The Gospel of Mark has always puzzled careful readers. It seems to focus on keeping Jesus' works and miracles secret, on Jesus' failure to convince his opponents, and on the weaknesses of his disciples. Patrick Flanagan provides a fresh and easy way to finally make sense of this important Gospel for the ordinary person. In this beautifully written book, he examines Mark's Gospel section by section. He presents the Gospel as it was meant to be heard by its original audience, the early church in Rome. Since those early Christians felt that they had failed and were confused about Christ's importance, Mark told them the story of Jesus as a messiah who had seemingly failed but, in reality, had succeeded by fulfilling God's plan of salvation.