Luke

Though only mentioned three times in the New Testament, Luke’s influence on the book includes an entire gospel as well as the whole of Acts.  A huge chunk of the New Testament.  What do those scriptures say about Luke?

• Colossians 4:14 “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.”
  
• 2 Timothy 4:11 “Only Luke is with me.  Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.”
  
• Philemon 1:24 “Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.”
  

Not the most informative bunch.

So what do we know from these three scriptures?

• Luke is a physician, apparently beloved.
  
• He seems to be a companion of Paul and was the only one with him during his second Roman imprisonment.
  

Besides these small insights we can get from the scriptures, who was Luke?  There are a few instances in some scripture passages that we can assume the person being described is Luke.  In Acts 16:10, we know that Luke is the author so when he begins to say how “we” did this and “we” did that, we can assume he is included in the group he is describing.  From these small insights we know that Luke was a convert to the church, was sometimes the traveling companion of Paul, and he met James, the brother of Jesus, in Galilee so was able to receive information about Jesus’ early life. 

Another way we can find out about Luke is to, of course, read his writings.  The knowledge that he was indeed a doctor helps us to understand the way he presents his narrative of Christ’s life in the Gospel of Luke.  He obviously thinks in a linear fashion, this, plus this, equals that.  He is also one of the first historians because history comes from medical history.  Luke is also interesting in the way he describes and incorporates women.  Gentiles were known for their contempt for women so Luke must have been fascinated by Jesus’ treatment of women.  He usually doubles up parables so that there are two related parables that have to do with a man and then a woman, one after the other, probably to show that Jesus treated both equally.  One of his comparisons is that of Zacharias and Elisabeth and Mary and Joseph.  Though both Zacharias and Mary are righteous people, only one of them faithfully trusts in God when the time comes for them to be tested.  Surprisingly it is the young Mary instead of the wise, temple worker Zacharias.  Luke seems to be reminding us not to judge whomever God may call.

Even though we may have to assume a lot about Luke and who he was, it is obvious to me that he was a disciple of Christ and a faithful follower, whether he actually saw the Savior in the flesh or not.  It is even thought that he died as a martyr, spreading the word of Christ.