New Testament letter composed under the guise of a presumably lost letter of the Apostle Paul, the Epistle to the Laodiceans. The books of the New Testament were all or nearly all written by Jewish Christians—that is, Jewish disciples of Christ, who lived in the Roman Empire, and under Roman occupation. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, is frequently thought of as an exception; scholars are divided as to whether Luke was a Gentile or a Hellenistic Jew. A few scholars identify the author of the Gospel of Mark as probably a Gentile, and similarly for
Matthew 27 facts surrounding Jesus' death, rather than engage in theological reflection. Mark 15:24, Luke 23:33, John 19:18, Matthew 27:35 all share a succinct summary of the crucifixion, in that they all say, "They crucified Him". Only Mark and John, give an account of the time of Jesus' death ("The third hour" in , and the "sixth hour" in ), whereas Luke, and Matthew himself do not. There is disagreement between the Gospels as to what the last words of Jesus were. Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 declares that Jesus' last words were: "Why have you forsaken me"?, disagreeing with Luke 23:46