Jesus divided Israel’s history into two covenant periods (though more can be found like God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who became Israel.). The former Jesus called “The Law and the Prophets.” The present he called “The Good News of the Kingdom of God.” God supplied words for both covenants, words to live by. Both have messages that were and are proclaimed and preached.
John the Baptist was the last of the prophets and the first to preach the good news (Luke 3:18) though Jesus was the first to say he preached “The Good News of the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 4:23; 9:35, Mark 1:14-15). Jesus said, they “…were proclaimed until John.”
Jesus was not downplaying the Law, the Prophets, nor the Psalms. No, for he said that came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17; Luke 24:44). They are the foundation that pointed to Jesus. He said, “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.”
John, Jesus, and the apostles preach the good news of the kingdom. Studying, obeying, and preaching their words is just as important, perhaps even more important than Israel’s need to study and obey the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. I am glad that God has revealed to me his splendid good news and ask they he keep revealing them to me.
