Luke, Physician and Historian

GOLDEN TEXT: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” —Acts 1:8

LUKE 1:1-4; ACTS 1:1, 2

LUKE, according to tradition, was born at Antioch, in Syria, and was there taught the science of medicine. He is referred to by Paul as “the beloved physician.” (Col. 4:14) The time of his conversion is not known. It could have occurred during the period when Barnabas and Paul were in Antioch, his home city. In writing his Gospel account of Jesus’ life and work, he makes no claim of being an eyewitness of the events concerning which he writes, but states that he had received a perfect understanding from eyewitnesses.

He addresses his record of Jesus’ ministry and also the Book of The Acts to a disciple named Theophilus. Not much is known of this disciple, although it is believed that he was a Gentile of high rank, and that he came under the influence of the Gospel at Rome, either through the ministry of Paul or of Luke, who accompanied Paul to Rome.

Luke’s Gospel resembles Matthew’s more than it does either of the other two Gospels, although there are important differences. Luke is the only evangelist to record the announcement of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds by the angels; while Matthew records the visit of the wise men, which occurred some two years later.

ACTS 16:6-10; COLOSSIANS 4:14

LUKE must have been a humble man, for he succeeded admirably in keeping his name out of his historical records of the Early Church. Seemingly he joined Paul and Silas at Troas about the time of the Macedonian call for help. This is indicated in the record by a sudden change in style to the first person plural. Luke writes that after “they”—Paul and Silas—had seen this vision, “we” endeavored to “go into Macedonia.”—vs. 10

Apparently, however, he went with Paul on this journey only as far as Philippi, for when he records the apostle’s departure from the city the pronoun “they” appears again. (ch. 17:1) On a later journey, however, when Paul was passing through Philippi on his way to Jerusalem, Luke seems to have joined him again. See Acts 20:5,6. As nearly as the record can be traced, Luke appears to have remained with Paul until his arrest in Jerusalem; and at some point along the line joined him again as he journeyed to Rome.

In the closing chapter of Acts, where their arrival in Rome is recorded, the personal pronoun “we” is used several times, indicating that the historian himself was in the party. And later, when Paul wrote from his prison home in Rome to the Colossians, he included Luke’s greetings with those of other brethren who were with him.

It is believed that Paul was released from this first imprisonment in Rome. But later, when he was there the second time, and awaiting his execution, Luke was with him. Indeed, when he wrote his last, and very touching letter to Timothy, he said, “Only Luke is with me,” so he asked Timothy to join him, and to bring Mark also.—II Tim. 4:9-11

As in the case of Lydia, we know little concerning Luke, but what is revealed is good, indicating that he was a faithful disciple of Christ, and that the Lord used him greatly for the edification of the church. Probably he was a great help to Paul, and may have served him as secretary during the times he was with him.

QUESTIONS

Who was Luke, and what was his purpose in writing a history of Christ’s ministry, and the Acts of the Apostles?

How much time did Luke spend with Paul, and how do we arrive at this conclusion?

From what we know of Luke’s life, would we say that he was a faithful Christian?

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