Part 63 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

David Pawson says that the gospels are essentially news bulletins, better read aloud. Mark was the first gospel written and he is primarily telling us what Jesus did. The 4 gospels together give us a 4-dimensional portrait of Jesus because they had different readers in mind. Mark and Luke wrote for unbelievers. Though Mark was never a leader in the early church he was an assistant and/or interpreter to no fewer than 4 men at various times. His gospel recorded Peter’s preaching and is a book of action. There are more miracles than parables recorded here. There is nothing of Jesus’ birth or boyhood. It is thought that Matthew and Luke used Mark’s framework and expanded on it from their knowledge for their gospel records. The first 9 chapters deal with the first 2-and-a-half years of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee in northern Israel, then he concentrated on his 12 disciples for 6 months (chapter 10) then the last week of Jesus’ life on earth took chapters 11 to 16. David shows what altered the course of Jesus’ ministry. There is a remarkable emphasis on both the human and the divine aspects of Jesus’ death.