A crucial teaching of the gospel. Mark and Matthew have saved for us a crucial teaching of the gospel: that the death of Jesus was a redemptive and expiatory sacrifice for all the sins of mankind. Jesus declared this when He was teaching His disciples that they shouldn't covet honors or authority, but rather that they should be ready to serve and to suffer; Jesus said: The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28).

The purpose of Jesus' mission. The citation we just made is the clearest and most emphatic declaration of Jesus regarding the purpose of His mission on earth: I came to give my life a ransom for salvation of all mankind; the whole life of Jesus didn't have any other purpose than to die for salvation of men.

Relationship between service and death. Jesus connects the teaching He was giving about service with His death, because there is no higher act of service than to give one's life for the one being served; Jesus was serving mankind up to His death. When He said "for many," nobody is excluded; and He said "many," because all were many. Jesus was referring to those who would accept His death as an atonement for their sins. The letter to Timothy says "all" instead of "many:" Who (Christ) gave Himself a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:6).

Meaning of ransom. The Greek word for ransom is lytron, which is also translated redemption, because ransom was the price paid for the redemption or freedom of a slave. Today also ransoms are paid for the freedom of hostages. The idea here is that Jesus gives His life as a payment or ransom for the freedom of men; the whole mankind was subjected to the slavery of sin, and was in need of redemption or rescue.

The Old Testament announced redemption. It has been questioned whether Jesus really used the word ransom referring to His death, or if it was added by the early church, influenced by Paul's interpretation of Jesus' death. The gospels have this word only once, in the quotation of Mark that we gave before, and in its parallel in Matthew. But there is no need to think that it was added, because the death of the Messiah as a sacrifice of atonement had been already announced clearly by Isaiah who prophesied saying: It pleased the Lord to bruise Him... when You make His soul (Yahveh's Servant) an offering for sins (Isaiah 53:10. See this quotation in Step by Step, Vol II, The Old Testament). It is understandable that Jesus had had this prophecy of Isaiah in mind, when He said that His death was ransom for sin.

Jesus confirms it at the Last Supper. What Jesus had said about His death was confirmed at the Last Supper. A little while before His death Jesus said that His blood was shed for the remission of sins. Jesus presents Himself as the substitute for men to pay for their sins. Taking the bread, He broke it and said: Take, eat, this is My body. And then He took the cup, and said: Drink from it all of you, for this is My blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:17-20). These words of Jesus confirm that He was giving His life as ransom for sin.

Lord's Supper as a memorial. Paul refers also to the institution of the Lord's Supper, and emphasizes the fact that Jesus established it for Christians as a perpetual memorial of His death. Paul writes: I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said: Take, eat, this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying: This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me (1 Corinthians 11:23-25). Jesus says twice: Do this in remembrance of Me. Jesus wants that, breaking the bread, we remember His death as ransom for our sins. Christians have done that from the beginning.

The New Covenant. Jesus said, also, This is my blood of the new covenant (Mark 14:24), which means that His death and resurrection inaugurated the New Covenant of God with mankind. The idea of covenant of God with His people was something very familiar to every Israelite; covenant of God with Abraham (Genesis 15:18), ratified through Moses at the Sinai (Exodus 20 to 31), and confirmed to David (2 Samuel 7:8-17). It was equally clear that God had said: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah (Jeremaih 31:31). The gospels do not have any other teaching about the new covenant, with the exception of these words of Jesus at the Last Supper. The letter to Hebrews, on the other hand, does explain to the Jews, largely and in detail, how the death and blood of Jesus inaugurated the new and eternal covenant of God with mankind. (See Hebrews, chapter 8 to 10, in particular 8:6-13).

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The most important task of the church. As there is a main commandment in the gospel which is "Jesus' commandment" (Step 49), there is also a special mission of Jesus for His disciples and for the church in general, which is known as the Great Commission. This name was given because this is the most important function that Jesus entrusted to His church.

The preaching of the gospel. The office or mission that Jesus entrusted to His disciples was: Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:15-16. See below a critical note). This is the summary of the mission of the ministers of the gospel, individually, and of the whole church collectively, that is, of all believers. This is an universal mission, and ordained ministers do not have a monopoly of this mission.

To evangelize, reason for the existence of the church. The church does not have any other function but to proclaim the gospel before the world, and to make present the salvation it announces. When the church proclaims the gospel, with its words and mainly with its testimony, with its example, the salvation of Jesus Christ is present. Paul said that the gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). When the institutionalized churches as well as the non-institutionalized, do something else besides proclaiming the gospel, they are doing something on their own initiative, but they are not fulfilling the commission entrusted by Jesus. The only "business" the church has is to proclaim the gospel.

Critical note to the gospel of Mark. From the critic's point of view we must say that the most ancient manuscripts of the gospel of Mark, which are considered the most reliable, and many other documents, conclude this gospel at verse 16:8. The testimony of some of the fathers of the church as Clement of Alexandria, Origine, Eusebius and Jeronimus, concurs with this. The critics say the vocabulary, grammar and style of the original Greek from verse 16:9 to 20, are different from the rest of the gospel, and they can not be from the same author. There is almost no doubt, then, that the gospel written by Mark ended in verse 8, and that the verses 16:9-20 were added later. If the gospel ended in verse 8, the gospel would end up in a suspense which has been called "The Empty Tomb," about which the other gospels speak too. That wouldn't be strange for a gospel that begins rather abruptly also. That would give the opportunity to its readers, —Christians then and now— to complete the gospel finding the risen Jesus in their lives.

The Great Commission in Matthew. Matthew also carries the great commission in his gospel with these words: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 27:19-20). The message is almost identical to Mark, the main difference being the command to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. When it says "in the name," singular, the unity in God is understood; and mentioning the three names, is the most clear affirmation contained in the gospel that God subsists in three persons, as we said in Steps 29 and 30. The fact of naming the Son and the Holy Spirit at the same level of the Father confirms that they are only one God with the Father.

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Meaning of Eschatology. Let us start explaining the most frequently used words in the gospels and in the other books of the News Testament, when they speak about the last events which are foretold there; they are mainly three: eschatology, parousia and apocalypse. Eschatology comes from a composed Greek word eschatos, which means the last one, what is at the other end; and logos, which means word, speech. Eschatology is then a speech about the last things.

Meaning of parousia. Parousia comes from the Greek word parousia which means presence, the arriving. This word occurs 24 times in the whole New Testament, 8 of them in a general sense, and 16 of them in reference to the second coming of the Lord. For this reason parousia is reserved to speak about the glorious return of Jesus. When He comes back, the dead will rise up and there will be the last judgment.

Meaning of Apocalypse. The word apocalypse comes from the Greek apokalypsis which means revelation, or, as a verb, to reveal. Related to the word apokalypsis is the word epiphania, which means manifestation or revelation as apocalypse. Apocalypse or Revelation is the name of the last book of the New Testament, because this book contains the final and glorious revelation of Jesus Christ.

Signs preceding the second coming. The gospels as well as the New Testament speak about the events which will preceded the second coming of the Lord, among them: the evangelization of the whole world, the conversion of Israel (Romans 11:25-27); the great apostasy (2 Tessalonians 2:1-12), the great tribulation (Matthew 24:21-30), and the revelation of the antichrist (as in 2 Tess. above).

The coming of the Lord in glory. The second coming of the Lord will be in glory and majesty; Jesus said: Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30). Jesus said also before the high priest and the Sanhedrin: You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven (Mark 14:62).

The resurrection of the dead. The resurrection of everybody who had lived in this world will precede immediately the last judgment, as Jesus said: The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice (of the Son of Man), and come forth those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:28-29).

The resurrection of the dead is a "new creation." There is sufficient information about the resurrection of the dead in the New Testament, in particular in the letters of Paul. The body of the just ones will be glorious like that of the risen Jesus: who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body (Philippians 3:21). The resurrected "body" won't be necessarilly a physical body, but what Paul calls a spiritual body, in glory and in incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). The individual persons which will rise up will be the same, but their bodies will be marvelously transformed, re-created. Resurrection is a new creation; resurrection is believed and understood only by faith. Paul compares the resurrection of the body with the grain that you sow and the plant which is born (1 Corinthians 15:35-38). Jesus, speaking about the resurrection of the dead, said that this was par excellence the work of the power of God (Matthew 22:29; Mark 12:24).

The last judgment of God. When Jesus will come, He will be the Judge of all nations and of all human beings that have ever been. Jesus said: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory (Matthew 25:31). According to this, an epiphany of greatness, majesty, power and glory will precede the judgment of God. Then will be a judgment of love and mercy for the sheep that He will set on His right hand, and a judgment of justice and punishment for the goats on His left.

Judgment of glorification. Jesus will give a judgment of glory to the just ones, saying: Come you, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me (Matthew 25:34-37). And He will tell them when this happened: Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me (Matthew 25:40).

Sentence of condemnation. Jesus will say to those who did evil: Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). And when He was asked when hadn't they done good, in order that they also might receive a reward, Jesus said to them: Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew 25:45-46).

There is no right to select what we like in the Scripture. There are some who would prefer to be selective about what they want to believe from the Scripture, and what they don't. That is not to have faith in the word of God. Whoever believes in God, must believe His whole word, the punishment of the evil ones and the reward of the righteous.

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