GOOD NEWS – Mark 1:1-11
I'm sure most of you have been abroad for your holidays and like me had a problem in talking to the locals.
In fact to be honest I'm not very good at English let alone a foreign languages - I get totally lost and confused.
When I was in Tenerife I went shopping and had an embarrassing encounter trying to buy some eggs.
I had to resort to simulated actions which had everyone in stiches.
In the mld1980's I attended and gave a paper at a
Conference in Warsaw Poland, a time when the iron
Curtain had to be crossed and as the country was communist I had to get a visa.
Not an easy process as you had to guarantee you would spend a certain amount of money before you went, and you couldn't bring any back on return.
At that conference I made a friend in a delegate from Hungry who spoke very good English which saved me a lot of problems.
He was eager to improve his English which was great and he found it fascinating in the way I used English, in terms of colloquialisms, phrases and words which had more than one meaning.
And every now and then I had to stop talking and explain in simpler English what I was waffling on about.
This really put me on the spot as you really had to think and explain what words actually mean and in the context of what you are saying,
I now have a similar experience with my grand -children – what does that mean grandad?
This morning I would like us to investigate the word “gospel”
St Mark opens his gospel in a very unique way and different versions of the Bible I think have difficulty in knowing how to open or start the dialog:
'The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ..,,'
RSV, the Revised Standard Version, the NT was Published in 1947 and is identical 1611 KJV.
Later versions translate for me a far more wonderful and enlightening opening, one that makes me want to read on.." for example
The Living Bible Published in 1971 is a bible written in everyday language and designed for family reading,
Mark’s opening really sets the scene for me in this
version, ‘Here begins the Wonderful story of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God..'
So gospel means and is a wonderful story.
The Good News Bible was Published in 1966 for the NT and tries to bring us an accurate translation in a language we can all understand, and the opening of Mark illustrates this and our reading from the NRSV follows suite.
'This is the Good News about Jesus Christ the Son
of God'
This is what the gospel is all about and why we hold its proclamation with such reverence.
The gospel is all about Jesus, His life, His teaching, His healing of the sick, His love for us which lead Him to His death, Resurrection and Ascension.
All of this is a wonderful story, a story almost of someone who is too good to be true, but that's what God is like, He is too GOOD to be true.
All goodness emanates, comes from God and is revealed to us in the life of His Son Jesus Christ.
Do you remember the incident in Jesus’ life when He was addressed as the Good Teacher? What was His answer?
'a man ran up and knelt before Jesus and asked Him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
and Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone."
To define and explain what the word GOOD means is very difficult and if you look it up in a dictionary you are only given a list of alternatives.
It is a word which has to be used with other words and understood in the context of what is written, read or said.
A good teacher as the man described could refer to Jesus as being able to explain and teach in a way that everyone understood, He held their interest and they enjoyed listening to what He had to say - that is a good teacher...
But the man meant something else, he was talking about the character and the person of Jesus the way He acted and reacted to situations around Him.
Through His words and deeds this man could see in Jesus someone special, someone who would not hurt anyone, who would help anyone, who would do no wrong...
All this in one little word...GOOD
On the other hand the word NEWS is completely different we know exactly what that is all about. ..
It is a very explicit part of our everyday lives -the media make sure of that.
And there's nothing like a good scandal to sell News Papers, using good here has a completely different overtone.
News is something that we haven't heard before, fresh information, a report of something that has just happened. .
And in that context there is Good and Bad news.
The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is good news, it is by far the best news that we can ever hear.
The gospel is indeed a wonderful story.
But why is the gospel, good news a wonderful story?
The psalmist once said, ' O put not your trust in princes, nor in. any child of man: for there is no help in them' Ps146:3
All too often as we grow order and become wiser we realise the truth in this saying due to being let down in some way or another.
Some have given their love to someone and had it rejected, the hurt and the experience has destroyed trust and they are reluctant to give themselves in this way again.
But it is important to realise that the psalmist doesn't end there and reminds us that there is much more to life.
'Blessed is he that hath the God of Jacob for His help and whose hope is in the Lord his God.'
The gospel is all about this hope and a lot more as the gospel shows what God is like.
As we listen and read the gospel we build up a picture of what Jesus was like and is like.
And through this picture we find out what God is like.
It is a very personal picture, an image which in many ways is unique to each one of us.
It is an image which gives us hope, hope of things to come and it is a hope which is not of this world.
It is a hope which can never be taken away from us and can only be found in the pages of scripture.
It is an image that shapes our faith and reinforces it so that we can overcome doubt.
That hope is manifest in the Word made flesh who dwelt among us. – Jesus Christ
The gospel of good news shows us how much God loves us, how much He loves you, how much He loves me, even though we do not deserve His love.
That love is shown in the life and death of Jesus who was:
• born as we are born,
• who grew up in a humble dwelling
• who was tempted just as we are tempted
• who travelled from place to place doing His Father's will
• who had nowhere to lay His head at night
• who suffered as we suffer
• who died a death of utter humiliation and pain on the cross
• who was buried in a rich man's tomb
• who is risen from the dead
• who is at the right hand of God
All of this can related to Christ's humanity and so seek HlS strength and help through our adversities - all this surely reinforces our hope.
Because He overcame and conquered our final enemy death itself and by so doing has opened up for us His kingdom and taught US what life is all about.
The gospel is all about Jesus, it is good news to those who have ears to hear and it is certainly a wonderful story as it shows us how much God loves us and that believing In His Son we will have LIFE in His Name.
