Read Mark 1v1
When was the last time you heard a piece of really incredible news? News so huge and awesome and amazing that you were just bursting to share it?
Mark’s first readers lived under the rule of the great and powerful Roman Empire. Whenever a new Roman emperor was crowned or when the Romans won a victory over their enemies, a message would go out across the empire: Euangelion!
Euangelion means “Good news!”
And not just any good news—huge, awesome, amazing, life-changing news!
Mark uses this word to begin his biography of Jesus. Right up front, he wants us to know that the message of Jesus is literally the best news ever!
When you think about your relationship with God, what comes to mind?
For many people, it’s a whole bunch of rules and advice you should follow if you want to get God to like you.
But here Mark tells us that the message of Jesus is something completely different.
It’s not good advice. It’s good news!
The message of Jesus isn’t a list of things you need to do to earn God’s love.
It’s a life-changing announcement of what Jesus has already done for you!
Out of the four biographies of Jesus in the Bible, Mark’s is the most fast-paced and action-packed. The whole time, it’s like Mark can’t write fast enough to get down everything he wants to say—like the good news is bursting out of him:
“Jesus has come! And nothing will ever be the same.”
Has anyone ever shared the message of Jesus with you before? Did they make it sound more like good advice or good news?
Lord God, thank you that the good news of Jesus has been so carefully recorded for us in the Bible. As I read Mark’s biography of Jesus, please help me see what Mark was so excited about! Help me see how this euangelion is good news for me too! Amen.
Best News Ever is a devotional that takes tweens aged 9-12 on a 100-day journey through Mark's fast-paced, action-packed story—helping them to understand the confusing bits, showing them how it connects with their life, and bringing them face to face with Jesus: the one who changes everything.
Chris Morphew is an author, teacher, and school chaplain living in Sydney, Australia. He has written over 20 novels for children and youth, including his six-book young-adult series The Phoenix Files. Chris enjoys Mario Kart, obscure board games, and superhero movies. He has been told he looks like Chris Hemsworth from the back.