The Power of the Simply Preached Gospel of Jesus Christ

The first academic level book as a I read as part of my 2015 reading plan was Michael Rydelnik's The Messianic Hope.  Admittedly, I was predisposed to agree with Rydelnik's argument - that the Old Testament is primarily a Messianic collection of writings designed to reveal Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel, and Savior of people from every tribe, tongue, and race.  I am grateful for men like David Hallett and Mark Blair who taught me to read the Bible this way, and was actually surprised to learn that so few evangelical scholars read the Old Testament texts as Messianic.  

Most of the book was typically dry academic writing.  I don't say that in a negative way. Rydelnik was showing in chapter after chapter that the Old Testament predicted the Messiah's coming and the New Testament revealed him to be Jesus of Nazareth.  So when I say dry I don't mean uninteresting or boring, just that he primarily deals with facts and exegesis.  Surprisingly, he concludes the book with a personal story that moved me to tears sitting in my office during my Friday lunch break.  A few minutes later I reread the chapter, and tears flowed again.  

Rydelnik recalls an experience as a 16 year old recent convert to Christianity.  He is Jewish, and had become convinced that Jesus is the Messiah.  A large number of Jewish students in his Brooklyn high school were also believers in Jesus.  The leader of the school's Hebrew club invited a local Jewish graduate student to argue that Jesus was not the Messiah.  

On the day of the presentation Rydelnik listened, then at the conclusion of the presentation he stood up and asked about Old Testament text after Old Testament text that he believed pointed forward to Jesus as Messiah.  The speaker, who I believe is Dennis Prager based on the information given by Rydelnik, effortlessly deflected every text that Rydelnik brought up.  

For decades Rydelnik wished he had been more prepared, and wished he could have another opportunity to debate the speaker.  One day he was in California to give a presentation to a Messianic church.  A man who looked familiar began talking to him, and after some time Rydelnik came to realize that the man had been his high school music teacher.  The music teacher recounted his conversion this way:

The reason this moved me so is that I've been battling discouragement recently.  I take what the Bible says about preaching the word in season and out of season very seriously.  But when you preach/teach the word week after week and see virtually no fruit it's easy to become discouraged. The times when preaching the word are out of season are not much fun.

With Rydelnik's story I was reminded of the power of the simply preached gospel of Jesus Christ.  He was a sixteen year old kid who didn't speak with the authority or charisma of an incredibly gifted young man, and one who has gone on to make a career out of talking.  Yet, his simple insistence that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah planted a seed in his music teacher's heart. It took some time, but that seed eventually blossomed into saving faith.  

It's sad that the modern church flocks to gifted speakers who talk about anything but Christ crucified and resurrected for the forgiveness of sins.  Honestly, it can be discouraging for those who faithfully preach the word to see those who do not draw large audiences and build huge churches.  It's frustrating when I know that I could build a bigger young adults ministry if I would stop preaching the word and instead talk about relationships, money, and career advice.  It's been proven time and again that if you talk about such things, people will come. I wouldn't be faithful to my King if I do so though, and I would be building a following for myself. It wouldn't be Jesus building his church.

I was reminded last week that there truly is power in the preached word.  I was also reminded that a lack of visible, immediate fruit doesn't mean that Jesus is not calling His sheep to Himself.  

It was a timely reminder as I prepare to preach an outreach event next week.  As I began preparations I've battled doubts.  There's a part of me that says, "They won't want to hear the gospel.  Why bother?"  So why bother?  Because King Jesus have given me a message to speak, and I don't have the right to change it. Because the power is in the gospel, not in me.  Because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.  Because regardless of what people want to hear, what they need to hear is the gospel.

Maybe the message won't be well received.  Maybe I'll never be invited back.  Maybe I won't see any response to the message at all next Tuesday.

None of that matters.  What matters is that I faithfully proclaim Jesus as Lord and call on people to repent and believe, just as Jesus and the Apostles did.  That's all that matters for all of us who belong to Christ.  And we don't stop just because we don't see immediate results.  We sow the seeds, God causes them to take root and produce fruit.