The events with Jesus and the disciples in Palestine took place in the first third of the first century, roughly between 4 BC and 30AD. The writing of the New Testament letters of Paul began around the year 50AD, and the Gospels were written between 60AD and 100AD, that is, at the end of the first century.
It usually surprises Christians to
learn that none of the original documents which form the New Testament exist,
only copies from the 2nd and 3rd centuries.The actual authors of the four
Gospels were not described until in the 2nd century when the names Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John were attached to the Gospels as we now know them. In the
Middle Ages the chapter and verses were
added before the publication of the Gutenberg Bible between 1450 and 1456. The
authors were not eye witnesses of the actual events, but disciples of the first
apostles/disciples who were. Thus the authors wrote down what they learned about
Jesus from those who knew him.
I thought about this earlier this week when speaking with one of our teens. He asked about his grandfather whom I knew and he couldn't remember. Imagine for a moment your father died before your children were born. When the time came they wanted to know about their grandfather, what would you tell them? You can't tell them everything, and so you tell them what you believe they ought to know about their grandfather. This is a poor but apt example of how the authors of the Gospels learned about and wrote about Jesus.
The author we know as Luke tells us in the very first verses of the Gospel that he is writing "an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who form the beginning were eye-witnesses and servants of the word" (Luke, chapter 1, verses 1 and 2; usually cited as Lk 1:1-2). The "servants of the word" would be those who preached and taught about the words and deeds of Jesus but who were not necessarily eye-witnesses. The author we know as John says: "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe/continue to believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name" (Jn 20:30-31). At the end of the next chapter (21) he adds again: "But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (Jn 21:25).I put the phrase, continue to believe, in italics because there is a note, at least in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible that says some "ancient authorities" have that phrase rather than the one, "come to believe." "Ancient authorities" means old copies of the Gospels. They can vary a bit. Open your New Testament and check what you find after Mark, chapter 16, verse 8. Bible translations printed in the last three to four decades will usually have a series of notes that show there are three or four alternative endings for that Gospel. Open the Gospel of Luke and see whether or not you find in Chapter 22, verses 45-46. They may be there with a footnote that says some "ancient authorities" or old copies do not contain them. They were probably added by a scribe, who was copying the older manuscripts, in order to harmonize Luke with Matthew and Mark. See what your New Testament says in the Gospel of John, chapter 7, verse 53 followed by chapter 8, verses 1-11. A footnote is apt to say something like: other authorities add this passage here or after Jn 7:36 or after Jn 21:25 or after Luke 21:38. This is an account about the woman caught in adultery and brought to Jesus to see if he will affirm she should be stoned to death as required by the Law.
The introductions to the books of the Bible and the study notes are important and can tell us things about the New Testament we might not have known, and that is why translations and study editions are necessary. More about these at another time.
Joseph+