Euaggelion: The Really Good News

Word of the Week

February 8, 2026

Euaggelion: The Really Good News

 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Romans 1:16 NASB

 

It’s a boy!

The check arrived!

You’re hired!

They won!

Good news comes in many packages and we love to receive it, whether it involves a new grandbaby or our favorite football team.  Even the media tries to interrupt the flow of catastrophic news to bring word of something good.

And this was just as true in the first century.  Ancient Greeks and Romans were eager for an encouraging report – so much so that the Greeks, as usual, had a word for it.

Good news for the Greek was euaggelion [yoo-ahn-GEHL-ee-ahn], a word with a logical origin.  Aggelia meant “message, news” and eu meant “good, favorable”.  Put them together and you get “good news.”

We know that good news comes in all sizes.  It might simply mean that warm weather has arrived or that your daughter passed her algebra quiz.  For first century Greeks, however, it typically meant something momentous.

In classical Greece, euaggelion often meant news of a victory on the battlefield.  When the army of Athens defeated Persian invaders, the first messenger to bring word of a Greek triumph would touch off a celebration.  Sacrifices would be offered at the temple, a festival with athletic competitions would ensue, and the messenger would be rewarded with the crown of a laurel wreath – and financial awards.

By the first century, the word was adopted to describe landmark events in the life of the Roman emperor.  Proclamations would go out announcing the “good news” of the ruler’s birth, his coming of age, and his taking the throne.  The government would sponsor celebrations of the new (and hopefully better) era that would happen now that this Caesar had begun his rule.  Even a set of new imperial decrees could be touted as “good news.”

Romans were taught that peace and prosperity came from the emperor, and this devotion eventually morphed into worship, treating the emperor as a semi-divine being.

And now comes the good news, the euaggelion of Jesus Christ.  The New Testament announces a different King whose arrival is even better news!

Euaggelion appears about 76 times in the New Testament – particularly in Matthew and Mark.  Luke uses the verb form for this idea, and John never uses it.  Paul is the one who makes this word a central focus of his theology.  We often translate it as “gospel,” a more specific way to describe this good news.

Jesus began His ministry preaching “the good news of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 24:14).  It was the wonderful announcement that the promised Messiah had arrived!  “The King is here!”

He called on people to commit themselves to Him and to the truth of the message about Him.  For instance, He said, “Whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35).

The apostle Paul specialized in the concept of the gospel, using the word 60 times in his epistles.  A careful study of these passages will show how he unfolded the concept.

A few key passages:

1. Galatians 1:6-7 – Not every “gospel” is genuine.

He warned that false teachers had infiltrated the Galatian churches with a “different gospel,” one that was not a real gospel at all – merely a false alternate message.

 

2. 1 Corinthians 15:1-7 – The core of the gospel consists of the key events of Christ’s career.

What was the content of the gospel that Paul preached?  He summarized it in this way:

            Christ died for our sins (according to the scriptures).

            Christ was buried (proving that He died).

            Christ was raised on the third day (according to the scriptures).

            Christ appeared to many witnesses (proving that He rose).

The good news is that God stepped into history in the person of His Son, who gave his life to provide us with salvation and rose to demonstrate His victory.

3. Romans 1:16-17 – The gospel is the core of our message to the world.

As Paul proclaimed, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”  Strip away everything but the essentials, and Christianity’s message is the fact that Christ came to provide salvation – and that it is available to anyone who chooses to believe that good – that best of all news!

 

Study Hint:

Vine’s Expository Dictionary  offers this list of the things that we should do with the gospel:

• Kerussō – preach it as a herald (Matthew 4:23).
• Laleō – speak it (1 Thessalonians 2:2)
• Diamarturomai – testify thoroughly (Acts 20:24)
• Euaggelizō – preach (1 Corinthians 15:1)
• Kataggellōo – proclaim (1 Corinthians 9:14)
• Douleuō eis – serve unto (Philippians 2:22)
• Sunathleō en – labor with in (Philippians 4:3)
• Hierourgeō – minister (Romans 15:16)
• Plēroō – preach fully (Romans 15:19)
• Sunkakopatheō – suffer hardship with (2 Timothy 1:8)

 

Coming Up

The church at Corinth was a high-mainenance congregation.  Paul wrote at least two letters trying to solve their problems, many of which stemmed from the fact that they were “carnal.”  Next week we will look more closely at what that means.

 

©Ezra Project 2026