The second reading for the Fourth Sunday of Advent from Romans 1:1-7
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who has descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the actions, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 1:1-7. This is perhaps St. Paul’s most famous letter, written to a congregation he did not found. There are few elements of the letter that are particularly important. I would like to discuss St. Paul’s use of the “good news.” In Greek the word, as I understand it, is euangelion, which literally means “good news” or “good message.” Euangelion or good news (good message) also had a meaning in an ancient pagan context. In the 20th century, an inscription from 9 BC was found–not long before Jesus was born. It was an inscription celebrating the birth of Caesar Augustus, the emperor. Notably, this inscription uses the expression “good news” (euangelion) or “gospel” to celebrate the birth of Caesar as the divine savior of the Roman empire:
“Since the Providence which has ordered all things is deeply interested in our life has set in most perfect order by giving us August, whom she file with virtue that he might benefit mankind, sending him as a savior, both for us and four our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things, and since he, Caesar, by his appearance [Greek epiphanein], surpassing all previous benefactors, and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done, and since the birthday fo the God [Greek theos] Augustus was the beginning of the world of the good tiding (Greek euangelion) that came by reason of him.”
Translation in M. Eugene Borin, et al., Hellenistic Commentary on the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 91995), 169. Why is this important? Because St. Paul is preaching the euangelion for the Church of Rome. At the same time, the Caesar August and subsequent emperors are proclaiming the euangelion to the Roman Empire. There is an implicit contrast between the good news of Jesus’ birth. He is God made flesh. He is the Savior of the world. On the other hand, pagans claimed Caesar to be a god. They saw him as the savior of the world through the Roman Empire. In other words, the expression “good news” could be taken to mean “Jesus Christ is Lord, and Caesar is not.” And it was likely intentional. Pope Benedict XVI has written about this in his three volume-set, Jesus of Nazareth.
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