Mark: Jesus Christ, Love in Action

The Gospel of Mark was written about A.D. 57–59 by a Jewish disciple of the Christian faith, the same “John Mark” mentioned at least ten times in the New Testament. John was his Hebrew name, and Mark was his Gentile name.1 All of the early church fathers ascribe this gospel to a young man who was not one of the twelve apostles but was a disciple of Paul and later of Peter. He is often referred to as the interpreter of Peter’s teaching, and Peter apparently gave Mark his stamp of approval for the use of these teachings among the early churches.2