How do you deal with Mt. 20:28.
"...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Pretty specific of why he came; to serve and give his life as a ransom. No mention of kingdom. Not a single one of your scriptures says specifically, "Jesus came to establish His kingdom."
How do you explain that?
Here was my reply (with some additions since I replied):
I say, "Great!" I am full of joy that he came to serve and be a ransom. Sounds like a great model for people that are in his kingdom to live up to once they have accepted his redemption and placed themselves under his lordship.
I would also cite the context. One must read it in the context of all of the other passages about the "kingdom" in the book of Matthew that precede it. And one must make careful notice of the passage's immediate context. That answer came as a result of a request made about positions of power in the kingdom. Here is section of Scripture:
Matthew20:20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, What do you want? She said to him, Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom. 22 Jesus answered, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink? They said to him, We are able. 23 He said to them, You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father. 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Notice that He didn't say that there wasn't a kingdom, nor that there weren't positions in the kingdom. He pointed out the upside-down nature of his kingdom. His kingdom isn't an authoritarian top-down heirarchy that we see throughout the world. His kingdom is one in which the least will be the greatest. It is one in which the leaders are to be servants like he set an example of. I think that is the point of the verse you cited, not a proclamation of the individualization of the gospel message.
I don't think that verse trumps Luke 4:43: “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God…because that is why I was sent”. Also, the book of Matthew also mentions earlier, "Preach this message: ‘the kingdom of heaven is near’" (Matthew 10:7).
The topic of the article was "What is really the good news taught by Jesus?" I think Scripture says that the good news was the kingdom. We have changed that message and now say the good news is personal salvation or something else.
Now, there were other tasks that Jesus came to complete. The verse you cited points out that he came to be a ransom and to serve. Those are great things that Jesus did, but those things were not the gospel or the "good news" that Jesus taught. Nor were they quoted by Luke as the reason that Jesus stated he was sent nor were they what Jesus commanded his followers to preach. They were an example of how his kingdom would work in a different manner than the kingdoms that seem to prevail, albeit temporarily, in this world.
I think we should teach the gospel that Jesus taught and find joy that His kingdom is different than the corrupt kingdoms of this world.
Watch out for the potholes
