This book offers an alternative commentary--concise, up-to-date, readable, engaging the text as a cross-cultural encounter, acknowledging distance and difference from our contemporary world as well as highlighting proximity and relevance. It is written by a leading international New Testament scholar and designed for individual and group use. The commentary looks at Mark's special emphases, with attention also to its use by other Gospel writers and its use for recovering the emphases of Jesus himself. It explores why Mark thought to tell the story of Jesus' ministry as the good news and what impact he likely sought to have on communities of his time. The commentary also considers what in Mark's Gospel might still have something to say to our time, and what might not. This book is written for faith seeking an informed understanding of the past and a critical appreciation of its abiding relevance. Also included is the full text of Mark's Gospel in a fresh translation by the author.