The Beginning of the Gospel

What Is the Gospel?

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The book of Mark starts with a headline: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Gospel means good news. So what exactly is the good news?

News, not advice. Advice tells you what you should do. News tells you what has already happened. The gospel is news about what God has done for us in Jesus.

The bad news first. Good news makes sense when you know the bad news. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin separates us from God, and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

The heart of it. Paul wrote down the gospel in a few words: “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Promised long before. “According to the Scriptures” means God promised it ahead of time. Isaiah wrote, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). Transgressions and iniquities are other words for sins.

About a Person. The gospel is not a set of ideas. It is about Jesus. His name means the Lord saves: “He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

Jesus preached it. “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God” (Mark 1:14). He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

Two words to obey. Repent means turn around, away from sin and toward God. Believe means trust Jesus with your whole life. Both happen together.

A gift, not a paycheck. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Good news for anyone. In Mark 1 a man with leprosy came to Jesus. Nobody would touch him, but Jesus “stretched out His hand and touched him” and said, “I am willing; be cleansed” (Mark 1:41). The gospel reaches people others push away.

Why a beginning? Mark calls his book the beginning of the gospel. The good news did not stop when Jesus rose. It has kept spreading for two thousand years, and it reached you.

What to do. Can you say the gospel in your own words? Try it: we sinned, Jesus died for our sins, He rose again, and everyone who trusts Him is forgiven. Then tell it to one person this week.

Mark 1:1 works like a title over the whole book. Every story that follows is part of the good news about who Jesus is and what He came to do.

Euangelion. The Greek word euangelion (say: yoo-an-GEL-ee-on) meant an announcement of good news. Romans used it when a herald brought word of a victory or the birth of an emperor. The gospel is a royal announcement: the true King has come.

Arche. Beginning translates arche (say: ar-KAY), a starting point or origin. Mark begins with Jesus as a grown man at the Jordan. The story of the gospel starts with His public work, and it keeps going through His church today.

The content. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 gives the core: Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose the third day, “according to the Scriptures.” The gospel is history with a meaning. It happened, and it happened for us.

The need. Romans 3:23 and 6:23 explain why it is good news. Every person has fallen short, and sin earns death. The gospel is God's answer to a problem we could not fix.

The Servant. Isaiah 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Jesus took on Himself the sin of His people.

The kingdom (1:14-15). Jesus announced that “the kingdom of God is at hand.” God's rule had come near in the person of the King. The right response is to repent and believe, turning from sin and trusting Jesus.

Grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 shuts out every kind of boasting. Faith is not a good work that earns salvation. It is empty hands receiving a gift.

The power of God. Paul said he was not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power to save everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). The message itself carries God's power to change lives.

Peter's preaching. Early Christians said that Mark wrote down what the apostle Peter preached about Jesus. Peter had been with Jesus from the start, so the book of Mark is short, fast and full of eyewitness detail.

Application. Learn to tell the gospel clearly in under a minute: God, sin, Jesus' death and resurrection, and the call to repent and believe. Then pray for one friend by name and look for a chance to share it.

The Son of God from Start to Finish

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Mark tells you who Jesus is in his very first verse: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Then, page after page, Mark shows it again.

At the river. When Jesus was baptized, the Father said, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). The Father Himself said who Jesus is.

An old promise. Long before, God spoke to His promised King: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You” (Psalm 2:7). Jesus is that King.

Even His enemies knew. In a synagogue an evil spirit cried out, “I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24). Jesus told it to be quiet and come out, and it obeyed.

Power over sickness. Jesus healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases (Mark 1:34). Only God has that kind of power.

Fast and busy. One word shows up again and again in Mark: immediately. “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12). Jesus came with a mission, and He did not waste time.

On the mountain. Later, Jesus' clothes became shining white (Mark 9:3), and the Father's voice spoke again. He told the disciples that Jesus is His beloved Son and that they must listen to Him (Mark 9:7).

Peter's answer. Jesus asked His friends who they thought He was. Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Why He came. Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

At the cross. When Jesus died, a Roman soldier who watched it all said that Jesus truly was the Son of God (Mark 15:39). The book began with that truth, and here a stranger said it too.

The empty tomb. On Sunday morning the women came “very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, … when the sun had risen” (Mark 16:2). The tomb was empty. An angel told them Jesus had risen (Mark 16:6).

Written for you. John wrote, “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).

What to do. Read one chapter of Mark this week. Each time, ask, What does this show me about who Jesus is?

Mark 1:1 states who Jesus is, and the rest of the book piles up witnesses: the Father, spirits, crowds, disciples and finally a Roman soldier at the cross.

The Father (1:11; 9:7). Twice the Father speaks from heaven, once at the Jordan and once on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured. Both times He names Jesus His beloved Son.

Psalm 2:7. The Father's words echo God's decree to His King: “You are My Son.” Jesus is the promised Son of David and the eternal Son of God, both true at once.

The spirits (1:24, 34). Unclean spirits recognize Jesus as “the Holy One of God.” Jesus silences them. He does not want His identity announced by evil spirits; He will show it Himself, above all at the cross.

Euthys. One word comes up again and again in Mark: euthys (say: yoo-THOOS), immediately. It appears again and again in chapter 1 alone (for example 1:10, 12, 18, 20, 21, 28, 42). The pace matches the mission: the King has come, and He is moving toward the cross.

Peter's confession. At the midpoint of Mark, Peter says, “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29; Matthew 16:16 adds, “the Son of the living God”). Right after this, Jesus begins to teach plainly that He must suffer, die and rise.

The ransom (10:45). A ransom is a price paid to free a captive. The Son of God came to pay with His own life. This is the center of the good news.

The soldier (15:39). A Roman soldier, a Gentile, saw how Jesus died and said He truly was the Son of God. A man from outside Israel, standing at the cross, saw who Jesus is. The good news is for the nations.

The resurrection (16:2-6). The women found the tomb empty on the first day of the week. The Son of God who died is alive.

Purpose. John 20:31 states the reason the Gospels were written: so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and have life in His name.

Application. Faith is not a feeling about Jesus. It is trust in who He really is. As you read Mark, keep a list of what each story shows about Him, and thank Him for it in prayer. The more clearly you see who He is, the more freely you can trust Him with your whole life.

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Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.