Robert Barron - The Gospel Is Jesus Christ

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TOPICS: Gospel

Peace be with you, friends. For this Sunday, I want to focus on our second reading, one that I don’t preach on that often. It’s an excerpt from Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Those two great letters to Timothy we have are fascinating from a lot of perspectives, but it’s Paul kind of giving fatherly advice in many ways to this young disciple of his, this convert Timothy. This section today that’s our second reading is really interesting because Paul’s doing something that he does from time to time. He tends to make these elaborate theological arguments, but occasionally he’ll kind of cut to the chase and he’ll say in very pithy language what it’s all about.

So listen to this now. This is how the second reading commences: «Beloved,» he’s addressing Timothy. «Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David. Such is my gospel.» Interesting, isn’t it? Paul preaches the gospel, right? He’s an evangelist, an evangelizer. But what’s the gospel? That’s a word we throw around a lot. There’s gospel music, gospel preaching, there’s gospel inspiration-he’s a gospel-inspired guy. What is the gospel? I remember many, many years ago a good friend of mine, a Chicago priest, who kind of prided himself. He’d always say, «I preach the gospel,» or «We’ve got to bring the people back to the gospel.» So one day I said to him, «What do you mean exactly when you say the gospel?» And he said, «Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.»

So by the gospel, he meant Jesus' great ethical teaching to love especially the poor and the marginalized. He indeed was a man of great commitment to social justice, so that’s what he meant by the gospel. But that’s not the gospel! That’s an ethical implication of the gospel. This is, again, many years ago; I was in a Protestant-Catholic dialogue, and the challenge given to us by the moderator, who was Protestant, was, «I want each one around the table to say what’s the gospel.»

So my Protestant interlocutors, most of them, did a version of «the gospel is justification by grace through faith.» That’s the good news, you know, the great message of Romans and Galatians: justification by grace through faith. Well, that indeed is Luther’s interpretation of Paul. And whatever you say about the relationship between faith and works and all that -may I suggest that’s not the gospel? That’s a doctrinal implication of the gospel. Now, I’m saying this because of this passage. Listen to Paul, the first great evangelizer; he should know what he’s talking аbout: «Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David. Such is my gospel.»

What’s the gospel, everybody? It’s Jesus. And that’s the answer, by the way, I gave around the table that day when they said, «Well, what’s the gospel?» I said, «Jesus Christ; he’s the good news. He’s the glad tidings. Jesus himself.» Mind you, I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: Christianity is not a philosophy. It’s not a set of ideas. It’s not a noble spiritual path. It’s not a spirituality. It might be all those things by a kind of implication, but Christianity is a relationship to Jesus. It’s about him. It’s about him-not primarily his moral teachings. All that’s great, and it follows from him. But the gospel is Jesus.

Notice in the early centuries, the church battled with the ancient heresy, pernicious as all get out, the ancient heresy of Gnosticism, which is precisely a tendency to turn away from the particular Jesus and to turn Christianity into a kind of philosophical program. No, no, says the church up and down the ages, until today. The gospel is Jesus in person. He’s the good news.

Now, look what Paul specifies. They’re both really interesting, I think. Remember Jesus Christ? And of course, there it is! Yeshua. He would have been thinking in his Hebrew mind, Yeshua Mashiach. And then in his Greek, that becomes Yesus Christos, Jesus Christ. It just means Jesus the Anointed One, who is raised from the dead and a descendant of David.

Now, can I suggest it’s that second one that might strike you as peculiar? Like, as Paul is talking about Jesus, well, all right, raised from the dead, I get that; that’s pretty extraordinary. But why would he put such a stress on the fact that he’s a descendant of David? I mean, if you’re talking about the importance of a given human being, would you say, «Well, let me tell you about this guy. He’s the descendant of this great, great, great, great, great-grandfather way, way back when»? I mean, you’d say, «Yeah, that’s true, I guess.» But why is that interesting?

Well, Paul thought it was extremely interesting and important that Yeshua Mashiach is a descendant of David. No way! David the king; he’s the paradigmatic king. He’s the greatest king of Israel. He’s the one who, at least in the Old Testament context, is providing the best kind of leadership for God’s holy people.

Now, watch what King David does. David the king unites the tribes. So the twelve tribes of Israel are meant to be a united nation, and as such, it would gather in all the nations of the world by the very quality and integrity of its praise and its ethical behavior. A united Israel would gather the world. What did sin do? Remember, the devil’s name is the scatterer, diabolos. He scatters. So the tribes are scattered by sin.

What did David do? His first great act was to draw the tribes together. In fact, remember, they say, «This is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.» A kind of mystical body of David almost forms. So he gathers the tribes. Secondly, he establishes Jerusalem as the great capital city. And to that city, what did he do? He brought the Ark of the Covenant, dancing with reckless abandon before it-the ark that contained the remains of the Ten Commandments and the staff of Aaron. It was the sign of God’s presence among his people. It was the focal point of the worship of Israel. And from that ark eventually grew the temple as a place to house the ark. David establishes, if you want, the right praise in Israel.

And then he becomes king over the twelve tribes and begins to establish a kind of empire, even asserting Israelite influence over the other nations. Now, greatest king, yeah, but perfect king, totally fulfilling God’s desire? No, no. We know David’s flaws, especially with regard to Bathsheba and Uriah. He’s an adulterer and a murderer. So, David is a compromised figure.

Moreover, his son Solomon builds the great temple, but the temple becomes corrupt almost automatically. The prophets rail against it. Yes, David knitted the nation together, but under the leadership of his son, the nation splits apart and then descends into bickering and rivalry. David’s empire is lost. And, in fact, the enemies of Israel come at Israel: Assyria, then Babylon, then Persia, then Greece, and then Rome. So, yeah, David’s the great king, but he didn’t accomplish everything God wanted. And so Israel begins to long.

Now mind you, this man talking here, Paul, he was Shaul. He was a rabbi, studied under Gamaliel. He knew everything I’ve just been talking about. So he knew the longing of Israel for what? For a descendant of David. I don’t just mean in the physical sense- it is that. But I mean someone who would embody the fullness of what David’s supposed to be. They called this figure the Mashiach, the Mashiach, because David was anointed, remember, by Samuel. And so this anointed figure, this new David, would fulfill all the promises made to Israel. Okay? Okay. Now look at the first thing that Paul says when he says Jesus Christ is the gospel: Jesus Christ raised from the dead.

See, think of Rabbi Shaul now, a young guy full of passion for the traditions of his people, and he hears about this nascent Christian movement who’s claiming that a crucified man is the Mashiach of Israel. Are you joking? Says young Shaul. No way. No way! The Messiah is supposed to gather the tribes. He’s supposed to draw in the nations. He’s supposed to reign as the king of the world.

What do you mean someone crucified by the Romans is the Messiah? Are you crazy? And that’s why he persecutes the church. That’s why he, with a ferocious abandon, goes after the church. And then he saw him- I don’t know any other way to explain it. And it’s what Paul tells us: He saw him. He didn’t come to a new idea. He didn’t come to a new philosophy. He didn’t figure something out about his ethical life. No. No. On the road to Damascus, he saw him: Jesus of Nazareth. «Shaul, Shaul, why are you persecuting me?» «Who are you, sir, that I might know?» «I am Jesus Yeshua, whom you are persecuting.» And Shaul becomes the Apostle Paul. And what did he figure out? Ah, now I get it. He is the new David. The risen Christ is the Lord whose purpose is to gather in the nations of the world.

Now look at Paul’s mission. Now look at Paul’s mission! That’s what he was doing in the name of Yeshua Mashiachus Christos-he was drawing in the nations. Yes! This risen Christ cleanses the temple. How? By becoming himself the new temple. Jesus' great sacrifice on the cross offered to the Father becomes the fullness of temple worship. He himself is the right praise of Israel, dealing with the enemies of the nation. Yeah, David started, but David didn’t complete that process. Ah, but now Paul sees Jesus on that cross of his take on all the enemies of Israel, all the enemies of God-hatred, violence, persecution, aggression, and death itself. All of it! All of it! And through the resurrection, he shows God’s victory over all the enemies of Israel. Ah, okay! My gospel, my good news, is him: Jesus Christ risen from the dead and the descendant of David, the one who fulfills the great promise of David.

Now just a couple things in the minute I’ve got left. Um, such as my gospel: listen, for which I am suffering even to the point of chains, like a criminal. Do you see now why if he were preaching some bland spiritual message, like a thing something you’d buy in a bookstore, you know, in Santa Barbara, I mean no one would throw him in prison? Why would they bother?

It’s just some, you know, harmless spiritual meditation. No! No! What Paul was saying was Jesus is the Lord. He’s the king. It’s not Caesar. That’s why the advocates of Caesar weren’t too happy with him. But think now, up and down the ages, whenever we say, «Well, money is king, power is king, sex and pleasure are king, my country is king, this president"-none of it’s king. If Jesus is who he says he is, he’s the Lord. So of course, of course when you preach this gospel, you will get in trouble.

But here’s the great good news: the word of God is not chained! Right? They can chain the bearers of the word. And they did, from Paul all the way to Maximilian Kolbe. You can chain up the bearers of the word, but you can’t chain the word. You know why? Because that’s the gospel! That’s the gospel-this declaration of Jesus, a descendant of David, raised from the dead. Everything else in our Catholic lives is a footnote to that. This is the heart of the matter, and God bless you!