Knowing The Word in Luke: More Background Material
What Do We Know About Luke From The New Testament And The Early Church?
Readings from Acts of the Apostles:
1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.
16:10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
20:5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas.
27:1 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.
Luke’s book of Acts of the Apostles picks up where he ended his gospel with the Ascension of Jesus. Again, he addresses his new account to Theophilus. The first sixteen chapters are written in the third person, until Luke seems to make his unannounced appearance in 16:10. We can deduce that Luke joined Paul, Silas, and Timothy in Troas in A.D. 50 and traveled with them to Philippi. When the three others left, he stayed behind.
In Acts 20:1-5, Paul and Luke reunite. Acts 21 begins the trip to Jerusalem with Paul and Luke together. Many speculate that when Luke went to Jerusalem with Paul, he conducted the investigation that led to his writing of his gospel. In Acts 27, we find Luke with Paul as they set sail for Rome on a trip which proved to be very difficult.
Luke appears to be the only Gentile (non-Jewish) writer of the New Testament. In an ancient prologue to the Third Gospel, the so-called “Anti-Marcionite Prologue to Luke,” it says: “Luke was an Antiochian of Syria, a physician by profession. He was a disciple of the apostles, and later accompanied Paul until his martyrdom. He served the Lord without distraction, having neither wife nor children, and at the age of eight-four he fell asleep in Boeotia, full of the Holy Spirit.”
F.F. Bruce writes, “Luke is a truly catholic writer; he knows that there were various strands in primitive Christianity, and he weaves them together in the interests of Christian unity—a cause obviously dear to his heart.”
Some Facts About Luke:
1. Luke is the only one of the four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) to write a sequel, Acts of the Apostles. His gospel, however, stands on its own. Luke probably wrote Acts for one or both of these reasons: First, he wanted to record the history of the early Church. Second, his history was meant for Paul to use in his trial in Rome (unfortunately, Luke does not record the trial in Rome or give us an account of the death of Paul).
2. The great message of Luke is that God is working out his purposes in Jesus and in the witness of the church.
3. The keynote in Luke is love. (I encourage you to keep track of where you see this theme pop up throughout the gospel.)
4. Luke is the longest of the Gospels, and when you include Acts and possibly some of Paul’s letters that are most likely written by Luke as Paul narrates them, he is the most prolific writer of the New Testament.
5. The style and vocabulary of Luke and Acts favor unity of authorship. Luke’s vocabulary is extensive and includes 266 words found nowhere else in the New Testament.
6. The fact that the early church unequivocally held this non-apostolic man of no known prominence to be the author must be given significant weight.
7. The address to Theophilus presupposes a desire to circulate the gospel among the educated who can read and are interested in reading a compilation of eyewitness accounts.
8. Luke’s Prologue acknowledges he was not an eyewitness to Jesus. Instead, he is an investigative historian.
9. There is no evidence that Luke was converted by Paul. Heprobably reached maturity in his faith before coming under Paul’s influence.
10. Luke must have written his gospel before Acts, as Acts refers to Luke’s previous work.
11. Acts ends with Paul in prison. If Luke had known of Paul’s release or martyrdom, he would have recorded it.
12. In Acts no event after AD 62 is mentioned. Luke must have been written by the early 60s at the latest.
1. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels. The term “synoptic” means they provide a synopsis of the life of Jesus and write it in a similar order.
2. The timeline of Jesus’ ministry in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is compressed and shorter than the Gospel of John. The first three characterize Jesus’ ministry as lasting about one year while John describes it as about three years. The others, in their framework of quickly getting Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, intentionally truncate his ministry. The Gospel of John provides important information the other gospels omit.
3. There are passages in all three synoptic Gospels which resemble each other closely, e.g. Mat 9:6 = Mark 2:10 = Luke 5:24. You can look these up to see why all three must be related in some fashion.
4. Matthew and Mark often agree in wording. Mark and Luke similarly agree against Matthew. Matthew and Luke more rarely agree in wording against Mark.
5. Each of these three gospels has material which neither of the others share.
How Luke is Like John:
1. There are many points of similarity between Luke and John that Matthew and Mark do not have with John:
a. Only Luke and John mention some people by name: the sisters Mary and Martha for example.
b. These two writers show greater interest in Samaria and in Jerusalem than Matthew and Mark.
c. Both speak of the role of Satan in the betrayal of Judas.
d. Both tell us it was the right ear of the slave that Peter cut off in Gethsemane.
e. Both record that Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb had not been previously used and that there were two angels on the resurrection morning.
2. Luke and John have stories of an anointing of Jesus by a woman, but whereas Luke speaks of a prostitute performing the action in the house of a Pharisee, John describes the action of Mary, a friend of Jesus in her own home in Bethany. We will look at this fascinating similarity when we get to Luke 7.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, you proceed from the Father and the Son to fill God’s people with their living presence, so they can make a home in us: Grant that as we read the Gospel of Luke, that they will speak to us in our minds, enliven our souls, and warm our hearts with truth and love. And then send us forth each day to love and serve our Lord. Amen.
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