Dive In: Luke

The third gospel, Luke’s report, takes a different tack than either Matthew or Mark. Luke was not an eyewitness of Jesus’ life and makes clear in the first four verses of his gospel that his purpose is to present an orderly, well-researched and truthful account of Jesus’ ministry.

Luke was a well-educated man, a Gentile, and an historian. He seems to be writing largely to Gentiles in Syrian Antioch as a shepherd or pastor, although scholars suggest he had three more purposes: to make a historical record, to teach theological truths, and to defend Jesus’ teachings.

Christians in Rome were accused of being law-breakers, because they considered God’s Word to be above Roman law. Luke may have been explaining and defending Christian practices to the Romans.

Luke wrote a lot. The gospel and Acts make up nearly half of the New Testament. A brilliant historian/writer, Luke’s research and attention to detail is amazing. His command of Greek is impressive.

While Matthew aimed his universality at getting Jews to see outside their Jewish limits, Luke’s universality was aimed at Gentiles and social outcasts. He cared for people, especially the poor and outsider.

Matthew concentrated on Jesus and the Kingdom (Jesus as King) and Mark focused on Jesus as Servant God. Luke concentrated on Jesus and the people.

Luke emphasized Jesus’ humanity, including His compassion for the unclean, women, sick and poor. Luke also emphasized Jesus’ role as savior and teacher. Luke includes 15 unique parables and devotes a huge chunk of his gospel to the gospel teaching of Jesus, including 28 parables.

Today many confuse Jesus with a moral teacher or a strict disciplinarian. Luke paints a different story. Through Luke’s account, we see Jesus as the lover of the poor and downtrodden.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at John.