The literary form that we call “gospel” (from the Greek evangelion meaning good news) found its origin in the early Christian communities as those communities struggled to live the ‘new life’ as shown to them by the words and deeds of the historical Jesus Christ, the son of God. The early Christian communities understood the death and resurrection of Jesus to be testimony that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, and that God was still working out salvation through Jesus.
It was the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that was the focus of the early Church and, as time passed, the early Christian communities begun to realize that the parousia, the second coming of Christ, may not be as imminent as they had thought. As the number of apostles and eyewitnesses grew smaller, there became a pressing need for an accurate record of the oral traditions so that these traditions could be used in liturgy and for catechesis. This need, together with hardships and challenges to faith being experienced by the communities, led evangelists in the communities to put into writing some of the oral traditions that had been preserved.
The anonymous authors of the Synoptic Gospels, Mark, Matthew and Luke, included some of the traditions as they were originally told, but changes were made to other traditions so that the overall Gospel narrative would support the theological ideas the writers felt were important to their communities. The synoptic Gospels address different needs of individual early Christian communities, and were written between 60 and 100 C.E. The inspired authors selected their material carefully and arranged it in such a way as to make their intended audiences identify with their theological themes. The Gospels do not tells us the exact words and actions of Jesus in their chronological order.
Mark’s Gospel was written first sometime between 60 to 70 C.E. Mark’s community was comprised of both Jewish and Gentile converts, and had to deal with a worsening political situation, many people claiming to be the Messiah, pressure from both Jews and Gentiles, suffering, and uncertainty as to the future. Mark’s purpose was to strengthen the faith of his community in the resurrected Son of God. He portrays Jesus as the ‘suffering servant’, and impresses upon his audience that followers of Jesus would not only share in his glory but would have to share in his suffering.
Matthew’s Gospel was written between 85 and 90 C.E. Matthew’s community was comprised mainly of Jewish converts who have recently been kicked out of the synagogue by the Rabbis at Jamnia, and his Gospel provides the guidance necessary for the continuation of Jesus’ teaching and the continuation of the community as a whole. Matthew is interested in showing Jesus as the new Moses who has greater authority than Moses, and whose interpretation of the Law is superior to that of the Pharisees. He wants to show his community the proper relationship between Jesus and the Torah, and tries to show that Jesus, not the Scribes and the Pharisees, is the authoritative interpreter of the Torah.
Luke Gospel was written between 80 and 90 C.E. Luke is written for a community of predominately Gentile converts, and he traces Jesus’ roots back to Adam who was the son of God and the father of all mankind. This means that the Gentiles were included in God’s plan of salvation from the beginning. He excludes material which is of little concern to his Gentile community and tries to accurately provide his community with an orderly account of the Jesus tradition. Women play a more prominent role in his Gospel because the Gentile tradition allows for such.
