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THE BIBLE IS SO BIG, WHERE SHOULD I BEGIN?
For those new to Bible study, we recommend starting in the New Testament. It focuses on the teachings of Jesus. Among our favorite authors in the New Testament is Luke: physician and apostle. The new Testament contains two books written by Luke. The first 'The Book of Luke' is an account of the Life of Jesus (one of four "Gospels', which means 'good news'). The second, 'Acts of the Apostles', is an account of the first Christians, especially the apostle Paul. These two books make up nearly 40 percent of the New Testament. Begin your Bible readings with these two books.
LUKE, COMPANION TO PAUL
What do we know about this man who contributed so much to the writing of the Bible? From Paul's letters we learn that Luke was one of his traveling companions, who visited him during some of his imprisonments. Paul describes him when writing to the church in Colossae as the 'beloved physician' (Colossians 4:14). Some have wondered if he is the unnamed 'brother' whom Paul sends with Titus to Corinth, describing him as 'praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel' (2 Corinthians 8:8). Is this a reference to the fact that Luke was already gathering a body of oral and written material that summarized the life and teaching of Jesus (the beginnings of his Gospel)?
From the book of Acts we can deduce a little more. On some occasions the author suddenly breaks into the first person: for example, 'we boarded a ship...' (Acts 27:2). From these we can establish when Luke was traveling with Paul. He may have been a native of a place called Troas (near ancient Troy, on the north-west coast of what is now Turkey) -- at least this is where he first joined Paul, traveling across to Philippi with him (Acts 16:10-40). He then seems to have stayed in Philippi before rejoining Paul's companions as they made their way to Jerusalem (Acts 20:5-6). Luke remained in Palestine throughout Paul's two-year imprisonment in Caesarea (Acts 23-26) and then joined him on the journey to Rome, which included being shipwrecked off Malta (Acts 7-28).
As a travel companion of Paul, Luke got to meet the leaders of the young church: Peter, Barnabas, Stephen, Lydia. But Paul was a special, long-standing friend, and to his friend Luke remained undeflectably loyal. How loyal? When Paul was imprisoned in Rome and his execution was imminent, Paul wrote young Timothy, "Luke alone is with me." He couldn't have been more loyal. If Luke stood by Paul, a man on death row, then did Luke meet the same violent end as Paul? We don't know. We shall have to wait until the beloved physician tells us himself, if we remember to ask such questions on that Great Day.
WRITING HIS STORY
We do not know what happened to Luke after arriving in Rome. Quite possibly he met Mark (the writer of another Gospel) while he was there (in Colossians 4:10 Paul refers to Mark just a few versus before he refers to Luke). Meeting Mark may have spurred him to spend time preparing his own material for publication.
Probably Luke had used his time in Palestine (AD 57-59) to research the people and places associated with Jesus and the apostles, perhaps even producing a first draft of his Gospel. We do not know when he produced his 'final edition". Many scholars suggest dates as late as AD 85, but a date ten or even twenty years earlier is preferable. Possibly Luke's Gospel was given its final shaping just after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, which Luke may have seen as an integral part of the story he was telling -- the dramatic story of what resulted from Jesus going up to Jerusalem.
Luke's writing is of a recognizably high quality. His caliber as a historian -- disputed by some -- appears to conform to the best standards of ancient historiography. He writes in a polished Greek style (it was probably his mother tongue). At the same time his language seems to have preserved the Jewish flavor of many of his sources. He uses phrases that make more sense in a Semitic language than in Greek; for example, 'and it came to pass'.
Luke never saw a crowd; he never saw a mob or a group or an audience. Luke never saw a faceless man or woman. He saw only an individual, an individual with a specific affliction or problem or perplexity. Luke saw only a suffering individual whom Jesus Christ graced and whom Luke himself thereafter loved. Luke's gospel is easily the warmest of the four. He describes people with such realism and yet also with such empathy that our hearts go out to them, even though they lived in so very different a time and place.
LUKE'S PERPSECTIVE ON JESUS
Luke has a particular gift for conveying emotional color and warmth. His portrait of Jesus is perhaps the most 'human', and in it we see a wide variety of people responding to Jesus in their different ways. Luke's Gospel refers more frequently than the other Gospels to women (they may indeed have been his sources), and it tells several stories from a female perspective: for example, his account of Jesus' birth is told from Mary's viewpoint. From this some have sensed that Luke was not just a beloved physician' but also a brilliant psychologist. Perhaps his close dealings with people in their medical difficulties gave him a special sympathy and an understanding of human weakness.
In keeping with this, Luke emphasizes the way Jesus included all people within his care. No one is automatically excluded, whether rich or poor, male or female, Jew or non-Jew (or 'Gentile'). This last point may have meant a lot to Luke personally. Almost certainly he was himself a Gentile by birth. At the same time he may already have been attracted to the ethics and belief of Judaism, even before he heard the message about Jesus. There were many such 'God-fearers' on the fringes of the synagogue in the ancient world. When the apostles began preaching the Gospel and announcing that Gentiles could now enter the kingdom of God as Gentiles (without first needing to be circumcised, for example), this was indeed 'good news'.
So Luke writes to encourage other Gentile readers that they too now belong in God's family, and that Jesus in his earthly ministry had a welcoming attitude towards non-jews (hence, for example, Jesus' story of a good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37). He emphasizes that Jesus' message was all about 'salvation' and the 'forgiveness of sins' (Luke 2:11, 7:48, 24; 46-7). The climax of a key episode within his Gospel (focused on Jesus' encounter with a dishonest tax collector called Zacchaeus) is Jesus' clear statement that he 'came to seek and to save that which is lost' (Luke 19:10). Indeed Luke devotes the whole of chapter 15 to the theme of the joy experienced when people who had been lost are now found - the high point of which is Jesus' parable in which a 'prodigal son' is welcomed home by his delighted father.
Luke's Gospel is an extended invitation to people of any background to consider themselves welcome in the company of Jesus. A good message, indeed, upon which to begin any study of the Bible.
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