Christmas is about the birth of the Gospel in the flesh of Christ. The Gospel is confessed in the Apostle's Creed, but obviously, at Christmas there is only a small part of the Creed to confess. At the birth of Christ, the shepherds knew even less about the Gospel than was known by Mary and Joseph.

The question here is, when was the Gospel in the New Testament first proclaimed and who proclaimed it?

We know that the Gospel is proclaimed throughout the Old Testament beginning in Genesis 3:15 as God's promise through the Seed of the woman. The word "Gospel," however, comes to us from a Greek word, which means "good news," in this case, good news about Christ.

The word "Gospel" is a noun and "to preach the Gospel" is the verb form. According to the UBS notes, the verb form is "euvaggeli,zw" [euaggelidzow] which means to bring the good news, preach the good news (sometimes preach the good news to, e.g. Acts 8.25); preach, proclaim; passive voice, hear the good news (of persons); be preached (of things).

The first use of the word "Gospel" appears in the New Testament when the Angel Gabriel speaks it to Zechariah, who is John the Baptist's father. "And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings." Luke 1:19

An angel also spoke the Gospel to the Shepherds on the night of Christ's birth. "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10

Both of these verses could have been translated, "I preach to you the Gospel."

Of course, the meaning of the Gospel is often expressed without the use of the word "Gospel," such as the Gospel spoken by Zechariah after the birth of John when Zechariah prophesies that John's work will be "To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins." Luke 1:77

Gabriel speaks the Gospel to Mary when he says to her about Jesus, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David." Luke 1:32

Elisabeth spoke the Gospel to Mary when she says, "And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." Luke 1:45

Mary responded with the Gospel to Elisabeth in the "Magnificat" when she says about Christ, "He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever." Luke 1:54-55

"Simeon spoke the Gospel to Mary and Joseph in the Temple when he says to the 40 day old infant Christ, "For mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Luke 2:30

Anna spoke the Gospel to people in the temple at the same time when she saw the baby Jesus, "And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." Luke 2:38

In all the above examples we should note that the time had not yet come for the Gospel about Jesus Christ to be preached to the general public. It took another 30 years until John the Baptist would be the first to preach the word "Gospel" in a sermon in Luke 3:18 where we read, "And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people."

The King James, NIV, and NASB use the words "exhort" or "exhortation" where the Greek word for "preach the Good News" or "Gospel" is actually used. The Greek word for Gospel is there in the text but the average reader will not recognize it. However, Beck and Lenski translate more clearly, that John "was telling people the good news" or "continued to preach the Gospel."

But what kind of Gospel did John preach that causes some translators to call it "exhortation" instead of "Gospel?" He didn't speak about the suffering, crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ. Rather, he only preached on one phrase about the Gospel as found in the Apostles' Creed "the forgiveness of sins."

We read earlier in the chapter, "And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sin."(Luke 3:3) These are the same words given to Zechariah above in Luke 1:77.

We should also note that Zechariah, a priest, was struck dumb by the angel after first hearing the "Good News" above in Luke 1:19. According to Luther 's understanding of vocation and "the call" Zechariah would have been the only one of the examples given above who could have preached the message of the Gospel in public, but his doubts were chastened with the inability to speak the Gospel in the temple. This privilege would be reserved for his son John, which is why Christ calls John the greatest man that ever lived according to Luke 7:28.

John the Baptist clearly depicts the meaning of the first Gospel when he sees Christ and says, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29

Luke ends his Gospel with almost the same message of John the Baptist. Compare these verses: "And he [John] came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." Luke 3:3

At the end of Luke Christ says to the disciples, "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Luke 24:47

The essential message of the Gospel is the same at Christmas, as Christ says will be preached until the end of time.