Why did the authors of the Gospels decide to write at all?

 

I believe that one can make the case that the Gospel writers chose to write and record what they did because they believed they had to, that they had been charged with the “carrying on” of the Good News by Christ Himself. Although authorship of the sources of the Gospels may be open to discussion, I maintain that everyone involved in the process of creating the Gospels believed they were doing what was asked of them. For the record, I believe that the "Two-source" explanation of the Synoptic Gospels makes the most sense to me, but that is another topic for another post! Consider THIS post to be referring to any and everyone who brought us the Gospels that we have today. 

According to the Gospel of Luke, Christ tasked the Apostles to continue celebration of Passover as the Last Supper, and to do so in memory of Him. This essential fact had to be communicated to others, and to those who were yet to come, in order for this particular practice to continue. This is not the only reason TO write of course, but it is a pretty good one! The Parable of the Lost Sheep requires a Church and a path for return if it is to be anything more than a one time story with no future implications. Also similar is the story of the Prodigal Son. To return to Christ, where would one go? And once there, how would one KNOW the teachings of Christ and see them as a continuation of the Hebrew Bible?

I believe that there are many other indications in the NT that clue us in that the Apostles and those who followed believed (believe?) that they must carry the life, death, and resurrection of Christ forward for all generations. Who else will fill the hall in the Parable of the Great Feast if not those who were called when Christ was here? How will they even know of it? Who is to sow the Mustard Seeds? Who is to be the earthly Body of Christ? How will people know that Christ came not to wipe away the Scriptures but to fulfill them? Who exactly are the Vigilant and Faithful servants and if indeed the parable is for everyone then how else to announce this to those yet to come who must also be vigilant and faithful? 

I believe that just as with the Old Testament, with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit the authors of the Gospels believed that Jesus Christ WAS who He said He was and that they had been commissioned to share these “..glad tidings which shall be for all people…” because “all people” includes those yet to come! "All people" demands communication, at first orally as was the norm and then in writing. Today millions of Bibles are in print for precisely the same reasons that the Gospel's creators wrote at all: we are all tasked with evangelization, the spreading and sharing of the "Good News," the Gospels that tell of Jesus Christ and what He did for us, for ALL of us who ever lived and ever shall live.