The Apostle Paul, whose epistles appear on the world scene well before the Gospels, never quotes Jesus. He seems wholly unaware of any of Jesus' sayings or his miracles. Drs. Richard Carrier and Robert Price, among others, are convinced that Jesus was not an earthly being, but rather the celestial conception of those who started his story, much as any of the other gods and goddesses of that area/era. This explains the lack of Jesus' mention by the Essenes, by Philo of Alexandria, and by anyone else in the era who took notes.
Luke 4:14 "And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about."
- Why fame? -
John 21:25 "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."
OK, so this guy is B U S Y ! ! ! Israel is at the crossroads of major trade routes... word of such a miracle maker would be known for decades to come, but Josephus hardly even burps his name, and the Testimonium Flavianum, as it's called, doesn't seem to be worth the paper it's printed on. Papias attests to authenticity, but all we have of Papias are a few scraps saved hundreds of years later through Eusebius. Justyn Martyr and Origen drop hints of an earthly Jesus, but no one knows for sure.
No one knows who wrote the Gospels, and since it is apparent that "Mark's" Gospel came first, how funny he recorded things he couldn't have possibly known first hand! It's funny, "Matthew" had to fashion his account on "Mark" to fix things he didn't like, but added even more improbable events than those of "Mark!" "Luke" stepped up with a genealogy and timeline that contradicted "Matthew," then "John," in an attempt to patch over everyone else's blunders, jumps the shark in nearly every chapter such as the grossly overstated hyperbole already mentioned in 21:25. These are the four stooges of biographical scholarship, whoever they were, but one thing is certain, they were inventing Jesus as they went along.
Fortunately these authors insisted on Jesus using Genesis, not just anecdotally, but THEOLOGICALLY! This is a blessing because all rational humans recognize the obvious fictions of Genesis. When the Son of God is quoting fiction for theological instruction, you can be pretty certain that the Son of God is fictitious as well. Hallelujah, Allah Akbar, Shalom, Namaste, Peace Out