Contractual Terminologies

As the Publications Secretaries for Asia Theological Association (ATA), I sign many contracts between publishers, editors, and authors. In all contracts, the first paragraph is a “definition” paragraph, something like this:

“This memorandum of agreement is made on December 31, 2023, between ATA (hereinafter termed ‘the Proprietor’) . . . and Langham (‘hereinafter termed ‘the Publisher’) . . . and Andrew B. Spurgeon (‘hereinafter termed ‘the Author’).”

This is done to avoid having to rewrite the contract with different names in subsequent paragraphs that will have repeated references to the Proprietor, Publisher, and Author.

The gospel (euangelion) is such a contractual terminology. Mark defined it first, and the readers are to repeatedly think of this definition whenever they hear the term the gospel.

“After John had been handed over, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming God’s gospel, saying: the time has been fulfilled, and God’s rule is near.” (Mark 1:14–15a)

The words “proclaiming” and “saying” form a poetic parallelism, meaning what follows “saying” define what God’s gospel is. In other words, God’s gospel is “The time has been fulfilled, and God’s rule is near.” In that time and culture, the word gospel (euangelion) was a technical term used for only two occasions: when a ruler was born or conquered a nation. For example, when Caesar Augustus was born, they sent a gospel message proclaiming his birth. Similarly, when Vespasian defeated Vitellius, his victory was proclaimed as gospel. Jesus, too, proclaimed a gospel – God’s rule was about to begin.

That was the news they were waiting for. They had been under Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman rule for nearly five hundred years (except for a brief period of Hasmonean rule). God hadn’t directly, or through a Hebrew king, ruled them all those years. They were ready for him to come and lead them again. Good news: the time has come, and God’s rule is near.

The gospel message had one stipulation: “You repent and believe in this gospel” (Mark 1:15b). If the Hebrews in Galilee didn’t change their ways, make an about-turn (which was what ‘repent’ meant), and believe that the time had come for God’s rule to begin, God’s rule wouldn’t be a reality to them. Repentance and belief were vital for God’s rule in their lives.

Curiously, neither Luke nor John used the term gospel in their Gospels, although Luke used the verb to gospelize. Nevertheless, all Gospels show God’s rule has come through Jesus’s healing, signs, wonders, power over demons, and conquering death.

I’ve avoided the term “kingdom” (“God’s kingdom”) because of political and social implications. Countries like Thailand and England see their kings/queens and kingdoms as positive and benevolent concepts. But countries under colonial oppression associate kingdoms and kings/queens with violent imageries. God’s rule was not domination but deliverance: those who were unable to see began seeing, those who couldn’t speak talked, the hungry received food, those who couldn’t walk started walking, those oppressed by demons found freedom, the dead came to life, and the living found peace and love. All received an abundance of life.

God’s gospel is a message of peace, deliverance, freedom, and love. May that be true in 2023! Happy New Year!