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The chronological order of the gospels and their approximate dating can be found by finding the date of martyrdom of the writers and
by comparing their statements about the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70.
Vespasian, emperor of Roman from A.D. 69-79, put his
son Titus in charge during the Jewish revolt, which eventually lead to the first Roman/Jewish war and ended with the destruction
of the Jewish temple in A.D. 70 (Josephus). The prophet Daniel predicted this destruction, calling it the "abomination" that would
make the temple "desolate."
According to Daniel, this prophecy would take place after the death of the Messiah who would be
killed (cut off") "but not for himself."
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell how Jesus prophesied
this event to take place shortly after His death.
Matthew mentions the Daniel prophesy and calls it the "abomination of
desolation."
Those in Judea were warned
to leave the city during this time.
Mark also mentions this "abomination of desolation" and warns the Judaens to leave.
Luke mentions the "desolation" and also warns
those in Judea to leave.
Luke says that during this destruction, Jerusalem would be surrounded with Roman
armies. It is obvious that Luke actually witnessed the temple destruction which happened in A.D. 70. Luke's eyewitness of the account
when Jerusalem was surrounded by Roman armies and attacked and the temple was destroyed shows that his gospel was written after
this event. This places the writing of the gospel of Luke sometime after A.D. 70.
Matthew and Mark do not mention the destruction
as an actual event but only refer to it as the Daniel prophesy, which shows they were not eyewitnesses of the account. This
information places their gospel sometime before A.D. 70.
Early church fathers such as Eusibius teach that Matthew
wrote his gospel to the Hebrews (Lardner and Kippis 299). Others such as Athanasius puts its time of writing before Mark's
gospel. Ireneus claims Matthew wrote his gospel while Paul and Peter were in Rome, directly before the martyrdom of both apostles
(Lardner and Kippis 302) while others believe it to be written soon after Christ's ascension.
Matthew is believed to be martyred
in the 60's of A.D. Matthew's gospel was written before Mark's gospel. Mark was a scribe for Peter who was martyred
in the late 60's A.D. Luke wrote his gospel at the advice and from the teachings of Paul who was martyred with Peter. Luke put down
his gospel after Paul's martyrdom and after the temple destruction.
John was one of the first apostles to be martyred shortly
after his brother James, both martyrdoms placed in Jerusalem in Judea (Badham). The martyrdom of James took place directly
after the Lord's ascension and is recorded in the book of Acts. He was killed by the sword at the request of Herod Agrippa (Acts
12:1-2) who was king of Judea A.D. 41-44. If John was martyred shortly after James, then he wrote his gospel somewhere between the
40's and 50's A.D., making his gospel the first to be written.
The gospels in their chronological order are John, Matthew, Mark,
and finally Luke. Luke is believed to have died as a martyr at the age of 84 in Greece (Kirby).
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Works
Cited
Badham, F.P.”The Martyrdom of John the Apostle.” The American Journal of Theology. Vol. 8, No. 3. July 1904. Accessed
13 January 2018.
Josephus, Flavius. The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem. The Project Gutenberg EBook, 3 August 2013. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2850/2850-h/2850-h.htm. Accessed 14 January 2018. Kirby, Peter, “Anti-Marcionite Prologues.” Early Christian Writings. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/antimarcion.html. Accessed 14 January 2018. Lardner, Nathaniel and Andrew Kippis. The Works of Nathan Lardner, Vol. 5. W. Ball, 31 December 1838.
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