I'm excited to begin sharing readings of the Gospel According to Luke. Before commencing I wanted to put together an introduction to this wonderful Gospel.
This post accompanies my YouTube Bible Reading of Luke Chapter 1. You can watch it here.
Luke the Evangelist
I'm sure we all have a favourite Gospel and for many, it's Luke. Luke is a passionate evangelist who wears his love of Christ firmly on his sleeve. He seems more than any other Gospel writer to bring out Christ's compassion and relationship with everyday people. Alongside his inclusiveness he simultaneously writes a comprehensive and detailed account of the Gospel Story worthy to stand alongside any respected historical document from antiquity.
Luke is an accomplished and disciplined scholar, a physician which identifies him as a learned man of his time. Scholars have analysed his form of writing to confirm it evidence of Luke's educational background. Despite his credentials, the bulk of his narrative is purposely written uin plain words so that ordinary and uneducated ears will understand. Luke shines a bright light on the grace, mercy, compassion and love that Jesus shared universally to all people. Luke writes so that all people of all nations would hear and know.
Luke was not an Apostle of Jesus and so not an eye witness to the events that he shares in his Gospel. He is however a missionary companion to the Apostle Paul and so has access to all those who were eye witnesses. I like to imagine Luke as a roving reporter, notebook in hand and on the trail of the testimonies of faithful key witnesses and he knew how to find them. Alongside his human guides he has the Holy Spirit guiding him. Surely he is guided to just the right place at the right time to hear truthful testimony. He's been given a Holy mission to share with future generations of believers yet to be born.
In the first two verses of his gospel, Luke begins by confirming that he is following in the footsteps of others who have shared the story of Christ. He tells us that we have testimony from eye witnesses who were ministers of the Word. They were with Jesus throughout His Holy ministry. He declares his intention to write an ordered account. Alongside the authentic Gospels we read in the Bible, there would also have been a number of false tales circulating at this time. Luke wants to set down the truth and to put these in order paying particular attention to the sequence of events from start to finish. (Luke 1:1-3)
Orderly detail, is a key theme of Luke's Gospel, it's a sequential account written of scholarly quality. It contrasts to Matthew, who's primary aim was not precise sequence but to clarify how Jesus fulfilled Jewish prophecy. Matthew's Gospel is directed primarily towards Jewish ears. Marks gospel aims to provide a clear but brief summary. Something easily told and understood by a gentile audience. The theme of the Gospel of John is theological accuracy.
You could say, Luke finds a gap in the market. He provides what the other Gospels lack, an eye for the accurate sequence of event of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. The same aim is true of his second volume (Acts) where he diligently provides an accurate account of the birth of the church and the early ministry of the Apostles of Jesus Christ.
Luke writes in scholarly Greek, marking him out as an educated gentleman. He addresses his Gospel in the established style of the day to a recipient of note, the 'Most Excellent Theophilus'. We can therefore infer that Theophilus, a noble gentleman has commissioned Luke to provide him with a detailed and orderly account of the truth that he has heard. Luke seeks to provide Theophilus with an edifying, full and truthful account. Theophilus is undoubtedly a fellow believer in Christ, indicated by the inclusive use of the term 'among us', refering to believers in the opening verse. Maybe he has been recently baptised into the faith of Jesus. Maybe Luke personally witnessed to him. We don't know, so therefore we can assume it is not really relevant to our understanding. Luke merely gives us the gentleman's name.(Luke 1:1).
Theophilus is unknown to history and some have considered may not even have been a particular person. He may have merely been an example of the type of person the narrative is aimed at. If we assume however, as most do, that Theophilus was a living person. We can infer that Theophilus is a man of some notable honour and in that, likely with influence in Rome. We can imagine that Luke may be seeking to influence him regarding the precarious predicament Paul find himself in being accused in Rome of blasphemy. Again, we are not told. What we do know is that Theophilus is an important individual because Luke addresses him, 'most excellent', a term of respect befitting a noble person. (Luke 1:1-3 (KJV)
1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
Who was Luke?
From New Testament scripture we know that Luke was a gentile, physician, a traveling co-worker and dear friend to the Apostle Paul whom he accompanied on his evangelical missions. We can look to the Book of Acts for clarity here.
Initially Luke was part of a large group of Paul's co-workers, including Jews and Gentiles. As Paul's mission continues however, support has dwindled probably owing to the growing persecution. We read that Luke becomes a lone companion shorty before Paul is martyred. Another hint that Luke may be writing his account as a defence for Paul but this is only guess work. We are not told. (Colossians 4:10-15, Philemon 23–25, 2 Timothy 4:11)
What we can know with certainty, is what scripture confirms to us in 2 Timothy. In the end, Paul is left only with the faithful Luke and is requesting the company of Mark to help him (John Mark, the Gospel writer.)
11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. (2 Timothy 4:11)
Why doesn't Acts appear after Luke in the Bible
Luke wrote both his Gospel and the Book of Acts. Each are dedicated to Theophilus and Acts continues on directly where Luke's Gospel finishes. They are two volumes of the same writing. You may therefore wonder why Acts doesn't sit alongside Luke in the Bible.
The reason is simple, the Gospel's are ordered, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in our Bible because that is the order the early church believed them to be written in. There's some scholarly debate, as seems inevitable with 2000 years to ponder but it is reasonable to trust the certainty of the earliest sources.
I think it would be pleasant to read Acts after reading Luke however if it's a first time read of the New Testament, I think it may be a mistake to do so. Without reading the Gospel of John you could miss out on vitally important theological clarity that will help you to appreciate Acts. Whilst we each get to the end of either gospel and have the basic account, harmonising the accounts gives the fullest picture and understanding. Luke provides us with a comprehensive historical account, harmonising with John's richly theological account. You'd miss out on the significance of Jewish history, custom and prophecy if you left out Matthew and miss out Mark and you miss an opportunity to recap using a perfectly brief, easy to follow summary. Each Gospel adds something special to aid us in understanding the truth. God is pure perfection and so is it any wonder that the four gospels read together provide a perfect telling of the story? God understands us and provides for us when we seek to understand Him.
Published Commentary
I've given you a taster introduction to the Gospel of Luke but for a fuller introduction it's worth going to our familiar commentary pages. You'll get information about when he wrote this Gospel, more on who Luke is and on the circumstances surrounding him when he penned his testimony. You'll find endless insights alongside a walk through the verses in Luke's first chapter by following the links below.
Enduring Word
This commentary begins with a nod to the style of Luke's narrative. I loved the emphasis on the aim to glorify the Word or God rather than Luke's scholarly attributes.
The first four verses of Luke’s gospel are one sentence in the original Greek. They are written in refined, academic, classical style. But then, for the rest of the gospel, Luke didn’t use the language of scholars but of the common man, the language of the village and the street.
I mentioned the timing of the difference Gospels and scholarly debate. Here we see an indication that the written testimonies may have been written a lot earlier than previously thought.
German papyrus expert Carsten Thiede (in December 1994) suggests that we actually possess copies of Matthew that date close to the very time of Jesus. Thiede’s findings are based on a careful analysis of the handwriting script used on the recently discovered fragments.
Another snippet of information regarding Luke is that he wrote a significant proportion of the New Testament.
Luke wrote more of the New Testament than any other human writer did (assuming that Paul did not author the letter to the Hebrews).
Another useful insight is the possibility that Luke's Gospel may have been used to document a defence for Paul at his trial.
i. By his title (most excellent), we gather that Theophilus was probably a Roman government official. It is entirely likely that the books of Luke and Acts make up Paul’s defense brief for his trial before Caesar, since Acts leaves Paul waiting for that trial.
For a very good verse by verse commentary on this chapter follow the link below:
https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/luke-1/
Blue Letter Bible Commentary
This commentary suggests that Luke may have been written before Matthew or Mark but there isn't any context given for the statement. It goes on to suggest that Theophilus may not be an actual person.
It is not certain who this Theophilus was; the name signifies a friend of God; some think that it does not mean any particular person, but every one that is a lover of God; Dr. Hammond quotes some of the ancients understanding it so: and then it teaches us, that those who are truly lovers of God, will heartily welcome the gospel of Christ, the design and tendency of which are, to bring us to God.
As always Henry provides a very comprehensive verse by verse commentary. Here's the link.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Luk/Luk_001.cfm
Bible Ref Commentary
You'll find a nice summary level commentary on Chapter 1 of Luke here. At the beginning however we get a nice introduction to the purpose of Luke's writing. Our faith is a blessing from God but it is not blind faith, Jesus lived and still lives and we have a solid traceable history of his life, teachings, death and resurrection. Jesus is fully man and fully God and He walked amongst us in the flesh as a testimony to the Glory of God the Creator, Our Heavenly Father.
Luke's gospel opens with a direct counter to claims that Christian belief is based in "blind faith." Before the Gospels were written, men like Paul (1 Corinthians 1:1–2), Peter (1 Peter 1:1–2), and James (James 1:1) were circulating letters to fellow believers. Luke is adding his voice to an existing body of proof: the accounts of eyewitnesses and others who had first-hand knowledge of Jesus Christ.
For the a good summary of the chapter, here's the link.
https://www.bibleref.com/Luke/1/Luke-chapter-1.html
Bible Hub Commentary
This is a collection of commentaries from a number of commentators and provides a lot of context relating to the original Greek language this gospel was written in. There are a range of views debating which other works Luke is referencing his work to be a response to. Is he referring to Matthew and Mark? Is he referring to other spurious or false accounts in circulation? If you are curious jump in for a read but I was left non the wiser. It's very interesting but ultimately, speculative.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/1-1.htm
Further Reading
I read through a lot of introductions to Luke's Gospels and there is enough information to write a book or two. If you're curious to find out more here is a sample of the links I gathered.
Summary of the Gospel of Luke
https://www.gotquestions.org/Gospel-of-Luke.html
Biblical Archeological Research on Luke
Beginner Guide to St. Luke
https://overviewbible.com/saint-luke/
Bible Project: Book of Luke
https://bibleproject.com/guides/book-of-luke/
Who Wrote the Book of Luke & Acts?
https://crossexamined.org/wrote-gospel-luke-acts/
