Can I Ask That? – Part Twenty-Six – What is the Gospel?

Eddiebromley - July 22, 2025

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https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015%3A1-6&version=NLT

“Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you… that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day…” — 1 Corinthians 15:1–5

Head/Mind – Helpful Information

In his book, The Real Jesus, Luke Timothy Johnson emphasizes the “shape of the Gospel” as the narrative framework that reveals the identity and mission of Jesus. He argues that the Gospel is not just a random collection of teachings or abstract theological ideas, or collection of wise teachings, but a story with a specific structure that reflects the pattern of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

Key points about the “shape of the Gospel” as Johnson describes it include:

The Pattern of Transformation: The Gospel reveals God’s transformative work through Jesus, which begins with incarnation (God entering human history in Jesus), moves through suffering and death (the cross), and culminates in resurrection and glorification. This pattern shapes the way Christians understand God’s action in the world and in their own lives.
Unity of Word and Deed: For Johnson, the shape of the Gospel is not limited to Jesus’ teachings (words) but is deeply tied to His actions (deeds). The Gospel narrative shows Jesus as both teacher and a man of action, embodying what He proclaims about the kingdom of God.
Jesus as the Center of the Gospel: Johnson critiques attempts to reduce Jesus to a “historical figure” by stripping away the theological significance of the Gospel narratives. The true “shape of the Gospel” is theological, revealing Jesus as the risen Lord and the one through whom God’s power and love are made manifest.
A Call to Discipleship: The shape of the Gospel is also about what it demands of readers. It invites them/us to participate in the same pattern of life, death, and resurrection—dying to self and being raised to new life in Christ.

In essence, the “shape of the Gospel” is the dynamic movement from incarnation to resurrection, a pattern that not only defines who Jesus is but also shapes the faith and practice of those who follow Him. Johnson stresses that any attempt to separate the historical Jesus from the Christ of faith undermines the integrity of this Gospel narrative.

🧭 The Gospel Is Not Just a Message—It Has a Shape

When Paul writes to the Corinthians, he reminds them of the gospel—not as a list of doctrines, but as a story. A pattern. A reality that reshapes their lives. He summarizes it this way:

Christ died for our sins
He was buried
He was raised
All in accordance with the Scriptures

This is not just history—it’s the divine drama. Luke Timothy Johnson, in The Real Jesus, calls this the “shape of the Gospel.” It’s not an idea. It’s a pattern, that nearly every story you love follows. It is the same story that that pulses through the life of Jesus—and then through the lives of all who follow Him.

✨ Key Insights from Johnson’s “Shape of the Gospel”

1. From Incarnation to Resurrection: A Pattern of Transformation

The Gospel begins not at the cross, but in the incarnation—God entering the mess of human life in Jesus. It continues through suffering and death, and then bursts open in resurrection. This is not just what happened to Jesus. It’s what God wants to do in us. The Gospel invites us to live inside that story: to allow the story to live through.

➡ Incarnation (entering the world in love)
➡ Crucifixion (self-giving and suffering)
➡ Resurrection (new life and glory)

Let me show you this pattern in a movie we all love, It’s a Wonderful Life. Incarnation – George Bailey has just graduated high school and he wants to leave his home town and travel the world. But his uncle informs him that the town needs him. So, George Bailey decides to stay and be a part of the story of his town fighting against greed and corruption, in order to give the people of the community a better life.

Struggles and Death – The little savings and loan that George and his family run faces many setbacks, trials, and disappointments. But, when a large deposit goes missing, they face failure and the death of the dream that has kept the town alive. George even contemplates taking his own life.

Resurrection and New Hope – After encountering an angel, George Bailey gains new insight and hope. And together, he and his town pull victory from the jaws of defeat. Echoes of the story are all throughout this story, and most of the stories you and I love.

2. Word and Deed in Harmony

Jesus taught about love, grace, and the kingdom. But He also embodied those words—healing the sick, forgiving the sinner, feeding the hungry. The Gospel is not a transcript of Jesus’ sayings. It’s the full-bodied witness of His words and actions.

3. Jesus Is the Center

Johnson warns against trying to Jesus to a “great teacher” or “moral example.” The Gospel is not about admiring a wise man. It’s about encountering the risen Lord—the One through whom God’s love and power are unleashed in the world. Jesus is not just the messenger; He is the message.

4. A Call to Discipleship

The Gospel is not just something to believe. It’s something to live. The same pattern seen in Jesus—surrender, suffering, transformation—is to be taken up by those who follow Him. We die to self. We are buried in baptism. We are raised with Him.

Heart – The Personal Connection

For this part of the sermon, I just want to highlight this pattern from several books of the New Testament in order to show you how this pattern appears again and again.

Before I do, let me show you how the pattern of this story is reflected in almost every aspect of your life. Take, for example, remodeling a house. I few years ago, Stacy and I bought an older home that needed a little TLC. I moved into the home (incarnation) to over-see the project. I lived in whatever part of the house the contractors were not working in that week. Then came the hard part (suffering/death). We began pulling up carpets, tearing out some walls, pulling bad wire and piping out, and taking down old fixtures. This part makes it seem like you are trying to destroy the house. But then comes resurrection, as you string new wire and lay new pipe, as you patch and paint walls, put down new flooring, and hang new fixtures, watching the house come back to life. Finally, you arrive at glorification, the house is warm and inviting, it has new beginning, but one that honors its past.

📘 Gospel of Mark – The Pattern in Motion

Incarnation: Mark skips the birth, but launches straight into Jesus’ embodied ministry—healing, teaching, eating with sinners (Mark 1).
Suffering & Death: The turning point comes in Mark 8:31: “The Son of Man must suffer…” From that point forward, Jesus walks the road to the cross.
Resurrection & Glory: The resurrection is announced in Mark 16:6—”He has risen!”—but the original ending is abrupt, emphasizing mystery and awe.
Discipleship: Mark 8:34—“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.”

🡆 Mark’s Gospel is the raw shape of the Gospel—fast-paced, cross-centered, and discipleship-focused.

📘 Gospel of John – The Pattern with Cosmic Depth

Incarnation: “The Word became flesh and dwelled among us…” (John 1:14). John anchors the story in divine reality.
Suffering & Death: Jesus’ hour of glorification is paradoxically His crucifixion—John 12:32, “When I am lifted up…”
Resurrection & Glory: Jesus rises in John 20 and breathes the Spirit onto His disciples—a new creation moment.
Discipleship: John 21—Jesus restores Peter and commands, “Follow me.” The path of love and obedience is how one abides in Him (John 15).

🡆 John reveals the shape of the Gospel as light breaking into darkness and love overcoming death.

📘 Acts – The Pattern Reenacted in the Church

Incarnation: Jesus ascends, but His Spirit fills His people—the Church becomes His Body (Acts 2).
Suffering & Death: The apostles suffer beatings, imprisonments, and Stephen is martyred (Acts 7). Paul constantly bears the marks of Christ.
Resurrection & Glory: Miracles, conversions, bold preaching—all signs of resurrection power at work.
Discipleship: Acts is about people joining the pattern—dying to their old ways, baptized into a new community, filled with boldness and joy.

🡆 The Gospel pattern becomes the Church’s operating system.

📘 Romans – The Pattern as Theology

Incarnation: “God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…” (Romans 8:3).
Suffering & Death: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). Baptism is described as a death (Romans 6:3–4).
Resurrection & Glory: “Just as Christ was raised… so we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4); “those He justified, He also glorified.” (Romans 8:30)
Discipleship: Romans 12:1—“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice…” A whole-life response to the Gospel shape.

🡆 Romans is the most direct explanation of how the Gospel transforms the believer’s life.

📘 Hebrews – The Pattern in the High Priest

Incarnation: “He had to become like His brothers in every way…” (Hebrews 2:17); “In these last days, He has spoken by His Son…” (Hebrews 1:2)
Suffering & Death: Jesus is the high priest who suffers and offers Himself (Hebrews 5:7–10; 9:26).
Resurrection & Glory: “He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). Exaltation after enduring the cross.
Discipleship: “Let us run with perseverance…” (Hebrews 12:1–2); we follow Jesus “outside the camp” (Hebrews 13:13).

🡆 Hebrews sees the shape of the Gospel as a pilgrimage through suffering and toward glory, with Jesus leading the way.

📘 James – The Pattern in Practical Holiness

Incarnation: Less explicit, but James grounds his teaching in a very present Jesus—”the implanted word” (James 1:21), and “our glorious Lord Jesus Christ” (2:1).
Suffering & Death: Trials, temptations, and testing are central (James 1:2–4). The poor suffer injustice. Like 1 Peter, James says we should expect to have suffering in this world.
Resurrection & Glory: “He will receive the crown of life” (James 1:12); “the Lord’s coming is near” (James 5:8).
Discipleship: Be doers of the word. Faith without works is dead. Tame the tongue. Care for the widow and orphan.

🡆 James emphasizes how the Gospel produces a new kind of life—wise, compassionate, and whole.

Hands – The Practical Application

📌 So What Is the Gospel?

Christ-centered – The whole thing is about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the importance of that story for the world.
Narrative-shaped (not just doctrinal). It is the Grand Story of God and his Plan of Salvation. In other words, is story about God and his people; and you have been invited to take part in that story.
Transformational (not merely informational) – the point of the studying the Bible is life transformation, not just religious information.
Embodied (not just believed) – The Gospel doesn’t just propose ideas to agree with. It invites us into a journey with Jesus.

It’s a story with power—a power that doesn’t just tell us about Jesus but draws us into a pattern of life that looks like his.

What part of the Gospel are you living right now? Is it the incarnation – that new beginning, where you enter into a new story or a new chapter within the story? Is it the valley, where you face challenges, defeat, setbacks, disappointment, or even death? Is it resurrection and glorification – where you rise again in victory?

🙏 Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus,
You are the Gospel in flesh—God’s love lived out in real time. Help us not only to believe the story of your life, death, and resurrection, but to be shaped by it. May your pattern become our path. Teach us to follow you through death to self and into new life.
Amen.

Benediction: Fr. Pedro Arrupe once said: “Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute and final way. What are you in love with? What seizes your imagination will affect everything.

It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love. Stay in love with God and it will decide everything.