Mark’s Gospel is the shortest of the four Gospels and is distinguished by its simple, vivid, terse, condensed and chronological portrait of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark was a close companion of Peter and it is believed that much of his material was based on firsthand observations by Peter. There are some graphic touches that indicate that he also would have been an eyewitness to some of the events in Christ’s life.

Mark is the first of the four Gospels to be written, about 53-55 AD. Most scholars believe that it was written from Rome to the people in Rome, first to believers to encourage them in the midst of persecution and secondly to non-believers to convince of the deity of Jesus Christ.