I would say that, if you’ve studied the gospel of John and 1 John, your next book to study probably should be the gospel of Mark. I believe this for two main reasons:

  1. The gospel of Mark is a gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and is thus 1 of the 5 books of the Bible that I believe to be the most fundamental and foundational: the gospels and 1 John
  2. The gospel of Mark is the shortest synoptic gospel, and is less Jewish in its style than Matthew, thus providing its student to be better prepared to understand longer gospels, and also to understand Matthew, the most Jewish of them because Mark wrote to a Roman audience, obliging him to tailor the story to an audience that wouldn’t understand every part of the Jewish culture in which the Lord Jesus Christ lived

In the gospel of Mark, Mark portrays the Lord Jesus Christ as the authoritative Lord of all things, who uses His supreme authority as the Lord to serve others. Much of what the Lord does involves healing people or casting out demons, as well as some short teachings. If one will read the gospel of Mark, he will see that the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord over nature, over people, and over demons. In the believer’s life, this gospel can provide a reminder that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Lord, and that His supremely authoritative power is inside of us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This means that the same power that we see displayed by the Lord in the gospel of Mark is available to us to use to live like He did, and to become more like Him. In addition, we see His example of serving others as our example to follow.