The election of Matthias (over Joseph/Justus bar Sabbas) in Acts 1 stipulated that the candidates had to have accompanied the apostles for the entire time of Jesus' ministry, "beginning with the baptism of John" and up until the present day:
Acts 1.21-22: 21 "Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us — 22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us — one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection."
This implies that the apostles themselves had accompanied Jesus since the days of the baptism of John. But this is not how the story goes in the gospel of Mark, for one:
Mark 1.14-20: 14 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." 16 As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 19 Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.
Matthew 4.12-22 agrees with this Marcan chronology: the first disciples are called only after John has been cast into prison.
Luke is noncommittal as to the timing of John's imprisonment with respect to the calling of the first disciples; he merely reports in advance, while describing John and his preaching, that Herod eventually locked him up:
Luke 3.18-20: 18 So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people. 19 But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, 20 Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.
Later on, while Matthew 11.1-19 affirms that John is in prison when he sends his inquiry to Jesus (verse 2), Luke 7.18-35 neither confirms nor denies that John is in prison at this time. By Luke 9.7, however, John is dead.
It is the gospel of John that explicitly states that the first disciples were called while John was still free:
John 1.35-51: 35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" 37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to Him, "Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?" 39 He said to them, "Come, and you will see." They came therefore and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He found first his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which translated means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas " (which is translated Peter). 43 The next day He purposed to go forth into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, "Follow Me." 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." 46 And Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" 48 Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." 49 Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." 50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these." 51 And He said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
John 3.22-24: 22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized — 24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison.
Acts 1.22-23, therefore, is actually confirming the Johannine chronology. This to me looks like a directional issue: it seems more likely that Acts 1.22-23 is reacting to an existing chronology than that the gospel of John constructed its entire chronological sequence out of Acts 1.22-23. Luke appears to be harmonizing, omitting explicit references as found in Matthew and Mark to the effect that John was imprisoned before the first disciples were called, but without actually saying so as clearly as John does (refer to John 3.22-24 above). Luke's approach comes across as somewhat Eusebian, if I may be so bold: cover all bases, but cover
up as many discrepancies as the texts will let you get away with.
Ben.