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Gospel
Christ
Tradition
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Interpretation
From ‘Notes on the Formation of the Gospels’,
by John Wijngaards;
published in Background to the Gospels
(Bangalore & Ann Arbor 1981)
and Together in My Name (London
1991).
Ancient tradition is unanimous in ascribing the third Gospel to a
certain Luke.
Who was this Luke? Second-century documents of the Early Church
identify the author of the Gospel as the Luke whom we meet in the New Testament
as a companion of Paul. The ancient texts also say that Luke was a physician
from Antioch in Syria. Since the book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke have been
written by the same author, we can combine such external testimonies with
information gleaned from both books.
It is obvious, for example, that Luke is familiar with the community at
Antioch in its initial years and that he shared some of Paul’s travels.
Probably Luke was a Syrian from Antioch who became a Christian and who offered
his services to the community. If he was a physician, he may have been a slave
in a Christian household - since it was usually slaves who were trained to
practice medicine. Or he may have gained his freedom in later life, as quite a
few did.
Whatever is true of these details, Luke certainly was a man of the
world, a Hellenist, who was anxious to introduce Jesus Christ to people like
himself.
A long and detailed discussion of all aspects regarding Lucan authorship
can be found in J.A.FITZMYER, The Gospel according to Luke, vol.I, New
York 1982, pp. 35-62.
The following issues will be discussed here in some detail:
The Tradition of Lucan authorship
Irenaeus (180 A.D) tells us: “Luke, Paul’s companion, put down
in his book the Gospel which Paul preached.”
We find more information in an old treatise, known as the
“Anti-Marcionite Prologue”: (2nd-3rd cent.)
“There is Luke, a native of Antioch in Syria, a medical doctor
by profession, a disciple of the Apostles. Afterwards he was a companion of
Paul until Paul’s martyrdom.
He served the Lord with full dedication. He died at eighty-four years
of age without wife or children, in Boeotia, full of the Holy Spirit.
Gospels had already been written by Matthew in Judea and by Mark in
Rome. Luke, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote this Gospel in the neighbourhood
of Achaea (near Athens in Greece).
Luke is distinguished from the other evangelists in many ways:
- He was not a Jew, but a convert from Antioch.
- He was a highly cultured man. As medical doctor he would know Greek
science.
- He wrote his Gospel in the centre of Greek civilization, Achaea.
- Luke learned the Gospel from the Apostles (i.e. Peter, etc.) and
shared Paul’s pastoral experiences. He remained celibate.
Similar information about Luke we find in the so-called Muratorian Canon
( 120 A.D.? ), Clement of Alexandria ( 150-215 A.D.), Tertullian (160-240
A.D.), Origen (186-254) and others. It is said that Luke himself was no
eyewitness of Christ’s ministry, but that he took great care to find out
the facts from the Apostles and from others who had seen the Lord.
Tradition asserts that Luke practiced medicine. ‘Luke, the beloved
physician’ (Colossians 4,14); ‘Luke was a physician’ (Muratorian
Canon); ‘Luke was a Syrian of Antioch, by profession a physician’
(Anti-Marcionite Prologue).
Luke in the New Testament
From the New Testament we learn a considerable amount about Luke. Both
the Gospel of Luke and the Acts were written by the same author. This is not
disputed by any scholar today. See B.E.BECK, ‘The Common Authorship of
Luke and Acts’, New Testament Studies 23 (1976-1977) pp. 346-352;
S.H.PRICE, ‘The Authorship of Luke-Acts’, Expository Times 55
(1943-1944) p.194. We glean much information from both books.
Very helpful are the so-called “we passages” in the Acts of
the Apostles, in which Luke writes about events at which he himself was present
(Acts 16:10-17; 20:5 - 21:18; 27:1 - 28:16). St. Paul’s letters prove
another source of information. An analysis of Luke’s Gospel itself adds
details to the picture. Thus Lukes life can be reconstructed in this way:
Luke's personality
Luke belonged to a Greek (Hellenistic) family. His home town was Antioch
in Syria (i.e. North of Palestine). His writing shows him to have been a man of
good education. He practised medicine perhaps somewhat like ‘Ayurvedic
medicine’ in our own days. He may have moved in literary circles. Like
educated Greeks of his time, he would enjoy sports, discussions, poetry and
art.
From his way of writing he appears to have been a kind, considerate and
charitable person.
Luke's conversion
The town of Antioch was one of the first great Christian centres outside
Palestine. After the persecution of Stephen, Jewish converts had come to
Antioch and they preached the Gospel also to non-Jews and many were baptized
(Acts 11:19-21).
The Apostles at Jerusalem appointed Barnabas and Paul to minister at
Antioch. Antioch became the missionary centre for the conversion of the
non-Jews. Barnabas and Paul start on their journeys from this town (Acts
13:1-3). Antioch also became the centre of ‘progressive theology’
which insisted that the Law of Moses need not be followed by non-Jewish
Christians. In Antioch the famous public discussion between Peter and Paul took
place. (Gal 2:11-21) And at the Council of Jerusalem the progressive
theologians participated as the delegates from Antioch (Gal 2:1-10; Acts
15:1-19).
When the first Pope, Peter, had settled the matter against Mosaic Law
(Acts 15:7-12), the Council sent a letter of encouragement to Antioch (Acts
15:22-33).
It is during this period and in this dynamic Church community that Luke
must have been converted. His great missionary zeal, which he was to
demonstrate all through life, was kindled by contact with apostolic men, such
as Peter, Paul, Barnabas and Mark. From Antioch, Luke must have moved to
Troas.
Missionary journey to Philippi - 50 AD
When Paul and Silas proceeded on their missionary trip to Asia Minor,
they met Luke in Troas. It is in this city that Paul saw the vision of the
Macedonian (a Greek) who begged him: “Come over to Macedonia and help
us!” Luke records their enthusiasm: “As soon as Paul had this vision
we got ready to leave for Macedonia, for we decided that God had
called us to preach the Good News to the people there!” (Acts
16:10)
Luke’s vocation as a missionary must have started at this point.
With Paul and Silas he went by boat to Macedonia, and proceeded inland to
Philippi, one of the principal Greek towns.
Luke's ministry in Philippi --- 50-57 AD
In Acts, Luke recounts the foundation of thc Church in that town. The
first converts were pious Jews who met for prayer on the Sabbath. The Apostles
stayed in the house of one of them, a lady called Lydia (Acts 16:11-15).
Paul‘s driving out a demon sparked off a persecution. The Apostles were
miraculously liberated. They converted the jailer and his family. Afterwards
the authorities dismissed them forcing them to leave the city (Acts
16:16-40).
Luke remained at Philippi to serve the new community. For six long years
he gained pastoral experience in the apostolate among these Greek people.
Luke's journey with Paul --- 57-61 AD
Paul came again to Philippi during his third missionary journey. Luke
joined Paul for the return trip to Jerusalem. With Paul he visited the
communities at Troas, Miletus and Ephesus, Tyre and Caesarea (Acts 20:5-21:16).
At their arrival in Jerusalem they were heartily wdcomed by James, the Bishop
of Jerusalem, and others. They reported on their mission (Acts 21-18f).
Paul ran into difficulties at Jerusalem. The Pharisees accused him of
having violated the Temple. Paul was arrested and kept in prison, first in
Jerusalem itself and later (for two years) in Caesarea. It would seem that Luke
stayed with Paul during all this period, helping him as much as he could (Acts
21:20-26:32; see esp. 24:23).
When Governor Felix finally decided to send Paul to Rome as a prisoner,
Luke went with Paul on this dangerous journey. With Paul he underwent the
terrible storm, the shipwreck near Malta, and the other adventures of the trip
(Acts 27:1-28:14). The arrival at Rome, and their meeting with the Roman
Christians, was a ioy and relief (Acts 28:14-16).
Luke's ministry in Rome --- 61 AD
After his arrival in Rome, Paul began to preach Christ in spite of his
being a ‘private prisoner’ (Acts 28:16- 30). Luke helped him in this
apostolate. Paul writes to Philemon about Luke as one of his fellow workers
(Phil 24).
And to the Colossians Paul sends this greeting: “Luke, our dear
doctor, and Demas send you their kind regards!” (Col 4:14)
We do not know precisely what happened after Paul’s release from
prison (65 AD?). It may be that Luke wrote his Gospel during this period,
perhaps while visting the Churches in Greece. Not long afterwards he may have
written the Acts of the Apostles, as a continuation of the Gospel.
During Paul’s second imprisonment (66-67 AD?), we find Luke once
more at his side. In fact, he seems to have been Paul’s only companion
then:
“(Timothy), do your best to come to me soon. For Demas fell in
love with this present world and has deserted me; he has gone off to
Thessalonica. Crescens went to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is
with me...”
Many scholars think that Luke wrote his two books only after Paul’s
death, between 70 and 80 AD.
Tradition is not absolutely unanimous regarding Luke’s last years.
According to some sources he died as a martyr. His feast is celebrated on
October the 18th.
John Wijngaards
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