Mark

Book Written:   60 A.D.  

Time Period/Setting:  Written for Gentile Christians, perhaps after the persecution of Christians by Nero (64 A.D.) or the Jewish revolt against Rome. 

Title:  Mark was not an apostle. Both Baker and HC say there was a John Mark who was an interpreter or companion of St. Peter while he was in Rome.

The gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four gospels, the earliest of the four (except for Baker's confusing comment that evidence exists for Matthew being the earliest) and it is considered to have served as the basis for the other gospels.  I think of Mark as the 'bare bones' account of Jesus and his ministry, having learned somewhere along the way that Mark's account is rudimentary, giving just the essentials with few details.  HC more or less confirms this describing Mark as "cruder and wordier" than Matthew or Luke.(Not sure what he might mean by wordier.) 

The gospel of Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus.  There are two endings (a feature I'll have to explore later).  Baker comments that a theme of this gospel is the coming Kingdom of  God as well as the notion that Jesus is the suffering Messiah who seeks to hide his identity.  HC concurs on the last point. 

Baker notes that each evangelist portrays Jesus differently (e.g. he says that Mark stresses Jesus' human side more than the others), but the differences are not really apparent to me upon a first reading of the gospels.

Matthew

Book Written:  Generally considered to be written late in the first century so 80 A.D.-90 A.D., but Baker suggests that there's evidence for an earlier date of composition, 40s A.D., and so the first gospel.  The author is usually considered to be the apostle, Matthew or Levi, a tax collector, but HC offers that this gospel was most likely written in Antioch, Syria by a "an unknown Greek-speaking Jewish Christian"  and simply named after one of the apostles to give the work greater credence.   There also seems to be a discrepancy about the original language of the gospel.  Baker says that the gospel first existed in Aramaic and was translated into "Koine Greek" whereas HC asserts that the gospel was originally written in Greek.

Time Period/Setting:   Post 70s A.D., after the fall of the temple in Jerusalem.  The author is writing for a Jewish audience

Title:  Named after the apostle Matthew.  See above.

There are five discourses in the book of Matthew along with 41 Old Testament quotations.  The five discourses can be found in Ch. 5 (the Beatitudes), Ch. 10 (Missionary Discourse), Ch. 13(parables), Ch. 18 (community, Church)  and Ch. 24 (the Second Coming).  Matthew's account of Jesus presumes a knowledge of the OT, hence the quotations.  He presents Jesus as a compassionate, dignified teacher, the Messiah, the fulfillment of the Law.  The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus.