It is noted that the first three gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) grouped together are called the Synoptic Gospels since AD 1780

The letter ‘Q’ is taken from the German word ‘Quelle, means ‘source,’ which is known as ‘Q Source.’ It is believed to be a collection of Jesus’ teachings written by one of the eye-witnesses (some believe that there were unknown written gospels, existing prior to the writings of the gospels in the New Testament, which were used by the New Testament gospel writers as source material) 

Apostle Matthew, also known as Levi (a native of Capernaum), was a tax collector until Jesus called him to be His disciple.  He was hated by the Jews because he was appointed by the Roman authority to collect tax from Jews.  Matthew, being a tax collector, must have been a highly educated and influential person in their society.  Jesus called Matthew to follow Him while he was sitting at his tax collecting station and Matthew followed Jesus at once (Matthew 9:9; 10:3; Mark 2:14; 3:18; Luke 5:27; 6:15; Acts 1:13).  Matthew fully obeyed Jesus by leaving his tax collecting profession behind him when he heard the voice of Jesus calling him.  He became a powerful witness of Jesus’ life and ministry on Earth.  In addition to the ministry he carried out, Apostle Matthew wrote the gospel according Matthew to challenge his Hebrew readers concerning the Old Testament prophecies regarding Jesus’ birth and life.  He also narrated Jesus’ life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to heaven in detail.  The highlight of his writings include the oracles and teachings of Jesus, including the Great Commission, that is, All authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”(Matthew 28:18-20).  Although Apostle Matthew preached in Parthia (present day Tehran in Iran), he ultimately served as a missionary in Ethiopia.  Tradition says that he was martyred in Ethiopia in AD 65 while serving his Master faithfully.  It is believed that his remains are kept in Saint Matthews Cathedral in the Province of Messina in Italy. 

Mark was a pious and godly person who served Jesus very faithfully.  Even then, his life was filled with so many twists and turns.  It is believed that he was one among Jesus’ seventy disciples (Luke 10:1), he was the man who was carrying a jar of water (Mark 14:13), he was present at the time of  Jesus’ arrest (Mark 14:51-52), he organized prayer meetings at his home along with his mother Mary (Acts 12:12), he was one of the missionary team members with Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:13), he was the cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10), he was with Peter during his ministry trips (1 Peter 5:13), and, finally, he became a missionary himself to Alexandria, Egypt.

Many church scholars believe that the young man (Mark 14:51-52) who was following Jesus during His arrest was the same Mark mentioned in the book Acts (Acts 12:12) in whose house the prayer meeting was going on during the imprisonment of the Apostles James and Peter.  This was the reason that Apostle Peter, after being miraculously delivered by the angel of God from prison, went to the house of John, also called Mark, whose mother’s name was Mary, where many people had gathered and were praying.  Some even believe that Mark was part of the seventy (or seventy-two) Jesus sent out to preach the gospel (Luke 10:1-12).  Some scholars even believe that he was the person who was carrying the water about whom Jesus mentioned to His disciples (Mark 14:13).  Later, Mark became a ministry associate with Apostles Paul and Barnabas during their first missionary journey to Cypress but he deserted them and returned to Jerusalem when the missionary team halted at Perga in Pamphylia (Acts 13:13).  Apostles Paul and Barnabas parted each other’s friendship and ministry partnership (Acts 15:36-41) because Mark was the cousin of Barnabas and he wanted to take him with them as they were preparing for their second missionary journey (Colossians 4:10).

Later, according to early Christian tradition, Apostle Peter took Mark along with him during his ministry trips and became a great help to Peter as they travelled together to Peter’s many ministry destinations.  In fact, because of Mark’s close ministry and spiritual association with Apostle Peter, he considered Mark as his son (1 Peter 5:13), like Apostle Paul considered Timothy as his spiritual son (1 Timothy 1:2).

Early Christian tradition widely accepts that Mark went as a missionary to Egypt sometime in the middle of the first century AD.  The people were receptive and he preached the gospel and planted churches there.  Thus, Mark is honored as the first carrier of the Gospel to Africa, particularly to Egypt.  After a few centuries, the Egyptian Christians came to be known as the Copts.  The title “Copts” for Christians came to exist because the early Egyptian Christians developed a language known as Coptic language using Greek alphabets and other familiar signs from their ancient Egyptian language and created a liturgy in the Coptic language.  It was the common understanding that the Christians in Egypt developed Coptic language in order to make the path of gospel preaching easier and more specific. 

Christian tradition also says that while Mark was serving as the first bishop in Alexandria, he authored the Gospel according to Mark based on his first-hand experience with Jesus, being one of His seventy disciples, and Peter’s preachings.  This gospel primarily focused on the later part of Jesus’ life in connection with His ministry rather than Jesus’ genealogy or His early life.  His purpose was to reveal and establish the identity of Jesus to his readers.  Emphasizing that Jesus is the Son of God as well as the anticipated Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures (Mark 1:1-3). 

Mark served his Master very faithfully until the end of his age and served the people whom he loved. However, he became a martyr for His Lord by the hands of the idol worshippers in Alexandria.  The St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria was built in honor him.  Later, his relics were taken to Venice. 

Unlike several other early Christian leaders, the life and ministry of Luke is not mentioned much in the Scripture. Apostle Paul, in the epistle to the Colossians, briefly mentioned Luke as a physician, who was known as ‘the beloved physician’ (Colossians 4:14).  It is understood from the early Christian tradition that Luke was devoted to God prior to embracing the Christian faith.  It is possible that he embraced the Christian faith through Apostle Paul’s ministry.  Although he was considered a Gentile Christian, he followed Jesus Christ very faithfully and became a disciple and traveling companion of Apostle Paul.  The detailed ministry description and the usage of ‘we’ and ‘us’ on several occasions in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, points out that Luke held an integral part in Paul’s missionary journeys and Paul’s final journey to Rome.  While Apostle Paul wrote his last epistle, the epistle of Second Timothy, Paul mentioned that ‘only Luke was with him’ (2 Timothy 4:11), which shows that Luke stayed close to Apostle Paul in Roman prison up till the last minutes of Paul’s life on Earth.  Perhaps, Luke witnessed the martyrdom of Apostle Paul and, possibly, was the one who buried the beheaded body of his spiritual teacher, mentor, companion in the ministry of God, fellow-ministry-traveler through the mission fields, and, above all that, his beloved friend in the Lord. 

Luke might be the only Gentile writer among all New Testament writers.  He wrote two books in the New Testament, the gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.  Both these books are addressed to Theophilus who is said to be an influential governor in the Roman region of Antioch.  The gospel according to Luke is chiefly written for Gentiles, but also for a wider, audience.  The gospel focused on the life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ and the Acts of the Apostles focused on the coming of the Holy Spirit, starting and the expansion of the New Testament Church.  Luke, being himself a physician, recorded Jesus’ comments on illness and physicians more clearer than other gospel writers.  For instance: “Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’” (Luke 4:23).  On an another occasion Jesus said, “But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:30-31).  In another context, Luke highlighted the inability of his fellow physicians who had been approached by a woman for the healing of her flow of blood for twelve years. He quotes, “Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any” (8:43). 

Early Church tradition upholds the belief that after Apostle Paul’s martyrdom, Luke became an evangelist and missionary in Thebes, specifically in the regions of Boeotia in Greece.  After serving His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for several years in Thebes, the enemies of the gospel captured him, peeled his skin while he was alive, and crucified him.  Like his spiritual teacher and mentor Apostle Paul, Luke was martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ.