As Matthew was written by a Jew and for the Jews to prove the Messiah-ship of Jesus, Mark’s account is believed to have been written primarily for a Roman readership and to prove the Son-ship of Jesus, thus its style and material arrangement. This is widely believed for many reasons. Hochdorf wrote:
“Mark, does not assume that his readers are familiar with Jewish Scripture thus he only quotes one Old Testament passage (Mark 1:2-3). On a regular basis he explains the customs of the Jews alone with geography only the Jews might by familiar with (Mark 7:2-4; 13:3; 14:12)…In Matthew’s account he records the Lord as saying ‘But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day’ (Matthew 24:20). This would be of special interest to the Jews because the gates of the city would be closed on the Sabbath thus hindering their escape. In Mark’s account, however, he states ‘And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter’ (Mark 13:18). Roman readers need not be warned of the Sabbath since their place of abode was other than Jerusalem…There are no statements about the law after the manner of Matthew’s recorded jot and tittle saying (Matthew 5:18). In fact, there are no fundamental discussions about the law as in Matthew.”
In addition to all of this, Mark explained many Jewish terms with which the Romans would not have necessarily been familiar such as “fasting (Mark 2:18), washings (Mark 7:3-4), the Passover (Mark 14:12), and the preparation which takes place the day prior to the Sabbath (Mark 15:42).” Thus the intended readership and purpose of Mark seemingly is that this account was written primarily for the benefit of the Romans and it was written to persuade
them that Jesus was the Son of God.
Regarding the authorship, many attacks have been made in recent years upon practically all writers of the sacred book in an attempt to discredit the Bible and its truths. However, like Matthew, Mark from antiquity has been attributed the authorship of this book and there is no credible evidence to state otherwise. The earliest of writers, even dating to the time it was written claim Mark as its author.
Mark, unlike Matthew, was not an apostle of the Lord, thus the things he wrote were not of an eye-witness account. This, though, does not hinder the credibility of Mark’s account but actually strengthens it. Since Mark would not have been an eyewitness of all he recorded, how is it that those things he records in his account are perfectly unified with the account of Matthew (as well as Luke and John)? Mark was inspired of the Holy Spirit to write as was all others. This is not the work of a mere man gathering information and reporting what others told him, but rather this is the work of a man as directed by the Spirit of God (II Timothy 3:16).
Though Mark was not an apostle, he was a Christian and was heavily involved with the evangelization of the world. When Paul embarked on his first missionary journey, with him he took Barnabas and John Mark (John was his Jewish name and Mark was his Roman surname); however, when Paul and Barnabas departed from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, John Mark departed from them and went back to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). This apparently caused Paul to lose trust in Mark because when Paul and Barnabas were about to begin their second missionary journey Barnabas insisted that Mark be included, but Paul adamantly refused to bring him, thus causing Paul and Barnabas to separate (Acts 15:37-41). The scriptures, though, do bear out that amends must have been made years later because Mark was with Paul in Rome (Colossians 4:10—called Marcus) and then in his final letter to Timothy, Paul instructed him to bring Mark with him because “he is profitable to me for the ministry” (II Timothy 4:11).
Wherein Matthew began his account with the birth and early events of Christ’s life, Mark does not begin his account until Christ’s baptism and calling of his apostles. Throughout Mark emphasis is placed upon Christ’s miraculous power and relevant teachings, leading up to the account of His arrest, trial, execution, and resurrection, finally closing with His ascension. Is Christ the Son of God? Mark proves it to be so to the Romans as well as to all mankind.