QUICK GLANCE AUTHOR: John Mark AUDIENCE: Mostly Gentile Christians, probably in the church at Rome DATE: Between the mid-50s and late 60s AD THEME: To encourage his readers to persevere through suffering and persecution, Mark presents Jesus as the Servant-Messiah and Son of God who died as a ransom for sinners. Mark is almost exactly half the length of Matthew and Luke, suggesting standardized scroll lengths. Given the cost of ancient scrolls, Mark would have been the most affordable