The Gospels give us four strikingly different views of the mystery and miracle of the incarnation.

Luke has the angel Gabriel’s Annunciation, Mary’s magnificat, Zechariah’s song, Caesar’s census, and the worship of the shepherds.

Matthew has the lineage of King David, Joseph’s dream, the magi’s visitation, the massacre of the innocents and the flight to Egypt.

John, oh boy, the Gospel of John has the creation of the cosmos, the pre-existent Word of God made flesh, the Light of all life shining in the darkness and the adoption of the children of God.

But the Gospel of Mark… all that Mark’s got is, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  That’s it.  A one liner.

Mark is known for brevity, but come on.  Could you expand on that a little bit? A little disappointing, don’t you think?

Well, check this out.  About nine years before when we think Jesus was born
there was a monument erected in Priene, which is in present day Turkey and part of the ancient Roman Empire.  The monument was like a big birthday card for Caesar Augustus, the Emperor of the Rome, who was regarded by his empire as the Son of God and the savior of the world.  Through agressive military might and expansionism he had created the ‘pax romana’ – the peace of Rome by violently dominating the known world.  And on this big stone birthday card these words were carved, “The birth of Caesar Augustus is the beginning of good news for the world.”
Does that sound familiar?

‘Evengelium’ is the greek word for ‘Good News’, and it’s the word Christians use to describe the story of God in Jesus Christ – incarnation, life, sufferings, death, resurrection and return of Christ, but before that the culture used ‘Gospel’ to describe the birth of Caesar Augustus.

My wife Bonnie and I are getting ready to have a baby in the spring and we’ll be sending out some birth announcements.  We think it’s pretty good news. We wouldn’t go so far as to say that it is good news for the whole world.  But, if we really wanted to, we could write a book or erect a monument saying, “The birth of our baby is good news to everyone!”  and probably nobody would bat an eye.  People might think, “That’s sweet.  A little self-absorbed, but sweet.”

But for the Gospel of Mark to say, “This is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” it meant both treason and heresy all rolled into one.  This little one liner dares to says, “Jesus is King, not Caesar.  Jesus is God’s Son, not Caesar.”  And Rome wouldn’t have thought twice about putting a cap in you for saying either one of these statements... to keep the peace, of course.

Knowing that, it’s not such an insignificant proclamation of the incarnation anymore.  It is a subversive proclamation.  It says change is coming.  The peace that we’ve experienced through Rome’s rule is not peace at all in comparison to what is coming.

How does “finding the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes”
mean “peace on earth”?

How is the birth of Jesus Good News for the whole world?

How is Christ coming again to make all things new?

I’m really not sure.  But it seems like it’s only the beginning of Good News if it’s also Good News in the end too.  And this crazy unraveling story hasn’t ended yet, so we’re going to have to hope… and wait… and keep hoping and waiting and find out.