Luke

Author: Luke, physician and traveling companion of the apostle Paul
Place of writing: unknown
Time of writing: unknown: perhaps 58-62 A.D.

Luke, the author of this gospel account, was a faithful traveling companion and co-worker of the apostle Paul, who remained with him even when everyone else had deserted him (cf. 2 Timothy 4:9-11); he was also a very well-educated medical doctor (cf. Colossians 4:14), and likely a Gentile by birth. Luke was very careful in compiling his data, and diligently researched every account, collecting many eye-witness testimonies, before he composed the most extensive and comprehensive gospel narrative that we possess. It is likely that Theophilus, a wealthy gentleman, financed Luke’s research and writing, and oversaw the distribution of the completed work. This was a common practice in the first-century Roman world, and would explain Luke’s dedicatory prologue.

The story of Luke’s gospel (and all the gospel accounts) is the very foundation of our faith and hope. When man first rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, he was cursed with death and eternal punishment. But God promised to send a Messiah, who would establish the Kingdom of God on the earth, and restore fallen mankind from his sin and misery. The gospel is the account of how this actually happened: God himself took on human flesh, lived a perfect life of obedience to the Father, did many miracles of healing and compassion, and finally offered himself up as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of his people. And he did all of these things for us: his perfect life won for all those who believe in him a righteousness sufficient to please the holy God; his sacrificial death was sufficient to satisfy the wrath of God against the sins of all who believe in him; and his miracles of mercy were a foretaste of the eternal joy and forgiveness that he purchased for all who believe in him. Without the story of this gospel account, we are without hope; but because these things did in fact happen, we have the certain hope of eternal life and joy in the presence of our loving God and Father, if we believe in his Son, Jesus the Messiah.

Some of the distinctive features of Luke’s gospel are as follows: it is the most systematic and comprehensive account of Jesus life, death, and resurrection, and is written in the most refined Greek; it emphasizes the universality of the Kingdom of God, and proves that the Gentiles, as well as the Jewish people, may become citizens of the Kingdom; it gives special attention to Jesus’ compassion for the afflicted, despised, and outcasts of society, including women, Gentiles and Samaritans, tax-collectors and notable sinners, and the poor; it teaches the importance of prayer and emphasizes the ministry of the Holy Spirit; it testifies to the joy which the gospel brings to those who hear it; and it magnifies Jesus as the long-awaited Son of Man (cf. Daniel 7:13-14), who would come “to seek and to save that which was lost” (19:10).

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