The Beginning of the Gospel (at the Beginning of a Gospel)

The introduction to Mark’s account of the life of Christ is a lot like the rest of his writing – short and to the point. As it reads in most translations, it’s not even a complete sentence: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). However, these words contain some profound opportunities for reflection.

Take for example the word gospel. Like Vizinni’s use of the word “inconceivable,” the word gospel is so commonly used by Christians that it quite possibly has lost its meaning among some (and, if you didn’t catch that reference, do yourself a favor and watch The Princess Bride as soon as it is conceivable to do so). The term according to Strong literally means, “a good message.”

The idea of the life of Christ being a good message sometimes gets lost in the synonyms with which the term gospel travels: New Testament, new covenant, law of Christ, etc. While each of these terms were originally meant to be descriptive and thought provoking, for some they simply travel in a bundle with one practical definition: “The part of the Bible that Christians follow.”

Also, sometimes the term gospel carries a quick and easy definition based upon its usage in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 – the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you have 30 seconds to explain the gospel to someone (or, like Paul, you’re about to defend the importance of faith in the resurrection), that definition is fine, but if that is the depth of your knowledge concerning the term, your picture is incomplete. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ gives the gospel its power, but not its entire content. Mark’s account does not begin with Christ’s death and end with His resurrection.

My encouragement is to move beyond the dictionary definition, unwind the term gospel from the bundle of synonyms, and put a tack on any quick and easy definitions. The fact is that the 27 books of the New Testament contain many good messages, messages concerning the life and teachings of Christ, the history of His disciples, and the teachings which he relayed to His disciples through the Holy Spirit. Collectively though, these good messages can be thought of as the good message, the gospel. From this viewpoint, the gospel calls us to answer two questions: 1) What makes this message so good? 2) If this message is good, what should I do with it?

Another cause for pause regarding Mark 1:1 lies in the concept of this being “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” An old man once came up to me after worship service one Sunday with an odd question that was totally unrelated to what I taught about that morning. “Do you believe that Jesus’ teaching on marriage, divorce, and remarriage applies to Christian and non-Christian alike?” he said. “Yes,” I responded, “God doesn’t have two standards at work in the world.” He wasn’t satisfied with that response and after a brief conversation, he told me, “You need to go back to school.”

Where did this man get the idea that Christ’s teachings applied to Christians but not to non-Christians? It probably had to do with 1) his definition of gospel, 2) the extent to which he had (or had not) reflected on Mark 1:1. Jesus’ life and his teachings are as much a part of the gospel as is His death, burial, and resurrection. You don’t have to “go to school” to see where the world stands in relation to the gospel: God will judge the world by the resurrected Christ (Acts 17:31); Jesus Himself claimed He would judge based on the words He had spoken (John 12:47-48). One judge, one law.

To justify self, friends, or family, some people try to lessen the scope of the gospel message. Mark didn’t believe in doing so. He knew that the good news of Jesus included His life and teachings, not just His death, burial, and resurrection or even the fact that He was (and is) Lord. To edit the gospel is to preach another gospel, and that’s not a good idea (Galatians 1:6-9).

Maybe the term gospel presents another challenge. If this news is so good and if it’s good for sinner and saint alike, why am I not telling more people about it? I believe that the Spirit’s inspiration was behind Mark’s account of the life of Christ. However, I do not believe for a minute that Mark was an “unwitting participant” in the recording of this message. Mark believed the life and teachings of Jesus Christ was a good message, one that everyone should know about. Do we?
-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

Recent

Archive

 2023

Categories

Tags

1 Corinthians 12:29 1 Corinthians 12 1 Corinthians 14:15 1 Corinthians 14 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 1 Corinthians 7 1 Peter 1:3-5 1 Peter 1:6-12 1 Peter 2:17 1 Peter 2:9 1 Peter 3 1 Peter 5:6-7 1 Peter 1 Samuel 4 1 Thessalonians 5:18 1 Timothy 4:1-3 2 Corinthians 6 2 John 1:9 2 John 9 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 2 Peter 3 2 Peter 2 Samuel Abel Abraham Absalom Acts 17 Acts 19 Acts 20:28 Acts 22:16 Acts 2 Acts 8 Acts Alcohol Alleged Contradictions Apostles Ark of the Covenant Attitude Authority Autonomy Autumn Awesome Awe Balance Baptismal Regeneration Baptism Barnabas Benevolence Bible Contradictions Bible Questions and Answers Bible Study Bible Time Bible Biblical Interpretation Bishop Body of Christ Borrowing Broad Way Brotherhood Cain and Abel Cain Calling on the Name of the Lord Calvinism Catholicism Catholic Celibacy Challenges Children Christian Living Christmas Church Funds Church Leadership Church Membership Church of Christ Church Circumspection Citations Citizenship Colossians 3:16 Communication Communion Community Church Community Confidence Congregations Contend for the Faith Contentment Counting the Cost Covetousness Creation Credit Current Events Dating David Debt Forgivness Deconstruction Degrees of Punishment Deity Deliverance Denominationalism Devil Difference Different Discipleship Divine Nature Doctrine Dragon Drinking Easter Ecclesiastes 7:10 Ecclesia Eldership Elders Elder Elijah Elisha Encouragement Enoch Ephesians 2:8-9 Ephesians 4:11-16 Ephesians 5:15 Ephesians 5:16 Ephesians 5:18 Ephesians 5:19 Ephesians 5:5 Ephesians 5 Esther 4:14 Evangelism Ezekiel 36 Ezekiel 6 Faith Alone Faith Only Faithfulness Faith Fall False Teachers False Teaching Family Worship Family Fathers Fear Feeding of the 5000 Fornication Free Will Fundamentals Galatians 4:9-10 Galatians 6:2 Gender Roles Generosity Genesis 22 Genesis 4 Genesis Gift of Tongues Gifts Giving Godhead Godhood God Gospel Meeting Gospel Grace Grammar Gratitude Greater Sin Greed Grief Grieving Hallelujah Praise Jehovah Hallelujah Hebrews 13:4 Hebrews 5:12 Help Hermeneutics Holidays Holy Bread Holy Spirit's Deity Home Devotionals Home Husbands Hymns Hypotheticals Idolatry Immutability Imperatives Influence Insomnia Instrumental Music Instruments in Worship Intertextuality Isaac Isaiah 2 Isaiah 6 James 1:16: James 1:19 James 1:27 James 1 James 3:1 James Jehovah Witnesses Jehovah Jerome Jesus Temptation Jesus' Deity Jesus\' Deity Jesus Job John 11 John 19:11 John 1:1 John 3:16 John 3:36 John 3 John 4:24 John Calvin John the Baptist Joshua 24:15 Jude 1:11 Jude 3 Jude Judgement Judging Judgment Kindness Lamb of God Lamech Lazarus Leadership Leaven Lemuel Lending Levites Life Lessons Limited Atonement Living Sacrifice Local Church Lord's Supper Love of God Luke 13:22-30 Luke 13:23 Luke 1:28 Luke 5:1-11 Mariolatry Mark 1:12-13 Mark Marriage Martin Luther Mary Matthew 16:18 Matthew 5:13-16 Matthew 5:3-12 Matthew 5 Matthew 6:19-20 Matthew 7:13-14 Matthew 7:1 Maturity Melchizedek Men's Business Meeting Men\'s Business Meeting Men\\\'s Business Meeting Men Metaphors Minor Prophets Miracles Miraculous Gifts Money Monotheism Mormonism Mothers Mount of Olives Mountain of the Lord's House Mountains of Israel Mountains Murder Music Mutual Submission Narrow Gate Narrow Way New Creation Nicodemus No Elders Non-Denominational Olive Trees Olives Olivet Olive Once Saved Always Saved Parenting Pastor Patience Patriarchs Pattern Paul Peace Pentecostalism Persecution Perseverence Perspective Pharisees Philippians 3:20 Philippians 4:6 Plagiarism Plan of Salvation Poetic Language Politics Pop Music Prayer Praying to Saints Praying Pray Preacher Preaching Priesthood Priests Proverbs 23 Proverbs 31:6 Proverbs Providence Psalm 148 Psalm 33 Quotations Reader Response Redeeming the Time Relationships Relationship Religion Religious Pluralism Religious Syncretism Remission of Sins Respect Restoration Movement Restoration Revelation 12:9 Riches Roman Catholic Church Romans 10:1-13 Romans 10:13 Romans 10:9-10 Romans 12:1-8 Romans 12:10 Romans 12:15 Romans 12:1 Romans 12:3-8 Romans 12 Romans Sabbath Sacrifice Saints Only Salvation Satan Saved Scarecrows Sermon on the Mount Serving Others Sexual Sin Shewbread Showbread Silence of the Scriptures Singing Sin Situation Ethics Sleep Sobriety Song Studies Sons Soul Winning Sovereignty of God Spending Spirit and Truth Spiritual Death Spiritual Gifts Spiritual Leadership Steal Stephen Stolen Straight Gate Stress Student Debt Submission Suffering Syncretism Teachers Teaching Temptations Thankfulness The Beatitudes The Problem of Evil The Problem of Pain and Suffering The Problem of Suffering The Way of Cain The Way Thievery Thieves Tongue Speaking Total Hereditary Depravity Tradition Translation Trials Trinity Types and Antitypes Unchanging Nature Uncleanness Unconditional Election Understanding Unity Unknown Tongue Vulgate Wealth Wide Gate Will of God William Kirkpatrick Wives Women in the Church Women's Roles Word Study Work Worship Youth Zechariah clergy death sickness