The Good News of King Jesus

Scripture — Mark 1:1 (NRSV)

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Devotion

In yesterday’s Life for Leaders devotion, I began examining the first verse of the Gospel of Mark, looking specifically at the phrase “good news.” Today I’d like to reflect further on Mark 1:1: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” I want to draw our attention to the content of the good news in the Gospel of Mark.

That content has to do with Jesus and his identity. Jesus is the “Christ, the Son of God.” Yet, it’s easy for us to misunderstand what Mark intends with these words. Many English translations, including the NRSV, use “Jesus Christ” instead of “Jesus the Messiah” for the Greek phrase Iesou Christou. That standard translation is fine as long as we remember that “Christ” is an English word that comes from the Greek version of the Hebrew word mashiach, which we know as the English word “Messiah.” “Christ” is not Jesus’s last name, but rather a title that identifies him as Israel’s “Anointed One,” the literal meaning of mashiach. The Messiah, in ancient Jewish expectation, was the King who was to save Israel and restore God’s kingdom on earth.

The phrase “Son of God” has a range of meanings. In later Christian theology, “Son of God” points to Jesus’s divine nature as the second member of the Trinity. But the original Jewish sense of Son of God, found throughout the Old Testament, has to do with royalty. The “Son of God” was the king of Israel (2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7; 89:26-27). The title “Son of God” didn’t indicate the king’s divinity, but rather his God-given, royal authority. Following the resurrection of Jesus, Christians came to see that he was far more than just a human king. But the roots of his full identity grow deeply into the soil of the Old Testament and its vision of the kingdom of God.

Mark 1:1 reminds us of this salient but often overlooked truth by using two royal titles for Jesus: Christ/Messiah/Anointed One and Son of God. Thus, when we acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, we should understand the original sense of this language. It’s the language of kingship. Mark 1:1 introduces the good news of God’s kingdom by focusing on Jesus who is central to the coming of the kingdom. Jesus has come to fulfill Old Testament promises of the future reign of God on earth. In the broadest sense, Jesus has come to usher in the kingdom of God.

We’ll learn much more about what this means in the weeks to come. For now, it’s worth noting that identifying Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God gives him unique authority on earth, authority over God’s people, including you and me. When we confess Jesus to be the Messiah, we are saying that he is not only the King of the Jews, but also our King. His royalty is not just a matter of theological affirmation, but also a truth that shapes every moment of our lives.

Moreover, Mark tells us, the truth of Jesus’s kingship is good news. It means that the broken things of the earth are being fixed. It means that broken people will be healed. It means that God is on the move to make right all that is wrong with the world, including you and me.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: May Your Kingdom Come Soon.