The dates on which the Gospels were written, both the Synoptics and the Gospel of Saint John, are approximate dates about which there is no definitive consensus. The purpose of the Gospels is not to give exact dates and data about the events that were happening or were going to happen, but rather to present the Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ as the expected Messiah, the Savior, the Redeemer. Each Evangelist wrote with a particular audience in mind, but the Holy Spirit who moved them to write wanted them to be for all men of all times.
Saint Mark:
It was the first Gospel to be written. The exact date when it was written is not known with certainty. Saint Irenaeus, one of the Fathers of the Church, wrote in his book “Against Heresies” that the Gospel of Saint Mark was written after the death of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Saint Clement of Alexandria thought that it was written before the death of Saint Peter, which occurred in the year 64 A.D. Chapter 13:5-17, known as the “little Apocalypse,” indicates knowledge of events that led to the war of the Jews against the Romans (66-77 A.D.), but it does not show clear knowledge of the fall of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. Most scholars think that the Gospel was written shortly before the fall of Jerusalem and probably between the years 65-75 A.D.
This Gospel was written for Gentile Christians; this is shown by its translation of Aramaic words and explanation of Jewish customs. The use of Latinisms and the allusion to Rufus and Alexander (15:21) indicate that the recipients were the Gentile Christians of Rome, since that Rufus is probably the one cited in the Letter to the Romans 16:13. It can also be inferred that the recipients of this Gospel belong to a community threatened by persecution, which fits Rome in the time of Nero.
Saint Matthew:
This Gospel was written after the Gospel of Saint Mark, and many think that Saint Matthew used the Gospel of Saint Mark as a source. The approximate date is between 64-110 A.D. This Gospel was already known to Saint Ignatius of Antioch. It may have been written in Palestine. Its recipients are communities composed of Jewish Christians, familiar with Scripture, which is cited in about 130 verses, and who continue to respect the Law (“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets” Mt 5:17). However, they are communities that open themselves to the pagans and are already in tension with the Judaism that arose in Jamnia after the destruction of Jerusalem.
Before persecuted communities, Matthew presents Jesus as the one who has brought to fulfillment all the expectations of the Old Testament. Christians have already been expelled from the synagogues, and the attacks against the Pharisees placed on Jesus’ lips are severe (Mt 23).
Saint Luke:
The evangelist himself tells us in the prologue of his Gospel (Lk 1:1-4) that he used other sources to write it. Many scholars today agree that this Gospel depends on the Gospel of Saint Mark. The events were transmitted to him by eyewitnesses of them.
If we place the date of Saint Mark between the years 65-75 A.D., then the Gospel of Saint Luke must have been written some time later. The most probable time is 80-85 A.D. We also see that Saint Luke, in chapter 21:5-38, knows that Jerusalem has been destroyed, so he wrote after the year 70 A.D. Moreover, neither the Gospel of Saint Luke nor the book of Acts mentions the persecution of Christians in the latter part of Domitian’s reign (81-96 A.D.). These data also support that this Gospel was written between the years 80-85 A.D. Biblical commentators, both ancient and modern, cannot agree as to the place where it was written. Achaia, Rome, and Asia Minor are suggested.
It seems that he writes to an audience of Gentile origin. Saint Luke does not recount the Jewish concerns of his sources (Saint Mark) and adapts Palestinian traditions to the reality of Hellenic Gentiles. It is very possible that Saint Luke is writing for Christians who were victims of Jewish persecution during the beginnings of the reform of Jamnia. However, Saint Luke’s predominant audience is Gentile Christians.
Saint John
Until recently, a late date was proposed for this Gospel, approximately between the years 140-170 A.D. (second century). The argument most often used to support this date was the high development of its theology. Saint John represents a very elevated Christological synthesis, far beyond that of the three Synoptic Gospels or even that of Saint Paul. However, the most convincing argument against such a late date was the discovery of the papyrus called Rylands (in honor of the person who discovered it). This is a fragment of an Egyptian codex that contained portions of the Gospel of Saint John 18:31-33 and 18:37-38. Some say that this papyrus dates from the year 135 A.D. And if this is so, a considerable time must have elapsed for the Gospel of Saint John to be copied and circulated before it reached Egypt. This Gospel was probably written during the last ten years of the first century of the Christian era, possibly in 95-100 A.D. Saint John wrote for people familiar with Jewish culture and at the same time in contact with Greek thought; moreover, they are warned against Gnosticism. It is a Christian community, probably that of Ephesus, that finds itself threatened in its faith.
As for the stay of the Apostle Saint John in Ephesus and on the island of Patmos, tradition tells us that he lived for a time in Jerusalem and spent his last years in Ephesus. It is said that around the year 95 A.D. Saint John was exiled to the island of Patmos during the persecution of Domitian. This island is about 100 km from Ephesus. Later, during the reign of Nerva, around the year 96 A.D., he was allowed to return to Ephesus and lived until the reign of Trajan in 98 A.D. The exact date of his death is not known; it is known that he was the last of the Apostles to die and that with him, as the Church teaches us, Public Revelation ended.
Source: Corazones.org
