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SUBJECT: Luke
QUESTION: What do we know about Luke? How could he
write one of the gospels if he never met Jesus? Doesn’t
that make his gospel hearsay?
ANSWER:
Notice this from the Bible Dictionary:
LUKE
A "fellow laborer" of the apostle Paul (Philem 24) and the
probable author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the
Apostles. By profession he was a physician (Colossians
4:14). During one of Paul's imprisonments, probably in Rome,
Luke's faithfulness was recorded by Paul when he declared,
"Only Luke is with me" (2 Timothy 4:11). These three
references are our only direct knowledge of Luke in the New
Testament.
A bit more of Luke's life and personality can be pieced
together with the aid of his writings (Luke and Acts) and
some outside sources. Tradition records that he came from
Antioch in Syria. This is possible, because Antioch played a
significant role in the early Gentile mission which Luke
described in Acts (Acts 11; 13; 14; 15; 18). Luke was a
Gentile (Colossians 4:10-17) and the only non-Jewish author
of a New Testament book. A comparison of 2 Corinthians 8:18
and 12:18 has led some to suppose that Luke and Titus were
brothers, but this is a guess.
Luke accompanied Paul on parts of his second third, and
final missionary journeys. At three places in Acts, the
narrative changes to the first person ("we"). This probably
indicates that Luke was personally present during those
episodes. On the second journey (A.D. 49-53), Luke
accompanied Paul on the short voyage from Troas to Philippi
(Acts 16:10-17). On the third journey (A.D. 54-58), Luke was
present on the voyage from Philippi to Jerusalem (Acts
20:5-21:18). Whether Luke had spent the intervening time in
Philippi is uncertain, but his connection with Philippi has
led some to favor it (rather
than Antioch) as Luke's home.
Once in Palestine, Luke probably remained close by Paul
during his two-year imprisonment in Caesarea. During this
time, Luke probably drew together material, both oral and
written, which he later used in the composition of his
gospel (Luke 4). A third "we" passage describes in masterful
suspense the shipwreck during Paul's voyage to Rome for his
trial before Caesar. Each of the "we" passages involves Luke
on a voyage, and the description of the journey from
Jerusalem to Rome is full of observations and knowledge of
nautical matters.
Luke apparently was a humble man, with no desire to sound
his own horn. More than one-fourth of the New Testament
comes from his pen, but not once does he mention himself by
name. He had a greater command of the Greek language and was
probably more broad-minded and urbane than any New Testament
writer. He was a careful historian, both by his own
admission (Luke 1:1-4), and by the judgment of later
history.
Luke's gospel reveals his concern for the poor, sick, and
outcast, thus offering a clue to why Paul called him "the
beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14). He was faithful not
only to Paul, but to the greater cause which he served-the
publication of "good tidings of great joy" (Luke 2:10).
~from Nelson's Illustrated
Bible Dictionary
Note: As the dictionary says, Luke was a careful
historian. He was the author of one-fourth of the New
Testament. Most importantly, all scripture is actually
authored by God, Himself…
2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness:
We can easily see that Luke was called of God and had His
Holy Spirit. He was in close relationship with Paul. The
point is that we do not need to rely on specific men to have
truth. We need only rely on God who chose those specific
men to do His desires whether raising up churches in Asia or
writing one of the Gospels. I do not trust the Bible
because Luke and Paul wrote much of the New Testament; I
trust it because I am a Spirit begotten firstfruit of God
and have proven the Bible to be His Word (See 1 John 2:20)
In addition, think of all the people who have, through the
ages, maintained the Bible, made copies, passed them down
and who canonized the Bible in the first place. The Bible
could only have come to us by an ongoing miracle of God;
from its inspiration, to its formation as a book, to its
publishing and distribution and to its preservation. Just
as one can understand the word through the power of the Holy
Spirit, that same Spirit could inspire Luke to write all
that he did. |