This book was almost certainly written by the John Mark of whom we read several times in the New Testament (e.g., Acts 12:12). Although the gospel itself nowhere says that it was written by Mark, the early Christians had no doubts about it. John Mark most likely lived in Jerusalem, where he would have known many of Jesus’ followers (though he was too young at the time to have been a follower himself). Mark’s gospel was written quite early, perhaps between AD 60 and 70, i.e., only about thirty years after the death of Christ. This would put the writing around the time of the deaths of Paul and Peter which we believe took place about AD 64, and just before the Roman armies destroyed Je- rusalem in AD 70. Mark had different purposes for writing his gospel; to make the good news accessible to gentiles, to encourage those facing persecution, to defend the faith, and to explain the significance of the cross. Mark’s gospel was probably the first time that so many of these stories about Jesus had been brought together.