Luke, a physician, writes with the compassion and warmth of a family doctor as he carefully documents the perfect humanity of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. Luke emphasizes Jesus’ ancestry, birth and early life before moving carefully and chronologically through His earthly ministry.
Who Wrote Luke?
It is evident from the prologues to Luke and Acts that both books were addressed to Theophilus as a two-volume work (Luke is called “the former account”). Acts begins with a summary of Luke and continues the story from where the Gospel of Luke concludes. The “we” portions of Acts reveal that the author was a close associate and traveling companion of Paul. Because all but two of Paul’s associates are named in the third person, the list can be narrowed to Titus and Luke.
Titus has never been seriously regarded as a possible author of Acts, and Luke best fits the requirements. He was with Paul during his first Roman imprisonment, and Paul referred to him as “Luke the beloved physician.”
Luke may have been a Hellenistic Jew, but it is more likely that he was a Gentile (this would make him the only Gentile contributor to the New Testament). Luke’s obvious skill with the Greek language and his use of the phrase “their own language” in Acts 1:19 also imply that he was not Jewish. It has been suggested that Luke may have been a Greek physician to a Roman family who at some point was set free and given Roman citizenship.
Ancient traditions strongly support Luke as the author of Luke and Acts. Tradition also says that Luke was from Syrian Antioch, remained unmarried, and died at the age of eighty-four.
The Background of Luke
Luke was not an eyewitness of the events in his gospel, but he relied on the testimony of eyewitnesses and written sources. He carefully investigated and arranged his material and presented it to Theophilus.
During Paul’s two-year Caesarean imprisonment, Luke may have traveled in Palestine to gather information from eyewitnesses of Jesus’ ministry. The date of this gospel depends on that of Acts since this was the first volume. If Luke was written during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome it would be dated in the early 60s. However, it may have been given final form in Greece. In all probability, its publication preceded the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
The Christ of Luke
The humanity and compassion of Jesus are repeatedly stressed in Luke’s gospel. Luke gives the most complete account of Christ’s ancestry, birth, and development. He is the ideal Son of Man who identified with the sorrow and plight of sinful men in order to carry our sorrows and offer us the priceless gift of salvation. Jesus alone fulfills the Greek ideal of human perfection.
The Keys of Luke
Key Phrase: Jesus the Son of Man
Luke clearly states his purpose in the prologue of his gospel. Luke wanted to create an accurate, chronological, and comprehensive account of the unique life of Jesus the Christ to strengthen the faith of Gentile believers and stimulate saving faith among non-believers. Luke also had another purpose, and that was to show that Christ was not only divine but also human. Luke portrays Christ in His fullest humanity by devoting more of his writing to Christ’s feelings and humanity than any other gospel.
Key Verses: Luke 1:3-4
“it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.”
Key Chapter: Luke 15
Capture in the three parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son is the crux of this gospel: that God through Christ has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
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Content in this article is taken from:
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The Open Bible
The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by many writers over a vast time period, and yet it’s the unified Word of God. The Open Bible offers easy navigation through the interconnected themes and teachings in Scripture with a time-tested complete reference system trusted by millions. Book introductions and outlines augment your study providing an understanding of context and themes from beginning to end.
