The Gospel of Mark is both the shortest and the oldest of the four Gospels, yet it is filled with action and urgency, as if it were written under pressure and with a deadline, while covering the most important points. There is a raw quality to it, presenting a condensed and more roughly written account compared to the Gospel of Luke, which was authored and polished by an educated physician.

It appears that both Matthew and Luke relied on Mark as a reference, as they narrate many of the same stories in a similar order. Here's a rough timeline:

• Jesus was crucified around 30 to 33 AD.
• Mark is believed to have been written from Rome between 64 and 68 AD: 16 chapters.
• Matthew was likely written in Antioch, around 70-85 AD: 28 chapters.
• Luke was composed in either Caesarea or Antioch, around 80-90 AD: 24 chapters.
• John is thought to have been written in Ephesus, around 90-100 AD: 21 chapters.

What do we know about the author of Mark? Who was Mark? Here is what I could find.

It was common at that time for Jews to have both a Jewish name and a Greek or Roman name, such as Simon/Peter and Saul/Paul. Here, we have a man named John Mark. John would have been his Jewish/Hebrew name, and Mark his Greek/Roman name.

Mark's mother was named Mary, and she was probably a widow, for his father is not mentioned. She was apparently a wealthy Christian woman with a large house in Jerusalem. The early church met there. When Herod had Peter arrested and intended to execute him, an angel freed Peter from prison at night, and Peter went directly to Mary's house, where other Christians were gathered. It was a large house with a locked gate and a servant.

(Acts 12:12-13 NASB) And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer.

Mark became the assistant or interpreter of the Apostle Peter, and they traveled together extensively. Because of that, the Gospel of Mark reveals the story and teachings of Jesus Christ as told by the Apostle Peter. Apparently, they were very close because when Peter was writing from Rome, he called Mark his son:

(1 Peter 5:13 NKJV) She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son.

Christians used codewords then to hide their location and when writing about sensitive subjects that could be used against them. Here, Peter referred to Rome as Babylon. Revelation also contains similar coded language when referring to Rome without naming it (Revelation 17:5). Most scholars believe that the number of the beast, 666, is a reference to the Roman Emperor Nero (Revelation 13:18). It was death to speak against the Emperor, so the name Nero does not appear in the Bible. Yet, the numerical value of the name "Nero Caesar," when calculated in Hebrew, can yield 666.

John Mark was quite possibly a disciple of Jesus Christ and was with him on the night of his arrest. Since the earliest days of the church, a story has circulated that the Last Supper was held in the upper room at the home of Mary, the mother of Mark, in Jerusalem. After supper, Judas left them and led the soldiers back there to arrest Jesus, but they had gone out to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray as they often did. So young Mark hastily threw on a linen cloth and tried to outrun Judas and the mob to warn Jesus.

(Mark 14:50-52 NKJV) Then they all forsook Him and fled. Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

Many believe that the "certain young man" in the linen cloth who fled was Mark, and it was his way of saying, "I was there." That would have been deeply personal to him, and this story is only included in Mark's Gospel. I have always wondered why that minor detail was pointed out, given that many people were fleeing at the same time. Mark couldn't write about Peter's denial of Jesus three times without mentioning his own abandonment of Jesus the same night.

Mark the swift was also the cousin of Barnabas, who traveled extensively with the Apostle Paul (Colossians 4:10). They took Mark with them on Paul's first missionary journey, but after the encounter with Elymas the sorcerer, whom Paul cursed with blindness, Mark left the ministry team and returned to Jerusalem.

(Acts 13:11-13 NKJV) And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time." And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord. Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.

Scripture provides no details as to why Mark left them, but it was apparently unexpected and contrary to Paul's wishes. Possibly, he was too young and inexperienced for the trip and missed home. Another possibility was the gradual shift in leadership. They began as "Barnabas and Paul" but gradually shifted to "Paul and his party." Barnabas, Mark's cousin, had been a Christian much longer than Paul and had brought him into the Church when the other Apostles were afraid of him, but now he was getting pushed to the back (Acts 4:36-37), (Acts 9:26-27).

(Acts 12:25 NKJV) And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John whose surname was Mark.

(Acts 13:13 NKJV) Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.

It may also have been because Paul preached salvation to Gentiles without any Jewish attachment, for when Mark left, he returned not to the Gentile church in Antioch, the site of his former service, but to the Jewish church in Jerusalem. Nothing set Paul off more than questioning the idea of being "saved by faith" and trying to link circumcision to salvation (Galatians 3:1-3). This was before the Jerusalem Council settled this matter in (Acts 15:1-6).

After the church elders clarified the matter, Mark may have felt differently, but Paul didn't. On the next missionary trip, when Barnabas wanted to bring Mark along, Paul refused. It became a sharp disagreement and caused a rift between Paul and Barnabas.

(Acts 15:36-41 NKJV) Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing." Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God.

Barnabas and Mark sailed to Cyprus, and we know little about what happened, but history has it that they continued to minister together until Barnabas was martyred. Mark appears again ten years later with Paul in Rome, and it appears that they had reconciled their differences by then. Paul wrote:

(Philemon 23-24 NKJV) Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.

Later, when Demas and others abandoned Paul in Rome, he wrote Timothy and asked him to bring Mark with him:

(2 Timothy 4:9-11 NKJV) Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.

About 64-68 AD, Paul was waiting in jail again in Rome to stand trial before Emperor Nero, who was said to have burned Christians as human torches to light his garden. Rome was a dangerous place to be a Christian during these years.

While waiting in jail, Paul wrote the "prison epistles" of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. In Paul's last letter, 2nd Timothy, he asked Timothy to bring Mark and come quickly (2 Timothy 4:11). The end was near.

The Apostle Peter was also in Rome during this time and wrote 1st and 2nd Peter. So, Peter, Paul, and Mark were in Rome during the same time period, from 64 to 68 AD. Both Peter and Paul were executed by Nero in Rome about that time. Paul was beheaded, and Peter was crucified upside down at his request because he felt unworthy to be crucified the same as Jesus was.

So with the Apostles that Mark traveled with being executed in front of him, he needed to get what was in his head onto paper so their knowledge wouldn't die with him if he were next. This created the sense of urgency and explains why Mark is twelve chapters shorter than Matthew. Unlike the other Gospels, which were written in relatively safe cities like Antioch or Ephesus, the Gospel of Mark was penned in Rome—a city known for its intense persecution of Christians during that time under the rule of Nero.

John Mark completed his Gospel and lived for about five more years before he was martyred in Alexandria, Egypt, between 68 and 73 AD. Foxes Book of Martyrs has this entry:

St. Mark: This evangelist and martyr was born of Jewish parents of the tribe of Levi. It is supposed that he was converted to Christianity by St. Peter, whom he served as an amanuensis [assistant], and whom he attended in all his travels. Being entreated by the converts at Rome to commit to writing the admirable discourses they had heard from St. Peter and himself, he complied with their request, and composed his gospel in the Greek language. He then went to Egypt, and constituted a bishopric at Alexandria: afterwards he proceeded to Lybia, where he made many converts. On returning to Alexandria, some of the Egyptians, exasperated at his success, determined on his death. They tied his feet, dragged him through the streets, left him bruised in a dungeon all night, and the next day burned his body. This took place on the 25th of April, on which day the church commemorates his martyrdom. His bones were carefully gathered up by the Christians, decently interred, and afterwards removed to Venice, where he is honoured as the tutelar saint and patron of the state.

That must have been such a horrible time period, but I'm thankful that those saints persevered before us and completed their work. Now we have their writings within our Bibles, millions and millions of Bibles around the world.

This is all I could gather about the Gospel of Mark and its author, John Mark. I hope you enjoyed it.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You so much for another day. I love and appreciate You. Please help me retain the things that I learn and let Your precious word flow through me to reach others. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!