There are certain words that move from specific to general over time. Pass me a Kleenex, you might say. What was once a brand name has become the catch-all word for a tissue. Could you Xerox that for me? Sure, I can, on my Canon copier – much to the Xerox Corporation’s chagrin. Did you know that Zipper was originally copyrighted by B.F. Goodrich for the sliding clasp locker of their rubber boots? Words change in meaning over time. It used to be if someone was dumb it meant they couldn’t talk. Saying something was awful in the past was very positive – it provoked a feeling of awe, it was awe-filled. And we don’t mention donning our gay apparel any more, except when singing the Christmas carol. Today’s gospel account, the opening of the Gospel of Mark copywrites for all time the meaning of the word “gospel.” The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Outside of the New Testament the word gospel simply meant good news. It was a gospel event, good news, when a baby was born, when the war ended, when the harvest was bountiful. Jesus himself used the word in the accustomed way when he quoted from the prophet Isaiah at the onset of his ministry in Nazareth according to St. Luke: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to proclaim good news (gospel) to the poor.
St. Mark takes this word and applies it specifically to the person of Jesus. He is the good news, he is gospel. Mark isn’t interested in giving a report about Jesus, in remembering Jesus, in supplying a biography of Jesus. No, for Mark Jesus is alive, is with us as the Risen Lord. Jesus is good news, is gospel, because he brings the very presence of God into this world, into our world. All the wars and poverty and hatred and ugliness pale to insignificance in light of God being with us. Jesus is good news because he shows us that we have eternal value just in being human beings. Since God chose to share a human life in Jesus, all human lives are now able to participate in divine life in the new heavens and the new earth that is promised to us. Jesus is good news because he gathers us all into one family, the family of God. No matter our race, culture, language or customs we belong together since Jesus is our elder brother. The Gospel, the good news of Jesus, changes everything.
The way St. Mark opens the gospel story gives us some concrete examples on what good news will look like in our lives. For example, he starts off with a quote from the Bible, from the Prophet Isaiah. In doing so we are invited to get a bigger picture of the plan and action of God. How easy it is for us to imagine that what we are going through currently presents an insurmountable problem – migrant crisis, political turmoil, ecological disaster, financial ruin. By invoking a memory of the prophetic voice which was already eight hundred years in the past by the time of Jesus, the evangelist demonstrates that the seeds of good news were sown at one time so they could bear fruit at another. The gospel requires that we too have confidence that the good news which Jesus brings is just as relevant and just at potent in our times as it was in his. Dr. King once said that the arc of history is long but it bends toward justice. That is not just an historical arc, it is a gospel arc. And we have the blessed assurance that no matter how things seem to be, this is still God’s world and God is at work. Good news.
Maybe a corollary to that, it is good news, it is a gospel truth, that forgiveness is possible. St. Mark starts the story of Jesus with the preaching of John the Baptist proclaiming a baptism of repentance. Personally and communally we are a mess. Yes, greed and hatred have skewed how we live in the world. Yes, racism is a blotch on our souls that produces a truly ugly version of humanity. Yes, violence makes it difficult for us to live in harmony with one another. But as damning as those things are they don’t define us. We are capable of conversion, of growth and development, of change for the better. What makes such change possible, in the example from St. Mark, is acknowledgement of our sins. Circling the wagons and pretending I’m okay and you’re not, does not produce good news. Instead, it is taking a long, loving look at my reality and asking God for divine healing and forgiveness that produces the true good news of the gospel.
Finally, St. Mark asserts the good news that the gospel of Jesus is about receiving the Holy Spirit in our lives. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Since we have the Holy Spirit God does not dwell in the heavens, above the cares and concerns of this world but right in our hearts. Having the Holy Spirit means we are vessels of the grace in the world. All of those forces that try to tear us down or diminish our value and worth melt way in the warm flowing rays of the Holy Spirit emanating from deep within our being. As those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit we are promised the gifts and fruits which the Spirit bestows – wisdom and understanding, joy and peace, strength and love. St. Mark begins his gospel so that the good news of Jesus will be presented as something which impacts our lives not just on Sunday but on every day and in every way. No wonder they call the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the good news.
