Mark 1:1 – The good news of Jesus Christ

The Gospels are essentially biographies of the Lord Jesus Christ. They contain accounts of the life, mission and works of Jesus our Lord. In the New Testament there are four Gospels. Three of them Matthew. Mark and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they bear similarities. John is known as the spiritual Gospel because he wrote about the Lord from another perspective. Our focus will be on the Gospel according to Mark. This account by Mark was written by none other than John Mark, whose mother was a woman named Mary.

John Mark was the same person who went with Paul and Barnabas in their first missionary journey in Acts 12.  But midway through their journey, he abandoned the mission team (Acts 13:13). This abandonment precipitated a dispute between Barnabas and Paul when they decided to go for another mission. Barnabas wanted Mark on the team and Paul refused to take him along. So Paul and Barnabas parted company and each went on separate missions. But we know that later in life, Paul was reconciled with Mark. That accounted for Paul’s commendation of him in some of his epistles. This was the same John Mark who wrote the Gospel according to Mark.   

Mark’s opening verse, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” is unique in the sense that it became the title of his book. It would be more appropriate to describe the gospel as good news. And this good news is about Jesus Christ. In earlier written secular literature, good and joyful news had to do with the birth of an Emperor or when an Emperor was enthroned.  This good news according to Mark is about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark did not talk about Christ’s birth. He only briefly narrated about His early life. But he went full throttle into narrating about Christ’s works, to seek and save lost humanity. Jesus Christ is the really good news, in fact the only good news.

The implication for us is this: good news always impel us to do something about it. We are to spread it. We are introduced to this good news that led to our conversion to Christ. We have made Christ the Lord and Savior of our lives.  In Him, we have received the unusual impartation of His peace and strength. Unless we have not truly experienced the wonders of the gospel, how can we resist spreading something so good and so wonderful! Let’s share it!