Who Was Luke in the Bible?

Who’s Luke and why is he necessary?

Luke was acquainted with and traveled with the apostle Paul. Not solely did Luke journey with Paul outdoors the land of Israel, he additionally visited Israel and should have grow to be personally acquainted with members of Jesus’s household, together with his mom Mary and his brother James.

Between them, Luke and Paul wrote greater than half of the New Testomony. This makes Luke massively necessary for Christianity.

The place does the Bible consult with Luke?

Luke’s title seems 3 times within the Bible. All three happen within the New Testomony, and all three are present in letters written by Paul (Col 4:14; 2 Tim 4:11; Phil 24).

In Colossians 4:14, Paul refers to Luke as “the beloved doctor.” In Philemon 24, Luke is listed together with Mark, Aristarchus, and Demas among the many apostle’s “fellow staff.” Each of those references happen in what we all know as Paul’s Jail Letters, for they had been written whereas the apostle was detained both in Caesarea Maritima, on Israel’s coast, or in Rome.

The third reference to Luke is present in 2 Timothy 4:11, the place Paul says, “Luke alone is with me.” The letters 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus are often known as the Pastoral Letters. They had been written throughout Paul’s second and closing imprisonment.

All three of the references to Luke occur in letters that Paul wrote whereas in jail.

Curiously, all three of the references to Luke occur in letters that Paul wrote whereas in jail. This means that Luke was a loyal good friend who absolutely shared Paul’s convictions. Luke was not amongst those that deserted the apostle.

What are the important thing particulars of Luke’s background?

Paul identifies Luke as a “doctor” (lit. “healer”).

In classical antiquity, public opinion of physicians was blended. For instance, the Jewish sage Yeshua ben Sira (2nd cent. BC) praises physicians (Sir 38:1–3). However in one other place he says, “He who sins earlier than his Maker, might he fall into the care of a doctor!” (38:15 ESV). This isn’t a phrase of assurance!

Greeks and Romans had been particularly arduous on physicians. Pliny the Elder (died AD 79) was satisfied that Greek physicians “have conspired collectively to homicide all foreigners with their physic,” which, after all, “they do for a price!” Pliny additionally reminds his readers of a cynical inscription on a tomb, which reads: “It was a crowd of physicians that killed me.” Emperor Hadrian (dominated AD 117–138), who suffered from dropsy and located no reduction, was remembered to have mentioned: “Many physicians have slain a king!”

We see Luke’s skilled sensitivity on this rating in how he edits Mark’s description of the girl affected by a hemorrhage for twelve years. Mark says that the girl “had suffered a lot beneath many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no higher however quite grew worse” (5:26 RSV), whereas Luke says solely that she “had had a move of blood for twelve years and couldn’t be healed by anyone” (8:43 RSV). Interpreters suspect that Luke, sympathizing together with his fellow physicians, suppressed Mark’s extremely unfavorable evaluation of medical failure.

Early Christian writers thought that Luke was in all probability a gentile. As an example, the “anti-Marcionite” prologue to the Gospel of Luke says, “Luke was a Syrian of Antioch, a physician by occupation, who was a disciple of apostles, and later adopted Paul.” Eusebius the church historian agrees, figuring out Luke as a doctor from Antioch (Hist. eccl. 3.4.7). Epiphanius (Panarion 51.11.2; cf. 20.4.3) provides that Luke was one of many seventy-two disciples (cf. Luke 10:1), though most trendy interpreters reject this declare.

Trendy students assume that Luke in all probability attended the Jewish synagogue, the place he grew to become acquainted with the Jewish religion and Scriptures. Though the literacy fee within the Roman Empire was maybe not as little as was as soon as thought, subtle e-book literacy was not frequent. Judging by the writings Luke left behind, the evangelist was a literate, well-educated man.

Luke is described as a “companion of Paul” (Irenaeus, Adv. haer. 3.1.1; see additionally 3.10.1; 3.14.1). We discover extra assist for this in Paul’s references to Luke in his letters (Col 4:14; 2 Tim 4:11; Phil 24) in addition to the “we sections” within the e-book of Acts (e.g., 16:10–17; 20:5–15; 21:1–18; 27:1–28:16).

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Who wrote the Gospel of Luke? What different books did Luke write?

Church custom has held that Luke the doctor penned each the Gospel of Luke and the second quantity often known as the Acts of the Apostles. The good fourth-century church historian Eusebius mentioned that Luke, “has left us, in two impressed books … Certainly one of these books is the Gospel … The opposite e-book is the Acts of the Apostles.” We discover even earlier expressions of this custom in late-second-century Irenaeus (Adv. haer. 1.27.2; 3.11.7; 3.12.12) and early third-century Tertullian (Adv. Marc. 4.2.2, 5; 4.5.3). The oldest Greek manuscript of Luke, 𝔓75, which dates to the third century, ends with the phrases, “Gospel in line with Luke.”

Students now broadly settle for that these two volumes had been authored by the identical particular person, though many proceed to debate when they had been written. The prefaces that introduce every (Luke 1:1–4; Acts 1:1–2) are of nice significance in serving to us detect the authorship and relationship of those two volumes. Each deal with a person named Theophilus (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1). Furthermore, the preface to the second quantity, Acts, makes reference to the primary quantity, that’s, the Gospel of Luke (see Acts 1:1), displaying their connection. Students additionally be aware their similarities to prefaces written by the first-century Josephus in his two-volume work directed in opposition to an anti-Semite named Apion (Ag. Ap. 1.1–3; 2.1).

What are Luke’s main contributions to Bible?

Remarkably, Luke’s two volumes (Luke and Acts) represent roughly one quarter of the New Testomony! This makes Luke probably the most prolific of all New Testomony writers.

Maybe the evangelist’s best contribution is his second quantity, the Acts of the Apostles. Whereas we now have 4 Gospels that every narrate the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, we now have just one account of the primary technology of the church. This account spans from the early 30s to the early 60s, roughly.

The Acts of the Apostles is essential for our understanding of how the church transitioned from a localized Jewish messianic motion to a worldwide motion that included non-Jews in its membership. Acts narrates the growth of the church from Jerusalem, the place Jesus was crucified and resurrected, to Rome, the capital of the Mediterranean world. Thus, Luke gives the context for deciphering the remainder of the New Testomony and its writings to those church buildings.

The Acts of the Apostles is essential for our understanding of how the church transitioned from a localized Jewish messianic motion to a worldwide motion that features non-Jews in its membership.

As Luke particulars the unfold of the gospel, he’s cautious to point out that Paul’s mission to the gentiles is anchored within the choices of the church’s Jewish management, as seen within the two councils in Acts 11 and 15. Within the first council, they determine that non-Jews might certainly grow to be members of the church, and within the second council they determine that non-Jews who be part of the church needn’t grow to be Jewish proselytes so as to take action. These choices represent a significant backdrop to Paul’s mission and the ecclesiology and soteriology to which he provides expression in his a number of letters.

How does Luke’s portrayal of Jesus differ from the opposite Gospels?

The Gospel of Luke is much like the Gospel of Matthew in that each make use of an early type of the Gospel of Mark and a physique of Jesus’s educating that students name “Q.” However Luke differs from Matthew. In contrast to Matthew, Luke doesn’t embrace a sequence of discourses, nor does he emphasize methods Jesus has fulfilled the Regulation or the methods Jesus’s interpretations of the Regulation surpasses the questionable interpretations espoused by rival Jewish lecturers.

Luke’s best distinction, although, consists in how he presents Jesus and his ministry as related for all individuals, together with gentiles. (We see this particularly within the e-book of Acts.) To this finish, Luke options a number of parables not discovered within the different Gospels. All of those parables problem defective assumptions relating to election and salvation. They complement Paul’s educating that justification comes by means of repentance and religion, not works of the Regulation. These distinctive parables embrace, amongst others:

1. The parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–35)

This parable teaches that the one who fulfills the command to like one’s neighbor can belong to a despised ethnic group.

2. The parable of the nice banquet (14:15–24)

This parable teaches that the poor and sick, that’s, the apparent-judged, might discover themselves having fun with the eschatological feast (cf. Isa 25:6), not the the wholesome and prosperous, that’s, the apparent-blessed.

3. The parable of the 2 sons (15:11–32)

This parable teaches that even probably the most undeserving can repent—and once they do, their righteous brothers ought to obtain them with pleasure.

4. The parable of the wealthy man and Lazarus (16:19–31)

This parable reiterates the purpose that wealth is not any signal of election and poverty and ill-health usually are not indicators of non-election.

5. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (18:9–14)

This parable teaches that heaven hears repentance, not boasting.

A screenshot of Logos's Advanced Timeline tool open to show Luke's life during AD 57–92.

Use Logos’s Advanced Timeline software to discover vital dates in Luke’s life.

How has the Gospel of Luke influenced Christianity and theology?

The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles have had an unlimited influence on Christian theology and apply. Each of those writings motivated the gentile mission. Whereas the Gospel of Matthew primarily addressed the synagogue and the Jewish membership of the church, and the Gospel of Mark challenged the Roman Empire and its misguided religion in Caesar because the “son of God” and event of the “excellent news” for the world, the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles underscored the openness of the church to the gentile, outsider, and outcast.

The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles underscored the openness of the church to the gentile, outsider, and outcast.

Luke’s writings, studied along with the letters of Paul, make clear how the Christian motion grew out of Jewish soil and fulfilled guarantees to the Jewish patriarchs and the prophecies of Israel’s nice prophets.

What are some frequent misconceptions about Luke?

Probably the most pernicious false impression about Luke and Acts is that these pro-gentile writings are anti-Jewish and even anti-Semitic. Nothing could possibly be farther from the reality.

Luke’s infancy narrative (Luke 1–2) recollects and celebrates Israel’s nice custom of election.

The angel tells Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, “He’ll flip most of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God” (1:16 RSV), which alludes to Malachi 4:6.
The angel proclaims to Mary the conception of her son Jesus: “He shall be nice … and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he’ll reign over the home of Jacob eternally” (Luke 1:32–33 RSV).
In response, Mary utters a track we name the Magnificat. Her opening phrases, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (1:46 RSV), recall the opening phrases of Hannah’s track of gratitude, “My coronary heart exults within the Lord” (1 Sam 2:1 RSV). Hannah’s track responds to the conception of Samuel, Israel’s nice priest and prophet who anointed David as king.
When John is born, Zechariah praises God, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his individuals, and has raised up a horn of salvation of us in the home of his servant David” (Luke 1:68 RSV).

The arrival of Jesus the Messiah, which has opened the door of salvation to Gentiles, has not closed the door on Israel.

These passages—and extra could possibly be cited—reveal the depth of Luke’s dedication to the election of Israel. The arrival of Jesus the Messiah, which has opened the door of salvation to Gentiles, has not closed the door on Israel.

Why is knowing Luke necessary for biblical research?

Though written virtually two thousand years in the past, the theology and precedent of Luke–Acts stays related for the church at present.

Luke–Acts teaches the church to keep in mind that Israel nonetheless has a spot in God’s plans (see Rom 11) in addition to God’s concern for the poor, the sick, and the marginalized. The Jesus of Luke chastised his spiritual contemporaries for neglecting the poor. In distinction, the early church, as portrayed in Acts, cared for the poor and made nice positive aspects in Jerusalem consequently. Prosperous members of the church gave generously to the poor (Acts 2:42–46; 4:32–37). Hundreds professed their religion in Jesus (Acts 2:47; see additionally 4:4; 5:14; 6:7).

As Luke data, the excellent news of Jesus Messiah is to be proclaimed “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the tip of the earth” (Acts 1:9). All are welcome (28:30–31).