Who were the audiences of the four gospels?

Answer 1

Many people are surprised to learn that the gospels were originally anonymous and that we do not really know who wrote any of them. Then, if we do not even know who wrote the gospels, it is largely speculation when we try to say for whom they were written. Nevertheless, there are some clues.

All the New Testament gospels were written in Greek Koine, so they were unlikely to have been written for the Latin-speakers of Rome, or for Palestinian Jews.

The earliest New Testament gospel was Mark, written for people familiar with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The use of mimesis flags suggests the possibility that he sought to keep outsiders in the dark as to what Christians really believed. This is parallelled by Chapter 4, where he talks of Jesus speaking in parables so that others would not understand. So it may be that there were really two audiences for Mark's Gospel - outsiders such as the Romans and the Jewish religious leaders, and the Christian converts who would really understand what the Gospel was meant to say.


In early Christian times, Matthew was thought to have been the first gospel, written at a time when few Gentiles had yet joined the church, with Mark and Luke copied from it. Having been attributed to Matthew, a Jewish disciple of Jesus, it was therefore natural to think of it as written for Jews. However, at least on the face of it, Matthew could not have been written for Palestinian Jews. It is plausible that Matthew's Gospel was written for Jews of the diaspora, who would have been familiar with the Septuagint or for pagan God-fearers. It could also be argued that it was written for illiterate Palestinian Jews who, following the destruction of the Temple, had no one they trusted to compare Matthew's Old Testament references with the Hebrew scriptures and would not listen to the teachings of the rabbis. A problem with this last argument is that the gospel was not written in Aramaic or Hebrew and would have been incomprehensible to most Palestinian Jews.


Steve Mason (Josephus and the New Testament) says that Luke may also have been writing an apology for a wider audience than converts and potential converts. To suit the times, this would require him to demonstrate antiquity and virtue. In this context, virtue was high communal ethic, political respectability and cooperation with the Roman peace.


Scholars say that John's Gospel was originally written for a Gnostic community, now known as the Johannine community because the Gospel is traditionally associated with John. After the split in the Johannine community, some members joined the centrist branch of Christianity and it is thought they removed some of the Gnostic references in his Gospel to make it more acceptable for centrist Christians, although there remain clues in the fourth gospel as to its earlier origins.

Answer 2

The audiences of the four gospels were likely early Christian communities seeking to learn about the life, teachings, and significance of Jesus Christ. Each gospel was tailored to its specific audience: Matthew to Jewish believers, Mark to a Roman audience, Luke to Gentile Christians, and John to all believers emphasizing Jesus' divinity.

Answer 3

Matthew was writing to the JewsMark was writing to the RomansLuke was writing to the GentilesJohn was writing to all Christians