The Gospel of Mark, Pt. 2

The Beginning of the Gospel

Today we begin our verse by verse study in the gospel of mark. And just to recap, the gospel of Mark was written by a Roman Jew by the name of John Mark who was not a disciple of Jesus, but a disciple and likely convert of the Apostle Peter. Likewise, we know that Mark was a cousin of Barnabas the traveling companion of Paul, and was also a co-laborer with Paul as well. And so it was Peter's testimony and eyewitness accounts that Mark records in his gospel letter. It's very likely that Mark wrote this gospel letter within two to three decades of the events that he records, and therefore, we have a very accurate and reliable account of the life of Jesus.

And so if you have your bibles, please turn with me to Mark 1:1, which is our verse for today.

(SLIDE) "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

When it comes to studying scripture, it's always helpful to know the context and the background of the subject matter in order to build a sound systematic theology in which doctrines build upon one another in a meaningful way. Therefore, it is always helpful to start from the beginning.

Consider what we have in Genesis 1:1. Here we read, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.” This informs us of the foundation for all of the created order,  that God created every physical thing that has ever or will ever exist in the universe. This was contrary to what many ancient people believed In those days, and so it gives us a framework upon which we discuss everything pertaining to life. The fact that Yahweh God intentionally created the universe, as opposed to the universe eternally existing, or the world being a by-product of the actions of the gods, gives us a firm foundation upon which we can build a meaningful and consistent worldview.

Or consider what we see in John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Here we have the apostle John seeking to identify and establish the foundational nature of the logos, who in the minds of the Greeks was the Eternal creative being, or the unmoved mover, behind all of creation. And then he immediately identifies Jesus as that logos, as the word made flesh. This will then dictate who we understand Jesus Christ to be in his very nature.

And so in Mark's gospel letter, we see Mark using a similar tactic. However, rather than seeking to establish one's knowledge about the beginning of the created order, or the Foundation of who Jesus is, Mark seeks to describe the beginning of the Gospel. And so it would behoove us all to begin with this question, what is the gospel?

Last week at life groups, a really good question was asked about Mark's introduction of the Holy Spirit in verse 8 of chapter 1. And it was asked if his original audience had any familiarity with who this Holy Spirit was. And as we considered from the Old Testament, those people would have certainly been familiar with the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God that is mentioned throughout the Old Testament. And so here, a similar question can be asked, did anyone have familiarity with the gospel?

Now remember, how we answer that question is dependent upon what audience we're talking about. For instance, a Jewish audience would have a particular understanding of the gospel. The word gospel is the translation of the Greek word (SLIDE) "euangelion" = good news. And in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the OT which most Jews would have used in the 1st century, this term "euangelion" was used several times, like in Isaiah 52:7

(SLIDE) "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Or in Isaiah 61:1 (SLIDE) "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound..."

And so to the Jew, the idea of the gospel, or good news, entailed God's presence with and deliverance for his people from enemy captivity. However, as we learned last week, Mark wrote to a Roman audience. And so Mark's Roman audience would have had a slightly different understanding of the word gospel. Keep in mind, euangelion was not an exclusively Christian or Jewish word, but was also used within a Roman pagan context as well.

Archaeologists have uncovered an inscription on a Roman government building that dates back to the year 6 BC, which says, (SLIDE) "...the birthday of [Augustus] has been for the whole world the beginning of the gospel (euangelion) concerning him."

And this statement was found within a larger inscription which offers us an understanding of how the Romans viewed the gospel during the time of Jesus.

"The most divine Caesar . . . we should consider equal to the Beginning of all things . . . for when everything was falling (into disorder) and tending toward dissolution, he restored it once more and gave the whole world a new aura; Caesar . . . the common good Fortune of all . . . The beginning of life and vitality . . . All the cities unanimously adopt the birthday of the divine Caesar as the new beginning of the year . . . Whereas the Providence which has regulated our whole existence . . . has brought our life to the climax of perfection in giving to us (the emperor) Augustus . . . (SLIDE) who being sent to us and our descendants as Savior, has put an end to war and has set all things in order; and (whereas,) having become (god) manifest, Caesar has fulfilled all the hopes of earlier times."

You see, to the romans, the birth of Caesar Augustus was truly the beginning of good news. The life and reign of Caesar Augustus was a gospel message of good news, it was the good news of hope and salvation, good news of new life and vitality, it was good news of a new era of restoration and peace that would reign throughout the Roman empire. And in fact, Jesus was born into this period of peace that historians refer to as the "Pax Romana", a period of about 200 years that was considered the Golden Era of the Roman Empire during which there was relative peace and stability within the Roman empire.

So to the Roman citizen, all of this was attributed to Caesar  Augustus, who's life marked the beginning of the good news, or the gospel, of Rome. And so, could John Mark have been familiar with this inscription? He certainly was aware of the Roman understanding of the gospel, and so as if to boldly redefine for his audience the true meaning of the true gospel, Mark begins his letter with these words, "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

This is a gospel that is for the whole world, not just for Rome. And this gospel is good news of the true God man, the divine Son of God - Jesus of Nazareth, not some Roman emperor who was just a man and would eventually die just like any other man. And it appears that Mark is uniquely concerned with the true gospel since he uses that word more than the rest of the gospel writers combined. Matthew mentions the gospel four times in his letter, and neither Luke nor John use euangelion in their letters, whereas Mark uses the word a total of 7 times in his letter....three times in chapter one, and then once in each of chapters 8, 10, 13, and 14.

So we understand the cultural backdrop against which Mark teaches on the gospel, and we see how intently he was to mention the gospel.....but still a better question remains.....why is the gospel good news......what makes this good news so good? Well, fundamentally, this good news is only good if it can be compared to other news that is bad. And I propose that the gospel of Jesus Christ is only good news because there’s truly bad news that faces all of us.

And the bad news is this - we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and without the intervention of something or someone outside of ourselves to cover that sin and in effect pay for it, our sin will inevitably lead to one thing - death and eternal separation from God. Paul makes this abundantly clear in his exposition of the state of man in Romans 3 and 6. And unfortunately in our modern Christian culture, this bad news has been watered down and softened so as not to offend anyone, and in doing so, we’ve watered down and softened the gospel. But the only way we’re going to truly understand and appreciate the goodness of the gospel is if we adequately come to grips with the bad news first.

So contrary to what we’re told by many preachers, teachers, and social media influencers of today, the gospel is not “God loves you”......the gospel is not “God wants what’s best for you and He wants to be in a relationship with you”......the gospel is not “God will grant you your heart’s desire for more”. Rather, the gospel is rooted in a person and what that person did on our behalf to solve the problem of the bad news that we all face, and so in the rest of our time that we have here today, I’d like for us to examine the person, the promise, and the primacy of the one who makes the gospel truly good news for the world.

We begin with the (SLIDE) person of the one whom the gospel speaks of, and his name is Jesus. Jesus is the English translation of the Latin “Iesus”, which comes from the Greek “iesous”, which is the transliteration of the Hebrew name “Yeshua”, which is a shortened form of “Yehoshua”, which literally means (SLIDE) “Yahweh is Salvation”. Although a common Jewish name in the 1st century AD, this Jesus is unique based on the record of the giving of his name.

In Matthew 1, we read of the dream that Joseph had during which the angel of the Lord visited him, saying (SLIDE) “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”” And its here that we’re introduced to not only the identity of Jesus, but his purpose for coming to this earth as well.

Mary confirms this purpose of her and Joseph’s baby in her song, the “Magnificat”, found in Luke 1:46–47 “And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior...’” Likewise, Jesus himself confirms the purpose for why he came in Luke 19:10 (SLIDE) “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Remember how that Roman inscription from 6BC referred to Caesar Augustus as the Savior, but Luke makes it very clear - Jesus of Nazareth is the true savior of the world. Jews believe that a person’s essential nature is described in their name, and Jesus of Nazareth perfectly fulfills that belief. And if Jesus is Savior, that begs the question - what does he saves us from?

The modern, watered-down gospel would tell you that Jesus saves you from a broken heart, or he saves you from yourself, or He saves you from the cares of this world, but all those answers are insufficient in telling the real story. Jesus came to save us from our sins, sins that have only earned us death and the just punishment of the wrath of God.

Paul states in Romans 1:18 (SLIDE) “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” And then a chapter later, in Romans 2:5 he says to all who don’t turn from their unrighteousness (SLIDE) “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” This is the essence of the bad news to which the gospel serves as a solution.

This is why John says in John 3:36 (SLIDE) “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” The gospel of the OT was believed to have been proclaiming the freedom of the nation of Israel from enemy captivity, and the gospel of Rome was announcing salvation from national turmoil and war. However, the gospel of Jesus Christ is truly good news because it establishes that one has come, namely Jesus of Nazareth, to save his people from the impending wrath of God as a consequence for sin, which is the real problem for all mankind.

And this is connected to (SLIDE) the promise of the one about whom the gospel speaks, which is embodied in his prophetic title “Christ”. Christ isn’t Jesus’ last name, but rather its the Greek translation of the Hebrew “Messiah” = “anointed one”. The Messiah, in Jewish understanding, was the promised deliverer of the nation of Israel, and the OT is replete with references to this long-awaited savior.

He is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace and everlasting Father mentioned in Isaiah 9:6. He is the suffering servant spoken of in detail in Isaiah 52-53. He is the humble and righteous king of Zechariah 9:9, and he’s the one spoken of in Psalm 22 who is attacked on all sides and whose hands are feet are pierced by his enemies. And he’s the one who is to come forth out of Bethlehem as prophesied in Micah 5:2.

Faithful Jews for centuries were anticipating the coming of this anointed king who would set his people free, and so when Jesus came on the scene, those who would devote their lives to him as the long-awaited Messiah thought he had come to free the Jews from Roman captivity. This idea was initially substantiated by Jesus’ own statements like in Matthew 15:24 (SLIDE) “‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’” And so the people hailed him as king, because they perceived him to have come to renew and reestablish the nation of Israel as a sovereign entity.

However, as we know, he came not to set them free of political or social oppression, but rather Jesus came to free them from the oppression of their sins. Sadly, Jews to this day patiently wait for the Messiah to come, and still believe that he will bring a political and social salvation. And its a misunderstanding of real salvation that continues to plague many who have not come to understand the true gospel message.

We’re told that we need salvation from pain and sickness......or we need salvation from past trauma......or we need salvation from our own weakness and lack of understanding. We’re told we need to be saved from our own doubts and fears, or we need to be saved from the constant spiritual attacks of Satan. And while all those statements may contain a thread of truth, they fail to reveal that from which we really need to be saved - and that’s our own sin and the judgment to follows.

As a king would be announced by the prophet of God and anointed by the priest of God to symbolize his calling and the beginning of his reign, Jesus is prophet, priest and king who’s divine anointing point to both his office and function of God’s Messiah who came to save his people from their sins. And this identity as the Christ who has come from God is directly connected to what we see in (SLIDE) the foundational proposition of the gospel which speaks of Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus is “Yahweh saves”......he is the much anticipated “Christ”.....and he is the unique Son of God.

Unlike the many references to man as the sons of God that we see throughout Scripture, John clearly defines Jesus’ status as the unique Son of God in (SLIDE) John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” That word translated as “only” is the Greek word monogenese = the only one of its kind. John goes on to say again John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

The NASB renders this verse like this (SLIDE) “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has explained Him.” Or the CSB puts it this way (SLIDE) “No one has ever seen God. The one and Only Son - the One who is at the Father’s side - He has revealed Him.” And we even see this clearly defined and established as Christian orthodoxy in the Nicene Creed, which states (SLIDE) “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one Being with the Father.”

And so you can see how the Creed helps to summarize the scriptural testimony of the true nature of Jesus Christ as the unique Son of God who is God himself. And that phrase in John 1:18 in the ESV “made him known” or “explained” or “revealed” is the same Greek word where we get our English word exegesis, which means to explain the meaning of. So when we read and teach from the Bible, we are to exegete the text - to draw out the meaning from the context of the text itself, as opposed to eisegesis, which refers to inserting outside meaning into the text.

So Jesus literally exegetes God - in that he provides us the true meaning of who God is. Whereas the world wants to eisegete Jesus and the Father. They want to use outside definitions and concepts foreign to the Bible to explain and describe God. And if you just take a couple minutes perusing through YouTube or TikTok, you’ll see all kinds of theories on who Jesus is.....from one of line of many prophets of God to a merely good teacher and spiritual guru to a possibly fictional character of history who is to be treated more metaphorically than literally. And for 2,000 years, countless numbers of people have missed the true meaning of who Jesus is simply because they are ignorant of the biblical testimony of the unique Son of God.

Mark establishes the true identity of Jesus as the foundation to the beginning of the gospel message. And throughout his letter, we’ll see the divine identity of Jesus as the Son of God revealed through three primary sources - divine confirmation, demonic recognition, and human confession. During the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1, we read in verse Mark 1:11 “And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”” Likewise, in Mark 9 when Jesus transfigures himself before Peter, James and John to reveal his true glorious nature, we read in Mark 9:7 “And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.””

Secondly, consider the recognition on the part of demonic spirits that Jesus is the unique Son of God. Mark 3, Jesus is described being followed by great crowds virtually everywhere he went, and it says in Mark 3:11 (SLIDE) “And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”” Likewise, when Jesus heals a man with a demon in Mark 5, and when the demon-possessed man saw Jesus walking towards him, we read in Mark 5:6–7 “And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”” So clearly, the demonic entities of the spiritual realm knew exactly who Jesus was!

And then lastly, there is human confession by those who were eyewitnesses to the works and ministry of Jesus. In Mark 8:29, Peter makes this confession of the identity of Jesus (SLIDE) “And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”” And in Matthew’s account of the same interaction, we read in Matthew 16:16 “Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”” But most profoundly, we read of the powerful confession of the Roman centurion in Mark 15. Jesus had been on the cross now for about 6 hours, and nearing the end of this gruesome event that would change the world forever, we read in Mark 15:37–39 “And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!””

And this confession by a Roman centurion recorded in Mark’s gospel letter the Christians in Rome would have been hugely significant. It is likely that this wasn’t the first time this centurion met Jesus. He likely heard the stories of Jesus....the many miracles and works of kindness and service.....maybe he even saw Jesus in person in the preceding months leading up to the cross. And putting together all that he had witnessed in the life of Jesus, culminating in Jesus’ last words on the cross, the evidence was overwhelming to this man.

The last words of Jesus on the cross as recorded in John’s gospel are found in John 19:30 “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” However, if we go over to Luke’s gospel, which we know was directly informed by Mark’s gospel, we read about the last words of Jesus in Luke 23:46–47 “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!””

And so I suspect that Mark was intentionally using this account to persuade his Roman audience of the true nature of Jesus by using the direct, eyewitness testimony of a Roman centurion, a man that would have been a trusted and influential source in the minds of Romans. Jesus was truly the Son of God.....not Caesar. Jesus was truly the Christ and the one who brought the true gospel message to the world. The good news of Jesus Christ was far beyond what any Roman emperor could ever offer - true salvation from sins and the only path of reconciliation to the one true and living God.

And today, we need to proclaim the same truth about Jesus to an unbelieving world when we share the gospel. Because in today’s day and age, even amongst many American Christians, it seems as though the gospel is connected one way or another to who is in the white house......or how the economy is doing....or the general welfare of the nation. As if for many, its truly good news when their guy is at the head of the state.....or when the country is going in what they deem as the right direction.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do care about the welfare of the country, and I do care who is in the white house. But we need to be abundantly clear and boldly courageous in drawing the line between the things of this world, and the things of God.....between that which is temporary, and that which is eternal. And the true gospel message is eternal, because its rooted not in man.....not in this world......but in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High God! That’s the gospel message we proclaim, because that’s the only gospel message that saves!

So why is the gospel such good news? Because God has provided salvation from your sins in the person and work of His Son - Jesus Christ. And when repent of our sins and turn to him in faith, we can be assured that we will be saved......not because of anything that we’ve done, but through Jesus did through his death, burial, and resurrection from the dead.

And that folks, is really good news!