Good News or Hard Life?

Mark 1:14-16 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
 
DO you see anything odd here? How does it strike you that “John was put in prison…and Jesus went proclaiming the good news of God.” God had created John the Baptist to be God’s voice to point God’s people to Jesus. John baptized Jesus as Jesus began his mission. Jesus even said of John: Matthew 11:11 “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist…14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.” This is high praise from the Truth! God’s true prophet had fulfilled his work to advance God’s work.
   But as John pointed to the Messiah, Jesus warned, “The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” (Matthew 14:12b) Wicked men such as Herod, religious authorities and many others were criticizing, questioning and persecuting those who faithfully preached God’s Word. The prophets had experienced the same persecution, even unto death for many.
   As we noted earlier, it was time, then, for John’s mission to end. John 3:30 (John said), “He must become greater; I must become less.”  But did John need to go to prison? Did he have to die under Herod’s perverse hand? Why did God not intervene to allow John a good life, even to one day preach the full gospel?
   This is where we come to the test of our faith in God’s providence. This is a question that can disturb us all if we try to understand God’s goodness in our sin-broken world. Some of you have seen great sins against friends, family, comrades and yourself. You may have been tempted to reject God because such hard things happened. Death for any reason is a hard thing. Some will curse God when a friend or loved one dies, “It’s not fair!”
   But what happened with Jesus, God incarnate? His own faithful gospel preaching led him to a brutal death. Is it fair God’s perfect Son would die to remove sin’s curse, so billions of sinners’ souls would be redeemed into eternal life? And now, Christians are persecuted each day. Hundreds of innocent Christian families are killed each year. It seems grossly unfair from our mortal point of view.
   God has not revealed his answer to, “Why, God, do your people suffer because they are your people?” “Why do people suffer, and you do not heal as we pray?” But he has told us his reason to redeem our souls from hell into eternal life. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” So then, we must wait in faith to understand the fullness of God’s love for us. It is much more than a temporary relationship. God’s love is eternal.
   Amid the earthly woes, we must always remember his will includes heaven’s eternal glory.
   As a Good News giver, you are never alone. As a Good News giver, you never die because the Good News is: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25) Seeing your life as limited to your earthly existence, you may say, “It’s not fair, Lord!” Seeing your life as eternal in the hands of Jesus you will say, “Praise the LORD, oh my soul, and all that is within me, praise his holy name.” (Psalm 103:1)