Author

The book was written by Luke, who was an associate of the Apostle Paul, traveling with him often. Luke was a Gentile (non-Jew), and a physician by trade. Luke is also the author of the book of Acts.

Date

It is impossible to get an exact date for the writing of Luke and Acts, however, if we look at the content of Luke’s writings, he does not include any references to major events which took place after 64A.D., including Nero’s persecution of Christians, the fall of Jerusalem (70A.D.), or even to Paul’s letters, many of which were written from prison in Rome. Even the book of Acts ends without resolving what happened to Paul, leading to speculation that at the time of Luke’s writing, Paul was still alive in prison. For these reasons, the early 60s seems likely.

Other scholars, however, based on the idea that Mark’s gospel had already been widely distributed and read by the time Luke was writing, put the date later; possibly into the early 80s.

Audience and Purpose

The book is addressed to “Theophilus” (Luke 1:3), whom most historians believe to be Luke’s patron (meaning he funded Luke’s work and published his writings.) Some, however, have speculated that Theophilus was not a real person. Instead, as the Greek name means “God-lover,” they believe it was a sneaky way for Luke to address the writing to any believer who would read the book.

Luke’s goal in writing was to gather a complete account of Jesus’ life and ministry by interviewing as many living witnesses as possible (Luke 1:1-2). 

The book is one of the synoptic gospels (with Matthew and Mark), in that the three books have a very similar structure and recount many of the same stories. It is likely that Luke had read Mark’s gospel and used it as one of the witnesses for his own writing. In fact, St. Augustine wrote that Luke was the last of the synoptic gospels and that he used both, Matthew and Mark, in his writings.

Major Themes

• Gospel
• Jesus as Savior. See Luke 19:10.
• God’s Sovereignty. See Luke 1:14–17, 31–35, 46–55, 68–79; 2:9–14, 30–32, 34–35; 4:16–30; 13:31–35; 24:25–27, 44–49.
• The Activity of the Holy Spirit. Luke points out, many times, that the Holy Spirit was at work in the life of Jesus (Luke 1:32-35, 41-45; 2:25-32, 36-38; 3:21-22; 4:1, 14, 18). This theme sets the foundation for Acts, when the Holy Spirit would become prominent in the life of the church, as well.
• Discipleship and Heart Transformation.

Key Scriptures

• Luke 4:18 —“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
• Luke 9:23 — “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’”
• Luke 19:10 — “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Outline

• Luke 1:1-4 — Luke’s Introduction
• Luke 1:5-2:52 — Jesus’ Birth
• Luke 3:1-4:15 — Jesus’ Preparation for Ministry
• Luke 4:16-9:50 — Jesus’ Ministry Around Galilee
• Luke 9:51-19:27 — Jesus’ Journey to Jerusalem
• Luke 19:28-21:38 — Jesus’ Ministry in Jerusalem
• Luke 22:1-23:56 — Jesus’ Trial and Crucifixion
• Luke 24:1-53 — Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension

Gospel Summary

As with Matthew and Mark, it is difficult to give a gospel summary of Luke, as the book itself is a “gospel” and a summary of the life of Jesus Christ. 

A key difference is that Luke’s style of writing imitated other Greek writing of the day, and seems to target even those who may not have a Jewish understanding of the Old Testament. Whereas Matthew goes in-depth to show that Jesus was the fulfillment of Old Testament, Jewish prophecy, Luke focuses instead on the inward heart change that comes to anyone who choose to follow Jesus as Lord.

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© Anthony Scott Ingram 2021. All Rights Reserved.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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