Yeshua in Context >> Besorah/Gospel/Good News , Identity of Yeshua >> News about Him

News about Him

September 20th, 2010 | Add a Comment

. . . news about him spread throughout the surrounding countryside (Luke 4:14b).

Luke places this summary at a crucial point in the story. A report about Yeshua is spreading throughout Galilee. The word for "news" here is not the same word often found in the gospels and other parts of the Bible from which we get our word "gospel." But the idea is the same. How does the idea of "news about him" fit into the larger picture of Luke's portrait of Yeshua?

The idea is that people who have been waiting for a sign from God, a people expectant and frenzied with hope, hear a report about a wonder-worker and teacher. Could this, at long last, be the stirring of God's power beginning to bring about the promises?

At this point, the people do not know enough to appreciate the full "good news." The gospel is not yet revealed. But this early report is a hint. The career of John was a hint before this. God is on the move.

But readers of Luke know more than the audience described in Luke 4. The news about Yeshua is more than just a hoped-for sign that something might be happening. The news about Yeshua is the gospel. To a world hungry for redemption, the One has come. And the "news about Yeshua" will blossom in a full-blown "good news" message that will change the world.