When Were the Gospels Written?
When were the gospels written? Decades after the ascension of Christ, later, or actually, earlier?
Let’s walk through this together.
First thing to understand concerning the dates of the Gospels is that it is all speculation and consensus, depending on where you stand. From the liberal camp, they will say that the gospels were written after 70 AD because Jesus speaks of the destruction of the temple, which took place in 70 AD. For them, Jesus could only speak of something like that if it had already happened. So their decision is based upon unbelief. They don’t believe that Jesus was a prophet, or knew the future. For them, He was just a good man.
For the conservatives, they always seem to claim that the gospels were written at the earliest, in the 50s or late 60s. Their reason for this is actually the opposite of the liberals. They actually believe that Jesus was and is a Prophet. This is why Jesus speaks of the destruction of the temple in the future tense. And since the gospel, book of Acts, or the rest of the NT speak of the temple actually being destroyed, they hold that all were written before 70 A.D.
I completely agree with this assessment. Jesus was THE Prophet. He foretold of His death, resurrection, and ascension. Foretelling the future of the Temple was child’s play. If He was right on the former, which He was, then the prophesies of the temple’s destruction were nothing for Him. He did ascend to the right hand of the Father. He also came again in judgment in 70 A.D. to carry out what He said would happen.
(Obviously, I’ve gone to preaching.)
Back to the date of Matthew, which is my main goal.
I hope you have seen that we have placed the Synoptic Gospels before the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. But why do we claim that the gospels were written in the 50s or 60s?
This is what I was told while in seminary. The reasoning given was that it takes a while to gather the money to buy the paper, which was rare and expensive. The paper that could be had, was only used on the most important things in the world, like… grocery lists, love notes, and reminders to wash chariot, taxes, court records, contracts, leases, wills, and other such things.
We know all those things were written down in the days of Christ because of the great treasure trove of papyri found in Egypt in the late 1800s, and early 1900s. That discovery was a gift that showed us the life of the average Greco-Roman citizen.
This destroys the false notion that paper was hard to come by and so expensive that the disciples had to save their pennies in order to get enough paper before they started writing.
This is where the faith of the conservatives falls flat. They are trying so hard to be acceptable, scholarly, and responsible in their discussions of such a topic, that they rule out the possibility that our King already had a plan on how the gospels would be written, who would write them, and where the money would come from to do so. It is almost as if they think that the King of kings, the omniscient Second Person of the Trinity was sort of winging it, and only thought to have the guys start writing all that happened down during the 40-day stretch between the resurrection and His ascension.
The truth is that Jesus knew that the events of His ministry needed to be written down, and would have had His disciples doing just that during His ministry. We know this, because the same Person of the Trinity was having the prophets write things down before His incarnation. Every time YHWH moved in the lives of His covenantal people, He would raise up a prophet to write those things down.
For example, YHWH told Moses to write things down, Exodus 24:4. Moses writes down all the words of YHWH, so that he can read them back to the Israelites all that they had agreed to do.
In Exodus 34:27, YHWH instructs Moses to write down the covenant He just made with the Israelites after the golden calf incident.
YHWH Himself, actually writes the Ten Commandments: Exodus 31:18, 32:16, 34:1, 34:28.
This would continue with Joshua and the Prophets. It was done during the period of Joshua, Judges, and Kings. Even David had access to paper and was in the habit of writing things down to record the Psalms.
All this shows us that God established a pattern of writing down what He was doing in history. God always ensures that there is someone to record these events when He begins to move, forf covenant people. YHWH actually wants us to know about how He has moved in history. He wants us to remember, so that we declare His magnificent works to the nations.
So why is it, that we think that Jesus, as the incarnate YHWH, would not do the same?
Peter Leithart
Now please understand where all this begins. I confess that it is not from me. It was a short article by Peter Leithart that opened my mind to this truth. Blame him. Yet, what he writes, has a ring of truth to it. I never liked the idea that the gospel writers sat around for decades before putting pen to paper. This makes no sense. See his article here, where he writes:
Late dating of the gospels is historically preposterous. Even the most “conservative” dating assumes that Jewish Christians, who believed that the long-awaited salvation had finally occurred in Jesus, would wait over a decade before putting an ordered account on paper. On the contrary: The very first thing a Jew would do if convinced that Jesus was Messiah would be to pick up a quill and papyrus and start writing. Matthew, who wrote the book cleverly called “Matthew,” was a literate tax collectors who in all likelihood jotted down sermon notes as he followed Jesus around Galilee and Judea. Whyever would he keep those hidden for a decade before writing his gospel?
Why would he? We don’t. When something happens of significance, we write it down. This is because we know the importance of something that is written down. This was true of the Bible as well. Especially given… that the Messiah, whom the Jews had waiting for thousands of years, finally showed up.
Our scholars seem to think the gospel writers waited like modern historians do, waiting to get the full picture, which takes a few decades. For example, William Shirer, who wrote The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, was heavily criticized by academia because he put his book out so quickly after World War II. But why? Shirer was a witness to many of the events. He knew many of the people who lived under the Third Reich. He was writing down the events of history as they unfolded. And because of this, his book is one of the premier books on Hitler and the war.
I point this out to show it’s part of human nature to record great events in history. We should expect the same when the long-awaited Messiah shows up.
The Chosen Recorder
As for Matthew, I believe Jesus chooses him specifically to write down the things that Jesus is doing. Why is this? In general, we know that that all the disciples were chosen by Jesus for a specific reason. We may not know those reasons, but Christ does.
The best example of this is Paul. Jesus called him while he was on the Road to Damascus for the purpose of taking the gospel to the Gentiles, and to suffer many things for Christ. But Paul was also chosen because he was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was trained in the Old Testament. He would go on to write much of the New Testament in his letters to the churches explaining the Christian life (I include Hebrews among his letters). But he wasn’t just writing them simple letters. Paul was writing to the explaining the Old Testament in light of the New Covenant, and Christ. His background as a Pharisee helped him explain life as a Christian.
Jesus choosing of Matthew was no less specific. Matthew was chosen because he was a man who paid attention to details. He was a tax collector and was educated. He knew how to write. He also knew how to get paper. It was a part of the trade to keep records of the work he did as a tax collector. So the need to wait 10, 15, 20 years before writing what Jesus did, was not necessary.
As Leithart suggests, Matthew probably started writing down things the moment of his calling, and may have even wrote things down before he was called. We don’t know with any certainty, but Matthew may have been part of the multitudes who actually heard the Sermon on the Mount, or witnessed the miracles of Christ. He may have known the Centurion, or others, who experienced the mercy and power of Christ.
I don’t believe for a moment that when Jesus said, “Follow Me,” that this was the first time Matthew had seen Jesus. But then again, I don’t want to take away from the possibility that it was the first time Matthew saw Jesus. Jesus could command as much. His calling on a man is effectual whether the man has seen Jesus or not.
What we do know is Matthew did follow Jesus, and immediately threw a banquet for his friends, the other tax collectors and sinners. Luke’s gospel gives us more details than Matthew’s does.
And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them (Luke 5:29).
This lack of the term banquet in Matthew’s gospel may be a testimony to his humility. He didn’t want to boast in being able to throw a banquet. Yet, he did just that. As a tax collector, he had the money to throw a banquet.
Why?
He threw the banquet so his friends could meet Jesus as he had done. He wanted them to know Jesus as He knew Jesus.
It is interesting how little we know of Matthew. His name is mentioned about five times in the Gospels and Acts, and his other name, Levi, three times. His name is found in the accounts of his calling, and in the list of the disciples. But no where else.
There are no recorded words between Matthew and Jesus. He never asks any questions that we know of. He is, silent…
But we do know he wants people to know Christ. The banquet shows us this. He invites everyone he knows to the banquet… and he writes. He records, and writes, so that people will know about Christ.
And it is after the Day of Pentecost, that Matthew sees the real need for all that he has written. There are all these Jews who have just come to know Christ who need to be informed. The Spirit has moved in them, but they need instruction. And Matthew is ready. He takes all his notes, put them in book form, and starts sharing so those who have come to know Jesus through the preaching of the word, can read the gospel for themselves. Matthew fulfills the purpose for his calling.
Conclusion
What I’m hoping you see, is that there would be absolutely no reason at all to wait a decade or two in order to put down on paper the events of the long-awaited Messiah. There was an immediate need for the gospel of Matthew. And Matthew filled that need for his countrymen. He was the first because he was on the scene for many of the events. He was THE eyewitness for the job. It was exactly why Jesus called Him.
If you like, you can listen to the sermon I preached on the calling of Matthew here. This post was the background work for that sermon.
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