Jesus used the term good news to describe the work he was doing during his ministry on earth. When John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask him if he was the Christ, Jesus told them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them” (Matthew 11:4-5). The Greek word that is translated good news, euaggelizo (yoo-ang-ghel-idˊ-zo) is where the English word evangelize originated. Euaggelizo means “to announce good news (‘evangelize’) especially the gospel” (G2097). The word euaggelizo is used most often by Luke and appears twenty eight times in Luke’s gospel and the book of Acts which was also authored by him. Euaggelizo is “spoken of the annunciation of the gospel of Christ and all that pertains to it: to preach, proclaim, the idea of glad tidings being implied: to preach the kingdom of God (Luke 4:43; 8:1; Acts 8:12). With the kingdom implied (Luke 3:18; 9:6; 20:1).” Jesus talked about the kingdom of God frequently, but often used parables to explain its principles so that only those who were members of God’s kingdom could understand what he was saying. When he was asked why he did this, Jesus told his disciples:

“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
    and with their ears they can barely hear,
    and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
    and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
    and turn, and I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:11-17)

Jesus likened the good news of the gospel to secrets or “A mystery, i.e. something into which one must be initiated or instructed before it can be known; something of itself not obvious and above human insight” (G3466). Jesus said that many prophets and righteous people had longed see and hear what he was revealing to his disciples, but had not been able to. Jesus was speaking of “the Christian dispensation, as having been long hidden and first revealed in later times (Romans 16:25; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 3:3, 4, 9; Colossians 2:2; 4:3; 1 Timothy 3:9).”

Jesus indicated that the ability to understand the good news is dependent on the condition of one’s heart (Matthew 13:15). In his parable of the sower, Jesus illustrated how preaching the good news or gospel works (Matthew 13:3-9) and then, explained to his disciples, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart” (Matthew 13:18-19). Jesus went on to explain that sometimes people immediately receive the good news with joy, but because they haven’t developed a permanent source of spiritual nourishment, they give up and abandon their faith (Matthew 13:20-21). Also, the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches can cut off spiritual nourishment and cause the good news to have no visible effect in one’s life (Matthew 13:22).

John the Baptist preached good news and it had a very noticeable effect on the people who heard him (Luke 3:10-14). Jesus told his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11). Peter said in his reports to the church that he remembered Jesus making note of the difference between people who had gained entrance into the kingdom of heaven and John the Baptist. Peter said, “And I remember the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 11:16). Luke tells us about Jesus’ instruction to his disciples to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit before they went out to preach in Acts 1:4-5. It says, after Jesus was raised from the dead, “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Luke 2:1-4 states, “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Shortly after all believers were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Peter preached his first gospel message. Luke tells us, “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). Luke’s reference to those who received his word was intended to point out that not everyone who heard Peter preach the good news was affected by it in the same way. The Greek word that is translated received, apodechomai (ap-od-ekhˊ-om-ahee) is an intensive form of the word dechomai which means “to take from another for oneself” and is used figuratively of doctrine, “to admit, to embrace” (G588). What Luke was probably trying to point out was that the baptism of the Holy Spirit had made Peter’s good news much more attractive. The people who were listening were so receptive to what Peter was saying that 3,000 of them made commitments to follow the Lord.

On one occasion, when he was in his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus was in the synagogue and read a passage from the book of Isaiah that was relevant to his ministry of preaching the gospel. Luke tells us:

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. (Luke 4:17-22)

Jesus indicated that the Spirit of the Lord was upon him because he had been anointed to proclaim good news (Luke 4:18). The most common usage of the Hebrew verb mashach (maw-shakhˊ), which is translated anointed in Isaiah 61:1, the passage that Jesus quoted, “is the ritual of divine installation of individuals into positions of leadership by the pouring oil on their heads” (H4886). This suggests that proclaiming good news is not something that an ordinary person can do, but is intended for a designated set of individuals who are set apart by God for that specific purpose. Luke tells us that when Jesus finished speaking, “all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth” (Luke 4:22).

The Apostle Paul was one of a small number of individuals identified in the New Testament of the Bible who successfully preached the gospel. Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that faith comes from hearing the good news, and that hearing involves listening attentively to the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). Paul asked the Roman believers, “And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are feet of those who preach the good news! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord who has believed what he has heard from us?’” (Romans 10:14-16). Paul’s logic that you can’t believe unless you have heard and you can’t hear without someone preaching makes it clear that there must be a constant replenishing of individuals who are sent by God into the world to proclaim the good news in order for people to keep getting saved. The evidence that God has continued to send individuals into the world to preach the good news of the gospel is that people are still getting saved today, even though 2000 years later, the kingdom of heaven remains a mystery.