Interestingly enough, not one of the Gospels tell us who wrote it. Luke and John come close but Mark and Matthew do not specifically say. The authorship comes from tradition and while that can make us a little uncomfortable, there aren’t many scholars disputing that Mark is the author of this account. In addition, there are several early Christian sources related to the origins and authorship of the Gospels.
The early Christians wanted to know what Peter and John had to say. As Peter got older, the need to preserve his teachings in writing became more and more apparent. The tradition is that Peter is a major source of Mark’s Gospel (and there was no doubt among the early church that it was Mark who wrote it). Every Gospel had to be attached to an apostle and while John Mark and Luke were not apostles, each was connected to an apostle (Mark to Peter and Luke to Paul). In the sermons he preached in Acts, Peter always starts with God’s promises and how Jesus fulfilled them. Peter has a specific way of talking about the Christ event and Mark picks up on this in his writing.
The word Gospel means “good news” and in Rome, there were gospels that were frequently placed into circulation. For example, when a general won a big battle, he would send a gospel back to announce the good news of the win. So while the idea of gospels isn’t original to Christians, it is the content that is original with Mark being the innovator of this format. His literary Gospel account is traditionally considered to be the first.
Mark 14:51 And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: 52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked. KJ
We don’t know who this guy is (and the story isn’t in Matthew or Luke) but tradition has it that it is John Mark.
Around 120 A.D., Marcion (often referred to as Marcion, the heretic) wanted to use Luke in his compilation of apostolic writings because it was the least Jewish. Marcion’s heresy, in part, was that he thought that the God of the Old Testament was mean and as such, could not have been the Father of Christ. Not too many years later, Tatian tried to combine the Gospels into a single account. Ultimately the church decided it wanted a diversity of perspectives with Matthew written to the Jewish audience, Luke to the Greeks and Mark to a Roman audience. The timing of Mark is placed between 55 and 70 A.D. which could mean that a great many epistles may have been written prior to any of the Gospels being written.
We often make the mistake of thinking of the Gospels as biographies (which they are not). In the epistles, the authors were using a form that existed in the culture of the time and then dropped their information into that existing format. The Gospels, however, are not concerned with being historical or biographical. Mark has a specific view of who Jesus is and he wants to communicate that to us so that we might come to faith in Christ. So this is a way for Mark to make an imprint on those people coming after who did not have the opportunity to experience Jesus firsthand. In his Gospel account, there is very little teaching and not a whole lot of red letters.
Mark 15:39 Now when the centurion, who stood in front of him, saw how He died, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” NET
Here we see a Roman centurion proclaiming Jesus as God’s Son. You would think this would have come from one of the disciples but at this point, they are all in hiding. So Mark wants us to know that Jesus is God’s Son and who do we get this from? A Roman.
Mark 8:27Jesus went out, with his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they said to him, saying, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, but others: one of the prophets.” 29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to him, “You are the Christ.” 30 He commanded them that they should tell no one about Him. NHEB
Throughout Mark, someone declares that Jesus is the Messiah and He tells them not to tell anyone about it.
Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; KJ
Some interpreters take “beginning” as a reference to Genesis however most see it as simply being where the story starts. Again, one of Mark’s primary goals is to establish that Jesus is the Son of God. The title “Son of God” would be understood differently depending upon the audience. Greeks would think of the many sons of Zeus while Jews would hear it as Messiah. Christians would hear it as the beginning of the Trinity. A Roman hearing this would think of the emperor so equating this term with Jesus would make Him into a rival to Caesar.
Mark 1:14 Now after John was imprisoned, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God. 15 He said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Gospel!” NET
Herod is part of a mythical Jewish dynasty but his power comes from Rome which is how Romans would see him (rather than as a Jew). After John the Baptist goes down (thanks to one of Herod’s sons who has arrested him), Jesus starts preaching the Good News of God. It gets specific in verse 15. Time is Kairos time rather than Chronos time. To illustrate, nine months can be measured in minutes and hours but it means something else to a pregnant woman as there is also an event that will occur when the time is right. That right time is now as the text suggests that God has made some promises and they are now at hand.
We think of “kingdom” in real estate terms – a place with boundaries and walls. It might be easier here to think of “kingdom” as reign. The Helps Word Studies describes the word translated here as “kingdom” as being the realm in which a king sovereignly rules. This word is often used in connection with the rule of Christ in the hearts of believers. (See https://biblehub.com/greek/932.htm). We are talking about the re-establishment of God’s claim on humanity as Jesus is coming to reclaim what belongs to God. So kingdom as used here doesn’t refer to the millennial kingdom nor to the church but to something that Jesus establishes. Since this is true, it follows with what you need to do.
We tend to think of repent as being an emotional response when it is a rational response. A case has been made and you have to decide.