One book done already; having completed the gospel of Matthew, today we begin the gospel of Mark. T
he author is John Mark the evangelist, a man with quite a distinguished pedigree. His mother Mary was a believer in whose home prayer was held, he was the nephew of Barnabbas, Paul’s companion in mission, He travelled initially with Paul and Barnabbas before leaving them at some point and He was considered by the apostle Peter as his son in the faith.
Paul speaks of him to Timothy as being of great use to him in the work. He also served as interpreter for the apostle Peter at some point. The unanimous testimony of the early fathers including Eusebius, Iraeneus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Papias, Tertullian is that John Mark in this gospel serves as Peter’s amanuensis or at least communicates information received from the apostle.
The gospel is direct, brief, non exhaustive and non chronological. It leaves out the accounts of the birth of Jesus and commences with John the Baptist in action. It is the action gospel as it focuses more on the miracles and actions of Jesus than on His discourses save for His parables; and it also recounts more of His miracles than do the other gospels.
Mark contains contains more Latin words than the other gospels and is widely believed to have been written in Rome to Gentile Christians. It is vivid, lively, presents Jesus as immensely popular, as demonstrating His divinity through His actions, and paints an overall picture of Jesus as Saviour, Lord of life, Messiah, Son of God and One who came to serve.
Mark 10:44-45
…and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.