Reflect prayerfully on the Scripture reading as you listen.

It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 

Mark 1:9-11

Lord Jesus, you allowed yourself to be baptized by John as an example for all of us. The Father proclaimed that He was pleased in you, His beloved Son. Send your Spirit upon us so that we might imitate you as adopted sons and daughters of the Father. Help us to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God. 

Our Father... 

In the next few lessons, you are going to learn about what influenced Mark to write his Gospel the way he did. The Gospel of Mark is the shortest and most action oriented of the four Gospels. It is also considered by most scholars to be the earliest written of the four Gospels. In fact, it is thought that the authors of Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels used Mark’s Gospel as a source for their own Gospels. Therefore, Matthew’s, Mark’s, and Luke’s Gospels are very similar to one another. All three present the story of Jesus’ life in a similar way with similar details, while each adds unique details to the story. Traditionally, the author of Mark’s Gospel is thought to be a man named John Mark, who was not an Apostle, but was a traveling companion of St. Peter. In this lesson, we will begin by learning about the author of Mark’s Gospel and his audience, and then study the divisions of Mark’s Gospel.