You can’t distract yourself, continue on with your day or even sleep right because you’re waiting for destruction. The Persians were on the way to destroy them. Can you imagine the Athenian anxiety? Can you imagine how the Athenians began to turn on each other and accuse each other of getting themselves into this situation? Can you imagine the helplessness and hopelessness as they simply waited for their destruction? Some wanted to flee while others still sought to fight back.
The story goes that as the small Athenian army marched to meet the Persians at Marathon, a courier named Pheidippides ran to Sparta to ask for help. Before phones, email or modern postal services, professional runners would serve as messengers, running long distances from town to town to pass along messages as quickly as possible. Talk about a tiring job. But Pheidippides ran and ran some more. His people needed help, and he would do anything to save them, so he ran to Sparta.
Sparta was known for its boisterous military, and if the Athenians would stand a chance against the Persians, they’d need firepower, but as Pheidippides arrived, the Spartans let him know that while they would love to assist, they wouldn’t be able to help in time. Pheidippides ran over a hundred miles over a few days to Sparta and back to relay this message, but the legend goes that as he made his way back, distraught at the fact that the Spartans couldn’t help, he received a vision from the divine. Legend has it that vision gave him and the rest of the Athenian army confidence and power as they went on to miraculously defeat the undefeatable Persian army. It reminds me of the prophet Zachariah’s words that victory wouldn’t come by might or power but by God's spirit. They didn’t need the Spartans; they needed something supernatural. It’s a great legend, but that’s not the climax of the story. The climax comes when Pheidippides is said to have joyously run about 26 miles from the Battle of Marathon back to Athens to bring comfort, encouragement, and relief to its citizens as he screamed, Nike, the Greek word for victory, and proclaimed the message that because of divine help, they won a battle they knew they couldn’t win on their own.
I like this story not just because it is where the first modern Olympic Games got their inspiration for the marathon race, but because it’s a clear picture of the experience, acceptance, and advancement of the gospel. The Athenians were helpless, but because of divine help, they won. That’s good news. When Pheidippides saw the vision and his faith increased, he accepted that good news and went forward to fight like victory was already his. That's what it looks like to accept the good news by faith, and live like it means something. And when Pheidippides ran back home to tell all who would listen about the victory they too could walk in, he was spreading the gospel. He was spreading the good news of peace, freedom, and liberation!
The word gospel isn’t just a genre of music, a type of biblical book, or a made-up church word. In Greek it’s the euangelion, which means good message or good announcement. In the Greco-Roman world, it wasn’t a religious term. It was used when messengers like Pheidippides would publicly announce major historical events like military victories or the crowning of a new ruler. A conquering king who was on your side was good news. A battle you won without having to face was good news. Liberation from any oppressor was good news!
This is how the shepherds would’ve heard the message that the angels brought to them in Luke 2:10. While this story depicts heavenly beings, the Greek word Angelos, from which we get angels, literally just means messenger. This text is written as if messengers like Pheidippides are rushing into the city to tell whoever will listen that a new king is here and that that is good news for them! They’re rushing from heaven to earth as Pheidippides rushed from Marathon to Athens to proclaim the good news of their victory. However, this good news isn’t that the Spartans have been defeated; it’s that sin has been defeated. It’s the good news that sickness has lost its power. It’s the good news that the oppressed will be liberated and blinded eyes will now see. There’s a new kingdom and with it comes a new and abundant life. That’s good news!
The good news is that the prophesied Savior was here to rescue them. For generations, the one called the Messiah was expected to come and save this enslaved, exiled, and oppressed group. And the angels are here to announce that He is here to do His saving work!
Now this idea of God coming close to us and establishing His kingdom should have you shouting, but many of us can’t because we don’t truly believe God being near to us is a good thing. When we view God, we see a powerful and uncontrollable tyrant that we must do enough for to appease. When we view God, we view an angry deity with a lightning bolt that we must hide our true selves from. It's hard for us to imagine a loving Father who wants nothing more than to provide for, protect, and give love and attention to His children. It’s hard for us to imagine a loving God that would sacrifice for the real version of us that doesn’t always live like freedom from sinful cycles has been purchased. It’s hard for us to believe that God is actually safe to come to and rest with, and this is all part of the devil's plan. He wants us to miss out on the benefits of the victory that has already been won for us by convincing us that the person who won it doesn’t have our best interest in mind.
This is the narrative many have coined “The Great Controversy." I see it as a character defamation lawsuit where one party, the devil, is arguing that God isn’t as loving as He says He is. This is leading to many avoiding and missing out on the wealth of blessings God desires nothing more than to bestow because we are being taught to be afraid of the life giver. God is allowing time to play out so that He can prove Himself as God and we can see and choose for ourselves what we will believe.
I believe that the Bible is giving us an amazing key when it says to taste for ourselves and see that God is good. Don’t just take anyone else’s word for it. Check Him out for yourself. I remember once in middle school or early high school, I was at a big basketball game in another city. I was sitting with a bunch of my friends, and as we watched, a group of girls behind us started to call my name. Before I reacted, my friend who lived in the city told me not to turn around. I assumed he knew something I didn’t, so I listened. This was his city, and maybe he knew them or something, and it was in my best interest not to turn around. But I remember the situation getting brought up to an older friend, and he was so confused. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, “You didn’t check for yourself?” We later discovered that among the girls calling me was a girl in the city I had known from social media, who I thought was cute and would’ve wanted to talk to. But I missed out because I listened to someone else's take instead of investigating for myself.
Catch this. While there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors, many of us are taking others' word about God, Church, and Christianity instead of tasting for ourselves so that we can know that He is good. Would you rather listen to marriage advice from a person who’s been divorced 7x and still can’t tell you anything constructive they learned or a trusted person who’s had a thriving marriage for decades with fruit you can see and testify to? Don't just listen to people and podcasts from those who hate God and church; talk to people who love it. Talk to people who made it work. Talk to people who see value in it. But better yet, study for yourself! Many of us have such hot takes about God and a religion that we’ve never honestly sought for ourselves. Don’t take someone else’s word as law! Not your pastor, not your grandma, not me. Seek and you’ll find for yourself! Study to show yourself approved. Ask God to reveal Himself to you personally and He will! I believe our text today may be a good place to start.
No Fear in Love
I love our text because it helps to clear up many of the misunderstandings and misnomers about God and Christianity. The first thing we see is that the shepherds are terrified. Like for many of us, God coming near to them unannounced is scary and threatening. Does he know what they just talked about? Does he know what they did? Is He coming to punish them, condemn them or remind them how broken they are? I love that the angels respond to their fear by dispelling the need for it.
“Do not fear. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” It reminds me of John’s words in 1 John chapter 4, verses 16-18 specifically. It argues that God is love and if we live in His love, we dont have to be afraid of judgment. Instead we can face Him with confidence because of His love. Catch what the text is telling us. God is love and because He is love and the gospel is good news, we don’t have to fear His coming or judgement. Why? Because we’re covered by His love.
Many of us were raised in religious systems where fear was the primary driver for repentance. Fear of hell. Fear of STDs. Fear of judgement. Fear of God seeing you at the wrong moment and rejecting you. Fear of God walking out on you. But the text says that love and fear can’t mix, which means if God is love and the message you heard preached was dripping in fear and not love, it was absent of the true message and power of Jesus. If you see God's judgement as your condemnation and not acquittal and expungement, you’re missing the gospel. Acquittal is when you’re found not guilty for what was charged against you and expungement is when your record is wiped of all wrong doing. Romans 5:1 and Romans 8:1 argue that we have been justified, made right or acquitted through faith in Christ Jesus! Micah 7:19 says God will trample on your sins and throw into the depths of the sea. Isaiah 43:25 says that God will blot out, white out and cover our sins and remember them no more! Hebrews 8:12 says that God will forgive us and never remember our sins again! That’s expungement! That’s a clear record! That’s a fresh start!
All through the Bible, judgement is a good thing. David, the murderer who used his power and prestige to sexually force himself on an innocent woman, is crying out for God to judge him in Psalm 7 and Psalm 26. Why? Because he knows he is covered. While he committed the crime, God has wiped his record and freed him from his deserved consequences of eternal separation and death. He does the same thing in both first and second Samuel, arguing that God’s judgements are the best for him and his situation. Many of us can't do the same because the fact that we don’t see God as a truly good God stops us from believing that judgement is truly a good thing! This is why Hebrews reminds us that because the Christ we know and love, or I should say the Christ who knows and loves us, is the high priest, we can come boldly before the throne or courtroom of grace! Because judgment is a good thing! God coming near is a good thing! Jesus wanting to be with you is good news!
For You Too
The gospel is good news that will bring great joy to all people, and I believe these ancient messengers made sure to let us know it’s for all people because we would be at risk of thinking we were too far gone to benefit from it. All through the Bible, Jesus uses extremes to remind us of the reality that this is good news for you, too. Remember the woman with the issue of blood? Her ailment made it so that she and everything she touched was considered unclean. But Jesus, while talking to someone everyone would deem more important, slows down enough so that a little ole lady could break the social code by touching Jesus. Do you remember the lepers whose condition numbed them so much that they couldn’t even feel the wounds they faced anymore? They lost family, friends, community, and commerce because of something that they couldn't control, and instead of being seen as someone to be loved, they were seen only as their disease. Jesus, when He could’ve simply spoken, is intentional about breaking protocol and touching them to prove that He isn’t afraid of the filth and defilement everyone else was. Think of the crippled healed and unclaimed and unnamed Jesus gave the audience to. Think of the prostitutes and known sinners He made friends with and faced social isolation for? Think of the people He chose to be with? I mean, think about it. He could’ve been born to a king in a time where they at least had electricity and indoor plumbing, but Jesus intentionally wanted to dispel all potential arguments that He was only here for the elite, healthy, known, wise, pedigreed, or productive. Jesus is here for you!
He loves to give weak people strength. He loves to give tired people rest. He loves to give forgotten people a name and helpless people something to gain. He loves to give broken people wholeness and sick people healing. Look what He says when religious leaders don’t understand why all His friends are so broken.
“Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Mark 2:15-17 NLT).”
Look, Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” That’s us. Look at Luke 4:18-18. Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”
That’s good news for you. Accept it by faith, experience it by walking as if you believe it, and then advance it by sharing it with others.
Marathon Messengers
The heavenly messengers in Luke 2:10 specifically go to the outsiders to show through their actions that this good news was truly for everyone. Not just the kings and rulers but the working-class shepherds who everyone else forgot about. The question is, do we do the same?
Let’s go back to our story of Pheidippides. His whole community thinks they’re doomed. Children think they’ll never graduate or get married. Parents believe that all they’ve worked for is for naught. They believe that death is imminent and are living like it. Imagine the stress, heartbreak, and helplessness. But before phones or news media, the only thing standing between the people and their pain is Pheidippides telling the people at home that they have victory. The only thing between them and the peace that is available to them is someone telling them about it.
The same is true for you. Your family believes life is hopeless. They believe they’re stuck with the cycles of sin they’ve seen for generations. They don’t think better is possible. But you know something they don’t and have the responsibility of telling them what is possible through Christ. More than telling them, you have the responsibility to be like Jesus and show them. Tell your story and show how blinded eyes can see. Show how marriages can be restored. Show how mindsets can be changed. Show them that healing, wholeness, and resurrection are possible! Go run! Time can’t wait! Dedicate your life to be a billboard of this message so that others can walk in the victory you’ve experienced.
Questions to Consider:
Do you feel like anything in your life is like the Persians coming to attack and like your failure is imminent? How can Jesus bring peace?
Have you viewed God coming close as good or bad?
If God is love and the gospel is real, why shouldn't you fear God’s closeness, the second coming, or judgment?
Do you believe the gospel is for you, too?
Do we function as modern-day angels or messengers to carry this news to others who feel hopeless and helpless? How can we begin?
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