Caesar by his epiphany exceeded the hopes of those who prophesied good tidings (euaggelia), not only outdoing benefactors of the past, but also allowing no hope of greater bene-factions in the future; and since the birthday of the god first brought to the world the good tidings (euaggelia) residing in him.
An inscription in Priene on the west coast of present-day Turkey.
Jesus' wasn't the only one with "good news". In this inscription Caesar is identified as a god. He was more often called the, "son of god". The second title given to Jesus in the opening verse of Mark is also, " Son of God". In this case I don't believe that the author was saying that Jesus was divine. Most Bibles have a footnote at this phrase stating that it does not appear in all early manuscripts. Also, coming as it does right after the title of, "anointed one", I would guess that this is a repetition or reinforcement of that term, the one chosen by God to be king. God's son is a term used in the Jewish scripture in many places to refer to God's chosen king. King David is referred to as God's son and no indication is made that he is somehow divine, a god himself.
Caesar on the other hand used the phrase to suggest that he was in fact divine, justifying and legitimizing his rule. I would have to imagine that the gospel community were evoking and subverting this image of Caesar when giving this title to Jesus. They were saying that Jesus was the true " king" chosen by God and it his claim to authority that is legitimate.
So to sum up the opening verse, this book is about the ongoing important message about Jesus who is legitimized by being chosen by God to be king.
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