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Luke

[Luke chapter 1] Verse 1 says… and this, I think, is interesting. These people had undertaken to compile an account of “the things accomplished among us” (NASB). It could have said “the things concerning Jesus” [since] they’re writing the life of Christ, but he doesn’t. This is so important. He goes to the goal of everything and he says the story is not a story about Jesus as if that’s the end of the story. It’s a story about what God accomplished among us through him. That’s the issue. Luke emphasizes the issue of divine accomplishment. Luke’s story is about what God accomplishes in the lives of sinners through Jesus Christ, that’s what it’s about… It is a history of salvation. That’s what it is.  It’s redemptive history. And that’s what Luke wrote; he wrote redemptive history.

—John MacArthur

Source: Copyright 2023, Grace to You. All rights reserved. Used by permission. This Grace to You article originally appeared here at gty.org.

Though Luke does not quote the Old Testament to the same extent that Matthew does, his narrative is full of Old Testament images and motifs. His purpose is to show that this is not the beginning of a new religion. It is the fulfilment of an old one. God’s promises to Israel are coming to fulfillment through Jesus the Messiah. 

—Mark L. Strauss

Source: Strauss, Mark L. “Luke: The Gospel of the Savior For Lost People Everywhere.” BibleProject. 2018.

In a 2007 interview for Newsweek, the well-known atheist and bestselling author Sam Harris said, “I don’t want to pretend to be certain about anything I’m not certain about.” I think Luke would agree with Mr. Harris, which is why he wrote his famous gospel. We should never pretend, especially when it comes to what we believe about God. This does not mean that we can never be certain, however. On the contrary, Luke’s Gospel was written to give greater certainty about the person and work of Jesus Christ (see Luke 1:1-4). 

—Phil Ryken 

Source: Luke: Volume 1, Chapters 1-12 (Reformed Expository Commentary), Philip Graham Ryken, Copyright 2009, P&R Publishing, Philipsburg, NJ.

The rest of the Gospel of Luke is written in the common Greek, but not the prologue. Luke did this, I think, because he wanted to establish the lofty, literary character of this work. It is such a high quality of Greek, by the way, that it was obvious that Luke was highly educated. If it didn’t tell us in the Bible that he was a physician, we would assume that he had had some kind of high-level education because of his handling of the classical form of Greek. 

By using this kind of Greek as he introduces his gospel, he is claiming a place for the gospel as a classic. He is claiming a place for the gospel as a serious work, as a true work of literary, historical worth to be given attention by the most sophisticated and highly educated Gentile or Greek reader. Luke is claiming a place for Christianity among the classics. He’s claiming a place for Christianity on the stage of world history. And while much of the New Testament literature was written for the church and therefore the common people, Luke had in mind the world and he wanted to make sure that he included those who were at the very highest levels of education. 

—John MacArthur  

Source: Copyright 2023, Grace to You. All rights reserved. Used by permission. This Grace to You article originally appeared here at gty.org.

If there were other accounts, if there were other narratives about Jesus’ life, why did it seem, as Luke put it there, why did it seem good to him to write another one? That’s pretty bold! Like were the other ones not good enough? Was the Gospel of Mark just missing stuff that Luke thought, “Man, you really missed it Mark, let me show you how to do it. Let me set an example of how to write a gospel well.” Why would Luke write his own [gospel]? 

Well beloved, the reason that Luke said it seemed good to him to write his own narrative is not because of a lack in the other accounts—in the other narratives about Jesus’ life—but because of a lack in the person that he’s writing to. Did you see that there in verse four? Look at verse four with me. It says that the reason he’s written his gospel is so that Theophilus may have certainty concerning the things he had been taught about Jesus (Luke 1:4).  

So in other words, Luke wrote his narrative less to give Theophilus new information about Jesus and more to bring clarity and certainty to the information about Jesus that he already had. So again, Luke wasn’t merely writing to inform Theophilus about the life of Jesus, he was writing to persuade Theophilus about the meaning of Jesus’ life, and to motivate him to follow Jesus, to give his life to Jesus, to bow his heart to Jesus as Lord… 

So in other words, as one writer put it, “Luke’s primary challenge was related to the significance or meaning of Jesus’ life and its story, not to its verification.” He wasn’t writing to us who are two thousand years removed and trying to plead with us to believe that what he is writing is historically verifiable. He assumes it’s historically verifiable! He assumes it’s true—there are eyewitnesses. What Luke is writing is to say, “This true story, here’s what it means for you and for me and for the whole world.”  

—Beau Hughes  

Source: Beau Hughes, quoted from his message, “Luke, Theo, and the Gospel of Jesus” from his series The Gospel of Luke on Luke 1:1-4, preached at The Village Church Denton on November 26, 2017.

Luke was a medical doctor. In fact, Paul called him “the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14). But this was not because he excelled in the healing arts. It is rather because he was a lover of people, a man who could submit his ego and desires to the service of others. As already mentioned, some believe he was “the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel” in 2 Corinthians 8:18. Luke was a doctor of souls!

He delighted in mentioning individuals: Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Martha, Zacchaeus, Cleopas, the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet. Jesus’ parables in the Gospel of Matthew center on the kingdom, but those in Luke stress people.

Luke’s Gospel transcends the first century’s neglect of women. We hear their names more there than in any other gospel: Mary, Elizabeth, Anna, Martha, her sister Mary, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, the widow of Nain, the widow who gave all she had, the daughters of Jerusalem, the women in Jesus’ parables.

We see Luke’s heart for babies and children in the stories of the infancy of John and Jesus. Luke gives us the only information about Jesus’ boyhood. He also speaks of various individuals’ only sons or only daughters.

Luke also shows himself powerfully disposed to the poor. He portrays Jesus as coming to preach the gospel to the poor and blessing the poor. The shepherds were poor. Joseph and Mary made an offering of the poor at Jesus’ birth. Luke cared about the poor. He also repeatedly warned about the dangers of riches. The parables he recorded repeatedly return to these themes: the rich fool, the unjust steward, the rich man who ignored the beggar Lazarus, the rich young ruler, the widow’s mite.

Luke was a tender doctor of souls. His ethos will touch and penetrate ours, and we will be sweeter and more tender as we give our souls to the study of his gospel.

—Kent Hughes

Source: Content taken from “Luke: That You May Know the Truth” by R. Kent Hughes, ©2012. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. 

Luke is the Gospel for the outcast on the earth. It is Luke who tells of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:33), the publican (see Luke 18:13), the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11-24), Zacchaeus (see Luke 19:2) and the thief on the cross (see Luke 23:43). He is the writer who has the most to say for womanhood (see Luke 1–2). Luke records Jesus’ compassion for the woman of Nain and the depths of His mercy for the woman who was a sinner. His regard for women and children is shown repeatedly (see Luke 7:46; 8:3; 8:42; 9:38; 10:38-42; 11:27; 23:27).  

Luke alone tells us about the bloody sweat in Gethsemane; the walk with two disciples to Emmaus; Jesus’ leading His disciples out as far as Bethany and that as He lifted up His hands and blessed them, He was parted from them.

—Henrietta Mears

Source: This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. 

Luke’s first volume (Luke) focuses mainly on Jesus’ invitation to his own people to follow him. Then in the next volume (Acts) the invitation goes viral, extending to everyone everywhere. In volume one (Luke), the movement is all toward Jerusalem, the center of Jewish national life, and ultimately the backdrop for Jesus’ final conflict with the religious establishment. In volume two (Acts), things move progressively out from Jerusalem, as word about Jesus spreads across the Roman Empire.

—Community Bible Experience  

Source: “Community Bible Experience: New Testament, Luke Acts Overview.” Posted by “Zondervan,” April 16, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa1BgrXHA3k