Grace Institute: The Gospels & Acts: Luke: Introduction

Luke Survey of the New Testament: The Gospels & Acts Winter 2005

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Introduction

Author

Both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts are dedicated to Theophilus. Furthermore, in Acts 1:1 the author indicates that he had written a prior volume that was about the life of Christ. It is therefore safe to say that Luke and Acts are written by the same individual.

In the book of Acts, the author uses the term “we” in four separate sections of the book: Acts 16:10-17, 20:5-15, 21:1-18, and 27:1-28:16. From Paul's epistles we know Paul's various companions at each point of his ministry, and Luke is the only person who matches these “we” passages. Therefore we can deduce that Luke is that author of Acts, and is therefore also the author of this gospel. The early church fathers confirm this authorship.

Luke is described in Colossians 4:14 as the “beloved physician.” He is the only Gentile author in the New Testament. As a physician he would have been highly educated. His writing style uses the most classical forms of the Greek language of any of the gospels.

Date

The dating of this gospel is closely aligned with the dating of the book of Acts. Luke tells us in the dedication of Acts that the gospel was written first. The book of Acts ends with Paul in Rome awaiting trial. However, the outcome of the trial is left a mystery, strongly suggesting that the book of Acts was completed prior to Paul's trial in Rome, which took place in the mid 60s. Luke was therefore was probably written in the early to mid 60s.

Purpose & Audience

The book is written to Theophilus. We do not know who Theophilus was, or even if he was an actual person. The word Theophilus is Greek for “God-lover,” so we can presume that the books was written to a Greek follower of God who wanted to know the truth about the person of Jesus.

Luke seems to be writing primarily to a non-Jewish audience. His language lacks some of the Hebrew and Aramaic terms found in Matthew, and many of his themes would have appealed to more of a Greek than Jewish audience. Between this and the Greek name of Theophilus, we can presume that Luke's primary audience was Greek.

Luke's stated purpose was to provide a thorough, accurate, and orderly look at the life of Christ. Evidently there were many different accounts of the life of Jesus. Luke has set out to investigate all the sources and compile an orderly, certain, complete, chronological picture of Christ. Luke went to great lengths, interviewing as many eyewitnesses as he could, including disciples, friends, and relatives (Jesus' mother and brothers) (Luke 1:29).

But Luke's portrait of Jesus is not just a historical fact. The facts are weaved together to prove that Jesus was the Son of Man who came to be the Savior of the world.

Finally, as a Gentile, Luke uses the gospel to lay the groundwork for his apologetic in for the inclusion of the Gentiles into the church in the book of Acts.

Structure

The structure of the book of Luke is closely tied with the structure of Acts [1]. Both books are most easily tied to the geography of the book.

Luke begins with a global perspective, dating the birth of Christ to the reign of the Roman emperors in Luke 2:1 and 3:1. From there we see Jesus' ministry in Galilee, an area that had a large Jewish populations, but which was primarily a Gentile region (4:14-9:50).

Beginning in 9:51, we see Jesus focus shift towards Jerusalem. His purpose was to save the world (9:56), and that required that he go up to Jerusalem and suffer on the cross. The next section takes place as Jesus travels from Galilee to Jerusalem, passing through Samaria (9:52-53), traveling through other villages in Judea (10:38, 13:22, 17:11), up to Jericho (19:1), Bethany (19:29) and finally into Jerusalem (19:37-45). Luke places the bulk of Jesus teaching in the setting of this journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.

Once in Jerusalem, Jesus presents himself as the Jewish Messiah (19:28-21:38), and then offers himself up the savior of the world (22:1-24:53).

After the resurrection, Luke does not mention Jesus' appearances in Galilee, keeping the action in Jerusalem. This is done to tie in the geographic outline of Acts.

The book of Acts follows just the opposite motion, taking the scene from Jerusalem (chapters 1-5), to Judea and Samaria (chapters 6-9), then traveling towards Rome (chapters 9-28). This “chiastic” structure emphasizes the centrality of the resurrection and ascension to Luke's message, while emphasizing the universal nature of the gospel.

Theme

(Luke 19:10 NASB) "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

This verse sets the theme of the whole book. First, Luke presents Jesus as the Son of Man. He is the perfect human. Luke's Greek audience would relate to this essay on the perfection of humanity. Greek philosophers for centuries had debated and discussed ways for mankind to achieve perfection [2]. Luke takes this mind-set and demonstrates that the perfect man can be found in the person of Jesus.

But the verse also sets forth the purpose of this perfect son of Man. The Son of Man comes to the lost. The son of Man seeks those who are lost. The Son of Man's death and resurrection saves those who are lost. [3]

Footnotes

1. Craig L. Blomberg. Jesus and the Gospels. (Nashville TN: Broadman & Holman. 1997),140-145.
2. Ray C. Stedman, “The Gospel of Luke: The Perfect Man,” (http:www.pbc.org/dp/stedman/adventure/0243.html), 1966.
3. Ibid.

[Next: The Son of Man Comes (Chapters 1-4) ]