Early Church History 

time. After Gaius died (Jan. 

A.D.

 26, my revised date), Claudius became emperor. In the second year of his 

reign (

A.D.

 27), when Claudius issued his edit favoring the Jews, Herod Agrippa I tried to gain favor with the 

Jews and with the emperor by putting James the Greater to death and imprisoning Peter. This event was the 

first major persecution of the Apostles in the early Church. In the earlier minor persecution at the time of 

Stephen's stoning, the Apostles did not even flee from Jerusalem. But at this time, even Peter, the leader of the 

Apostles, fled as far away as Rome. But how many of the Twelve Apostles were in Judea at that time? 

    When Saul came to Jerusalem in early 

A.D.

 25, he did not see any of the Twelve Apostles, except Cephas 

(Peter) and James, the Lord's brother (Gal 1:18 20). This was James the Less who, according to Eusebius and 

Jerome, was appointed as bishop of the Church at Jerusalem and remained the spiritual leader there until his 

martyrdom during Nero's reign.

659

 James was still in Jerusalem, and so was Peter, but the other Apostles were 

not in Jerusalem in early 

A.D.

 25. If they were, Saul would surely have met them because, during this first visit 

of his to Jerusalem, Saul was at first distrusted, but soon after accepted, by the leaders of the Church (Acts 

9:26 30). The reference to  apostles  in Acts 9:27 does not refer specifically to the Twelve, but to apostles of 

Christ in general. He would not have been accepted without the approval of those members of the Twelve who 

were still at Jerusalem. Therefore, most of the Twelve (including Matthew) had left Jerusalem by early 

A.D.

25. And they must have left on long missionary journeys, because most were also not present in Jerusalem in 

early 

A.D.

 27, during the persecution under Herod Agrippa I. 

    This major persecution (in 

A.D.

 27) most likely scattered many of the other disciples to regions beyond the 

territory ruled by Herod Agrippa I. However, Acts does not say that any of the other Twelve Apostles fled 

with Peter from Jerusalem. James the Less is referred to, as the leader of the brethren in Jerusalem, when Peter 

is about to flee the area:  And he said, `Tell this to James and to the brethren.'   (Acts 12:17). So James did 

not flee with Peter, but remained with the brethren in Jerusalem. Yet it also seems clear that others of the 

Twelve Apostles were not in Jerusalem, nor even in Judea, at the time of this persecution. Otherwise their 

flight or their sufferings would have been worthy of mention by the Acts of the Apostles. 

    Also, 

A.D.

 27 is not a likely time for Matthew to have left Judea to spread the Gospel in distant lands. 

Matthew wrote the Gospel because he  had made up his mind  to go to distant lands to preach Christ.

660

 This 

phrasing implies that he was not forced to leave by a persecution, but that he reached a decision without 

compulsion. Furthermore, if he had left Judea suddenly, due to the unexpected arrival from Rome of Herod 

and the Claudius edict in 

A.D.

 27, he would not have had time to write the Gospel before leaving. Rather, 

Matthew decided to leave and also had the time to write the Gospel down before leaving. He did not leave 

during a time of severe persecution, as Peter did. 

    Matthew was not in Judea in early 

A.D.

 27 (during Herod's persecution), nor in early 

A.D.

 25 (during Saul's 

visit). Most of the other Twelve Apostles also had left Judea by early 

A.D.

 25, for they also were not seen by 

Saul (early 

A.D.

 25) and not mentioned by Acts during Herod's persecution (early 

A.D.

 27). The departure or 

impending departure of other Apostles about the same time that Matthew was preparing to leave would have 

added urgency to the need to have a written version of the Gospel in Hebrew for the Christians of Judea. The 

Apostle James the Less never left Judea on any permanent mission to preach the Gospel; his was the task to 

continue to preach in the Holy Land. And Peter did not leave for Rome until the persecution of 

A.D.

 27. But 

others among the Twelve Apostles, including Matthew, clearly had left Judea by early 

A.D.

 25. Since Matthew 

wrote his Gospel before he and the other Apostles (including Bartholomew) left Judea for their missionary 

journeys, the Gospel of Matthew must have been written before early 

A.D.

 25. The Twelve were still in Judea 

in 

A.D.

 21, for the choosing of the first seven deacons of the Church, and they were still in Judea for the minor 

persecution of early 

A.D.

 22, when Saint Stephen was martyred. Therefore, the Gospel of Matthew was 

written between early 

A.D.

 22 and early 

A.D.

 25, during the reign of the emperor Gaius. This time frame for 

the writing of Matthew's Gospel is well before the time when Peter and Mark fled from Judea to Rome. Since 

Mark wrote his Gospel at Rome, Mark's Gospel was certainly written after Matthew's Gospel. 

    Now I know that most scholars today say that Mark's Gospel was written first. They base this conclusion on 

their analysis of the language of the Gospels. But they ignore the historical evidence completely, including the 

testimony of Eusebius and Jerome. And their analysis of the text of Matthew's Gospel is based on the Greek 

version of Matthew's Gospel, which was written later than the Hebrew version. Furthermore, many scholars 

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