I.

Introduction

Gospel According to Luke, third book of the New Testament.

II.

Authorship

Church tradition dating from the end of the 2nd century attributes this Gospel to “Luke, the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14), one of the “fellow workers” (Philemon 1:24) mentioned by Saint Paul. The same tradition also attributes to Luke (see Luke, Saint) the Acts of the Apostles, which, together with the Gospel bearing his name, is commonly regarded as having formed a larger work on the origin of Christianity. Most modern scholars accept Luke's authorship of both works. Some scholars, however, because of factual contradictions between Paul's letters and the accounts of Paul in Acts, doubt that Luke and Paul were closely associated during Paul's missionary work.

It is now generally agreed that the Gospel of Luke dates from the decade 70 to 80. Earlier or later dates have also been proposed: if, as some have suggested, Acts was written while Paul was imprisoned in Rome, Luke's Gospel could have been written about 63 to 65; if the absence before then of any reference to the Gospel in the writings of the earliest Fathers of the Church is taken as proof of a later date, it is possible that Luke's Gospel was composed at the end of the 1st century. It is unknown whether the Gospel was written in Rome, Asia Minor, or Greece.

III.

Content

The framework of Luke is that of the Gospel According to Mark. Luke, however, expanded the Markan account by means of two major interpolations (Luke 6:20-8:3, 9:51-18:14). Most scholars agree that these insertions were drawn mainly from a collection of the sayings of Jesus Christ known as Q, or the Logia, and from a body of oral tradition, sometimes designated as L, collected by or known only to Luke himself.

Luke falls into six fairly distinct sections: a preface (1:1-4); accounts of Jesus' birth and infancy (1:5-2:52); Jesus' ministry in Galilee (3:1-9:50); his journey from Galilee to Jerusalem (9:51-19:48); his ministry in Jerusalem (chapters 20-21); and his passion, resurrection, and ascension (chapters 22-24).

The preface, which gives the author's reasons and authority for writing, is addressed to a “most excellent Theophilus” (1:3). Possibly, Theophilus is merely a symbolic designation of the Christian reader, but it is more likely that he was an actual person, perhaps a Roman official. Luke's preface is unique among the first three Gospels. Modeled on the prologues of Hellenistic historical writers, it conveys the impression that Luke wrote primarily as a historian, recording the facts after a thorough investigation.

Luke's narrative of Jesus' birth and infancy has most decisively shaped the Christian celebration of Christmas. The great hymns known as the Magnificat (1:46-55) and the Benedictus (1:68-79) are found in this section. It also includes such familiar stories as the annunciation (1:26-38); the visit of Mary, the mother of Jesus, to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist (1:39-56); the birth of John the Baptist (1:57-80); Jesus' circumcision and presentation in the Temple (2:21-40); and Jesus' appearance in the Temple at 12 years of age (2:41-52). All of these accounts are unique to Luke's Gospel.

Luke's account of Jesus' Galilean ministry follows that of Mark with relatively few exceptions. The chief exceptions are that Luke offers a fuller account of the rejection of Jesus' preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth (4:16-30); introduces a genealogy of Jesus that traces his human ancestry back to Adam rather than only to Abraham (3:23-38); and locates the place of Jesus' Great Sermon on a plain (6:17) instead of on a hilltop (6:20-49).

Luke's account of Jesus' journey through Samaria to Jerusalem (9:51-19:48), on the other hand, contains considerable material not paralleled in either Mark or Matthew. It is primarily this portion (most likely drawn largely from the L source), regarded by many scholars as Luke's special section, that is responsible for the distinctive quality of the Gospel. The uniquely Lukan narratives and sayings found in this section include stories of the sending and return of the 72 disciples (10:1-20), of Martha and Mary (10:38-42), and of the rich tax collector Zacchaeus (19:1-10); and the parables of the good Samaritan (10:29-37), of the lost coin (15:1-10), of the prodigal son (15:11-32), and of Dives (meaning rich man in Latin) and Lazarus (16:19-31). Also included here is Luke's shorter version of the Lord's Prayer, without the doxology found in Matthew 6:9-15, and set in a different context.

For his accounts of Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem (chapters 20-21) and of the passion and resurrection (chapters 22-24), Luke again draws on Mark. Added to the Markan narrative, however, are Jesus' last words to his disciples (22:21-38), his words on the way to the cross (23:28-31), the words of the two crucified criminals (23:39-43), the appearances of the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus and in Jerusalem (24:13-49), and Jesus' ascension (24:50-53).

The Gospel of Luke appears to have been written primarily for use among the Gentiles. The writer's aim clearly is to be universal, for Luke, more than Matthew and Mark, attempts to set the person and ministry of Jesus against the backdrop of world history. By tracing the ancestry of Jesus all the way to Adam, the first man, Luke underscores the universality of Christ's mission. Little touches throughout the narrative keep this motif of universality before the reader. Luke alone records that soldiers (who must have been Gentiles) came to be baptized by John the Baptist (3:14); no other evangelist displays such concern for the Samaritans (9:51-56, 17:11-19); and his Gospel looks forward to the day when the word of the Lord will be heard and will prevail in “all nations” (24:47). Also characteristic of Luke are his concern for just social relationships, particularly for the proper relationship between rich and poor; his concern for sinners and social outcasts; and a sympathetic concern, unique among the evangelists, for women (7:11-17, 7:36-50, 8:1-3).