Reward

Mark 1:1

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God

(Mark 1:1 NIV)

Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ.

(Mark 1:1 SBL Greek Testament)

Amazing how many questions a short statement can raise, but on this occasion I am not interested in whether we should accept the readings which add υἱοῦ [τοῦ] θεοῦ (Son of God) to the verse (Jesus clearly is the Son of God, whether this verse says so or not); nor am I so worried about whether we say Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Christ or even Jesus, anointed. A discussion as to whether Ἀρχὴ means “[a] beginning” or “origin” or even “power” could be useful, but even that is completely dependant upon the word we never seem to question, which is εὐαγγελίου, which is the genitive of εὐαγγέλιον and which does not mean “good news”, “glad tidings”, nor anything else of that sort.

Let me be more precise: Liddell and Scott reference a handful of citations where εὐαγγέλιον in the plural can be read as “good news” of some sort (and in the Gospels it is used in the singular); I haven’t tracked down their extra-biblical citations yet, but the LXX one (2 Kings 4:10, by which they actually mean 2 Samuel 4:10 – the LXX has Samuel and Kings as Kings I – IV) at least references the core meaning of εὐαγγέλιον, which is this:

a reward for the bringing of glad tidings.

Does Greek have a word for Good News, as such? Yes, that would be εὐαγγελία. As far as I can see, both Matthew and Mark use εὐαγγέλιον, and never εὐαγγελία, and εὐαγγέλιον means the reward a messenger receives for bringing good news.

In English we say “don’t shoot the messenger”, and in doing so demonstrate we do not share the mindset of our forebears; in the Graeco-Roman world, and that of its contemporary empires, carrying bad news was inauspicious and might cost you your life; carrying good news would inevitably earn you a reward, commensurate with the value of the news.

So what is going on here? Our religious mindset and its consequent passivity, I suspect.

Let me illustrate.

Here is a poster you find outside your house, with a photo of a cat, entitled “Missing”. What is your response?

You probably do a quick visual sweep of your surroundings just in case the missing cat is pulling faces at you from the nearest shrubbery, but essentially you have received a piece of information, which you store away in case it is ever relevant, and then head back inside to watch Netflix.

Here’s a second poster, bearing exactly the same image of the missing cat, but now with the title, “Missing” and underneath the words “Reward: $10,000”. Now, how do you respond?

Well, $10,000 is a lot of money; you check the owner’s address or location to ensure there is at least some chance you could be the lucky winner, and then you are out scouring the streets for the missing cat.

What is the difference? News demands no real response. A cat is missing? Noted. Finding the missing cat could earn me $10,000? I’m on my way. News is what you wrap fish and chips in; a reward demands engagement and action (assuming you wish to be rewarded).

This gets even more interesting if you look at some of the formulations in which εὐαγγέλιον turns up in Matthew and Mark (and no, Luke doesn’t have this at all; he does use the verb which means to carry good news, which Matthew also has); they are many and all primarily variations on:

“for my sake and for the sake of the εὐαγγέλιον”; and

“proclaiming this εὐαγγέλιον of the Kingdom in all the [inhabited] world”

In both those cases, “the reward for carrying Good News” fits with perfect sense; it just isn’t what we are used to hearing.

Here in Mark 1, we also have (vv 14-15)

Καὶ μετὰ τὸ παραδοθῆναι τὸν Ἰωάννην ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ λέγων ὅτι Πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρὸς καὶ ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ· μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ.

“After John’s arrest, Jesus went into the Galilee proclaiming the reward for Good News of God, and saying that “the season is completed and the Kingdom of God has drawn near; repent and believe in the reward for Good News“

I would be the first to agree that rendering this in English that both flows and makes sense is challenging; but however you decide to handle this, if you omit the element of reward, you would also need to answer to your own satisfaction why Matthew and Mark consistently used (in your view) the wrong word.

The writer to the Hebrews, summarises the journey of all those who come to God, thus:

“…because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”

(Heb 11:6b, NIV, my emphasis)

In Genesis 15:1, God tells Abram, that He is his shield and שְׂכָרְךָ֖ הַרְבֵּ֥ה מְאֹֽד׃ – “your abundantly multiplied wages”. Or as most English translations have it, “your exceedingly great reward”.

Something has airbrushed the notion of “reward” from our thinking and even – when possible – from our Bible. I am simply suggesting that what we have inaccurately called “the Good News” is actually “The Reward”, a reward arising from our active engagement with this Good News of Jesus the Anointed.

But don’t take my word for it: re-read the parables across all four Gospels and see how many are about receiving a reward, or failing to receive a reward. Makes you think…