The good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1)
Still in verse 1, I’m afraid. We have considered the beginning, but there is plenty more to unpack.
The phrase ‘good news’ shares its Greek root with the word ‘angel’, or ‘messenger’. This is news, then, in the form of an important (and of course good) message. Think of Tom Hanks in Castaway, stranded on his desert island. What is he looking for? Not information – an encyclopaedia washing ashore won’t be much help. He needs news, a message about how he might get off the island. This is Mark’s point. The gospel is something we need to hear.
Jesus Christ is the protagonist of the message. Or actually, he is the message. Mark will show throughout the whole gospel that Jesus and the ‘good news’ are inseparable. How often do we separate Christ from Christianity? As perverse as this sounds, it’s hardly unheard of. If we fail to treat Christianity as good news, then we risk treating it like mere information, and the actual person of Jesus Christ disappears from view. This is cultural Christianity in a nutshell.
Jesus is the Christ – the anointed one – and he is also ‘the Son of God’. Mark sets out his stall very early: this ‘beginning’, this bearer of good news, this ‘anointed one’ is in fact the Son of God. There are only three parties in the whole of Mark’s narrative who ascribe this title to Jesus – God, demons and the centurion at the cross. The disciples consistently miss the point. But Mark wishes to make it abundantly clear for us readers. We are not dealing here with just another prophet, or priest, or king (all ‘anointed ones’ in the Jewish tradition) but with the divine Son himself.
Author: Nick Raven
08/04/2020