The Gospel Dates

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(in part)
Matthew: 37 to 100 ad/ce
Mark: 40 to 73 ad/ce
Luke: 50 to 100 ad/ce
John: 65 to 100 ad/ce
Many reasons have been given for these dates, from one end of the spectrum to the other, the earliest dates being based on the events recounted in the gospels themselves. The later dates are based also on this timeframe, but the difference is that they account for the mention of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, which occurred in 70 ad/ce.

The earliest is not given in the above dates, the earliest for Matthew is about 2 weeks after the resurrection, the verse below mentions a 'doubter' and that is Thomas who was not there the first night after the resurrection. That meeting was set up in the early morning before Jesus had gone to Heaven to be glorified by God. (He needed that before He could baptize anybody with the Holy Ghost) One verse says He met some disciples on a path and He told them to be in Galilee. Matthew only goes 8 days past the resurrection and John would seem to cover the whole 40 days as the last verse is mentioning acts that were done by Jesus and witnessed by the writer of John.

M't.28:7
And go quickly,
and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead;
and,
behold,
he goeth before you into Galilee;
there shall ye see him:
lo,
I have told you.

Joh.20:26
And after eight days again his disciples were within,
and Thomas with them:
then came Jesus,
the doors being shut,
and stood in the midst,
and said,
Peace be unto you.


(in part)
"Back in the Day…"

Furthermore, there are places in the New Testament that imply the books were written long after the purported events, such as when the text reads, "In the days of John the Baptist," which indicates that the writer is set far ahead in time and is looking back. As another example, regarding Jesus's body being stolen, Matthew's gospel claims that "this story has been spread among the Jews to this day." The phrase "to this day" indicates that the writer is talking about a significant length of time, not shortly after the resurrection as some have attempted to place the composition and emergence of this gospel. In fact, we do not have any mention in the historical record of the story of Christ's body being stolen having been spread among the Jews until the second century. It is possible that this particular verse was not added until that time, which means that it is not original to the gospel and that Matthew certainly is not its author. Also, Luke's gospel discusses an apparent myriad of preceding gospels written "by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses…" The phrase "from the beginning" likewise implies a passage of time, as does the fact that there were "many" who preceded Luke in writing gospels.

John the Baptist was dead by the time of the cross, two of the Gospels jump from the 40 days in the wilderness to after John was put into prison as being when Jesus started to preach the same message. John could not do the duties as high priest so Jesus took over that role. The Gospel of John covers more events than the other three.

Joh.3:24
For John was not yet cast into prison.

'to this day' could be as little 9 days after the day of resurrection if you go by what the last event in Matthew is.
If the word 'witness' is to be taken as being accurate then Matthew and Mark only cover events from when John was put into prison and they are just being 'contacted' in the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John start when Jesus comes back from the 40 days in the wilderness. Luke's account goes back the farthest as it includes the Herod's slaughter of the innocents so that Apostle should have been 30 back when those events were taking place. (in line with nobody was called before they were 30 years old.) Luke covers the ascension into Heaven at the end of the 40 days and he covers the worship in the temple in Jerusalem and that came to and end when Stephen was killed (most likely 3 1/2 years after the day of resurrection) The Apostles stayed in Jerusalem but they did not preach from the temple.

Lu.1:2
Even as they delivered them unto us,
which from the beginning were eyewitnesses,
and ministers of the word;

Lu.24:52
And they worshipped him,
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
Lu.24:53
And were continually in the temple,
praising and blessing God.
Amen.