Who Wrote the Gospels, and When?

Maybe you’ve heard a professor or a documentary claim that the Gospels were written long after Jesus by people who never knew Him. Or maybe you’ve noticed that the Gospels don’t sign their names the way Paul’s letters do. So you asked Google: Who wrote the Gospels, and when?

It’s a great question, because the answer helps us know whether we can trust what the Gospels say about Jesus. Let’s look at the evidence.

Why Don’t the Gospels Name Their Authors?

It’s true that the four Gospels don’t begin with “From Matthew” the way Paul’s letters begin with “Paul, an apostle.” But that doesn’t mean nobody knew who wrote them. Many ancient works didn’t name the author inside the text.

What matters is this: the early church was united on who wrote them. There’s no record of competing names for these four books. From the second century on, Christians in different parts of the world consistently named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Around AD 180, Irenaeus, a church leader in Gaul (modern France) who had learned from Polycarp, a disciple of the apostle John, named all four. Even earlier, Papias, a church leader in Asia Minor writing in the early second century, spoke of Matthew and Mark.

Who Was Matthew?

Matthew was one of the twelve apostles, a former tax collector:

“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed him.”

Matthew 9:9 (ESV)

The early church consistently said that Matthew wrote his Gospel, and Papias said that Matthew compiled the sayings of Jesus in the Hebrew language. Matthew’s Gospel has a strongly Jewish flavor, quoting the Old Testament often to show that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

Here’s something to consider: tax collectors were despised in Jesus’ day. If the early church were inventing an author to give a Gospel authority, why pick a former tax collector instead of Peter or James?

Who Was Mark?

Mark (also called John Mark) was not one of the twelve. He was a companion of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 12:25) and later of Peter, who affectionately called him “Mark, my son” (1 Peter 5:13, ESV).

According to Papias, as preserved by the church historian Eusebius, Mark was Peter’s interpreter. Papias said Mark wrote down accurately, though not in order, what he remembered of Peter’s teaching about the words and deeds of Jesus. In other words, Mark’s Gospel gives us Peter’s eyewitness preaching.

Again, Mark was a surprising choice. He’s best known in Acts for leaving Paul and Barnabas partway through a mission trip (Acts 13:13; 15:37-39). No one inventing an author would choose him unless he really wrote it.

Who Was Luke?

Luke was a doctor and a close companion of Paul. Paul calls him “Luke the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14, ESV), and near the end of his life wrote, “Luke alone is with me” (2 Timothy 4:11, ESV).

Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, both addressed to a man named Theophilus (Acts 1:1). He begins his Gospel by explaining exactly how he went about his work:

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.”

Luke 1:1-4 (ESV)

Luke sounds like a careful historian. He says he relied on eyewitnesses and set out to give an orderly, accurate account. And in parts of Acts, Luke shifts from “they” to “we” (for example, Acts 16:10), showing that he was personally present for some of the events he describes.

Who Was John?

The Gospel of John says it was written by “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” an eyewitness who leaned on Jesus at the Last Supper (John 21:20). The closing verses say:

“This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.”

John 21:24 (ESV)

The early church identified this disciple as John, the son of Zebedee, one of the twelve. Irenaeus wrote that John published his Gospel while living in Ephesus. John also tells us why he wrote: “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31, ESV).

When Were the Gospels Written?

Here’s where scholars differ. Many critical scholars date the Gospels later, starting around AD 70 for Mark. Conservative scholars generally date them earlier. A typical conservative timeline looks like this:

• Mark: the 50s or 60s
• Matthew and Luke: the 60s or 70s (the ending of Acts, below, points to the early 60s for Luke)
• John: the 80s or 90s

Even on the later dates, the Gospels were written within the lifetime of people who had known Jesus. That’s remarkably close to the events by ancient standards.

What Does the Ending of Acts Tell Us?

One of the strongest arguments for early dates comes from the way the Book of Acts ends. Paul is under house arrest in Rome, waiting for his trial:

“He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.”

Acts 28:30-31 (ESV)

And that’s it. The book just stops. Luke never tells us how Paul’s trial turned out, or that Paul was put to death under Nero in the mid-60s. He doesn’t mention the death of James, the brother of Jesus, in AD 62, or the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Romans in AD 70, even though Jesus predicted that destruction (Luke 21:6).

The simplest explanation is that Luke finished Acts around AD 62, before those events happened. And since Acts is the second volume (Acts 1:1 refers to “In the first book”), the Gospel of Luke came before that. Most scholars believe Luke used Mark as one of his sources, which would place Mark earlier still.

There’s another clue. In 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul quotes “The laborer deserves his wages” and calls it “scripture.” Those are the words of Jesus recorded in Luke 10:7 (the wording is the same in both verses). If that’s what Paul is quoting, Luke’s Gospel was already known and honored as Scripture during Paul’s lifetime.

Why Does This Matter?

If the Gospels were written by eyewitnesses and their close companions, within a few decades of the events, then they aren’t late legends. They are reliable testimony about what Jesus said and did, including His death and resurrection. For more on the evidence for Jesus in history, visit our Historical Jesus page.

What Do the Gospels Want You to Know?

The Gospel writers didn’t write merely to record history. They wrote so that you would believe. John said it plainly: these things are written “that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31, ESV).

The Gospels tell the story of Jesus, who lived a perfect life, died for sinners, and rose again on the third day. If you’ve never trusted Him as your Savior, walk through the Romans Road and see how you can have that life today.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.