The last thing Jesus said before going back to the father is found in Mark 16:15-18. “And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
What is the gospel that Jesus speaks of in March 16:15? Other versions translate this word ‘gospel’ to say ‘good news.’ The good news of the Kingdom is that Jesus came so that we could have life and life abundant. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, not just in the afterlife, but life hear and now. The Kingdom of God is upon us, which means the ‘Gospel’ is fullness of life which comes from Jesus life, death and resurrection.
Jesus spent his live doing two things very well:
- Loving God
- Loving Others
Everything Jesus did came out of these two commands. How did He love others and how did He call us to love others? Here are a few examples:
In Matthew 25 Jesus says that those who served the least of these were serving Him and those that denied the least of these denied Him. Those who denied the least of these spent eternity separated from Jesus. This is a strong word. Jesus is basically saying that if you call yourself His disciple you will love others out of your love for Him, this should be the natural fruit that comes out of being rooted in Jesus.
This in short is why I believe strongly in social justice, because it is following in the example of Jesus. It is not just getting people into Heaven and it is not just meeting peoples needs here on earth, it really is both and. I am not into helping people out of my own compassion, I am into helping people out of my faith, love and commitment to Jesus Christ, this is why we ‘do justice.’
A book that I am currently reading helps a lot in why we ‘do justice’ and what that looks like. Check out Rethinking Social Justice here.
