Summary
Good News
Mark opens his Gospel with a striking announcement: "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" Mark 1:1. The word "gospel" simply means "good news," so Mark is signaling from the very first line what kind of book this is and what kind of person Jesus is. Everything that follows—His miracles, His teaching, His death, His resurrection—belongs under that single heading.
The first recorded words of Jesus in Mark come after a sobering note: "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel'" Mark 1:14-15. John the Baptist, the forerunner sent to prepare the way, has been seized by Herod and will soon be put to death. Even at the threshold of the Gospel, the world's brokenness is on full display. And yet it is precisely into that darkness that Jesus steps with His proclamation.
"The time is fulfilled" points back to the long arc of God's promise. As Paul writes, "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons" Galatians 4:4-5. From the moment sin entered creation, God promised a Redeemer. Jesus announces that the waiting is over: the Messiah has come, and the kingdom of God has drawn near in His own person.
Honesty about the bad news makes the good news ring true. Since the fall, all creation lies under the curse of sin, and "the wages of sin is death" Romans 6:23. No one is righteous; no one can climb out by effort or merit; and the devil prowls "like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" 1 Peter 5:8. This is the diagnosis Scripture gives every human heart, and it is what makes Christ's arrival not a mere improvement but a rescue.
The good news is that Jesus did what we cannot. Driven into the wilderness, He stood perfect against the tempter Mark 1:12-13. He lived the righteous life we owe and could not produce. On the cross He made the great exchange: He took the full weight of our sin and its punishment upon Himself and gave us His righteousness in return. This righteousness is not earned but received—"by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God" Ephesians 2:8-9. In Holy Baptism that good news is enacted: we are washed of sin, clothed in Christ's righteousness, and sealed with His Holy Spirit, so that "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" Galatians 2:20.
When Christ calls "repent and believe in the gospel," even the call is mercy. Repentance is the gift of confessing our sin and casting ourselves on God, who answers with forgiveness. He alone creates the clean heart Psalm 51:10; He acts on us, in us, and through us. With every other good news in this life we brace for the other shoe to drop—but in Christ it never does. The Lord is our shepherd, and we shall not want Psalm 23:1; nothing can separate us from His love Romans 8:38-39. As Luther closes each article of the Creed: this is most certainly true. See ["Good News" 1-4-26] for the full treatment of Mark's opening proclamation.
Video citations
- "Good News" 1-4-26 — If you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark the first chapter, if you're using a Pue edition of the Bible which can be found in the Pue and front of you or if you're in the front…