Chapter 4
Luke
The Person:
Luke was a gentile,82 he was not an eyewitness, but was a skilful writer. As a gentile doctor, he is the only gentile writer of scripture. As a doctor, he was: methodical, meticulous, Greek educated83, familiar with the discipline of research, and used to keeping good records. To train as a doctor required advanced education. During that training, doctors were taught to be observant, analytical, precise in record keeping, ethical, trustworthy and willing to abide by the Hippocratic-oath which was established four-hundred BC. It is fitting that God uses a doctor to record the virgin birth. After Luke has satisfied himself of the facts by interviewing Mary, he gives the physical genealogy through Mary’s line.
Luke was a native of Antioch which is described as the 'Paris of Ancient Greece'. It was where everyone went to spend money and have a good time. But it was also the site of the first fully Gentile church. That was a problem to people who could not be called Jews, so Antioch was the place of origin for the nickname, 'Christians'.
Luke fits all the facts into coherent format using themes which other gospel writers unpick and put in different order.
Luke was not a preacher but a writer and writes to one man in particular, Why? Theophilus may well have been Paul's lawyer during his time in Rome. ‘Most excellent’ is a legal title. Luke addresses him as most excellent.
The Gospel:
Did Theophilus possibly own Luke? Doctors did not work for the NHS in those days they were employed by households and dignitaries84. Was Theophilus a ‘Public Servant’ in the court of Caesar? Was he a Lawyer in the Caesar’s Court?85 These are three questions that are asked regularly and cannot be answered for certain. He may have been all three. The strongest indications are, that he was a lawyer and that is why Luke took so much trouble with accuracy in his Gospel.
It is highly probable that Luke’s purpose in writing both the Gospel and Acts was to write with a twofold plan, as a researched, long term record to go into the library of Theophilus, but maybe with one eye open as a defence for the trial in Rome. Certainly the accuracy of his research is of ‘Legal’ standard. From where I stand, it is simply not logical to presume he just copied material from Mark as some suggest. He went to see Peter and Peter repeated a lot of what he later dictated to Mark, as one does. Luke’s defence of Christianity is that it is unharmful to Rome. The character reference of Paul and the character of the Church could easily be presented as evidence at the trial. These letters would certainly aid Paul in court against charges of insurrection and, they would defend Christianity against the charge that it was an illegal, anti-Roman religion. His emphasize that both Pontius Pilot and Festus declared him innocent carries weight, as both were Roman Judges.
While Paul was under house arrest at Caesarea for two-years, Luke could go round the country interviewing and researching. His bedside manner was very useful when speaking to Mary about the virgin birth, something she had kept close to her heart. Other childhood stories came from Mary and Elizabeth, who revealed the details of the revelation by angels and the leaping in the womb when they met. The details of Jesus’ presentation for circumcision, when Hannah and Simeon prophesied over Jesus and Mary, were all words she deliberately stored in her heart, as she recalled to Luke. At the time of the Bar-Mizpha, it was customary for the women-folk to travel ahead with the children and prepare the evening meal for when the men-folk arrived. Jesus would have gone up with the women-folk being a child and returned with his father as a man. Hence, the mix-up as to where he was after the day’s journey. Luke also interviewed John86. Matthew probable lent him his journal notes, from which he selected relevant material87. I guess he winkled out of James how the family tried to stop Jesus preaching one time.
Matthew traced the line through Joseph to prove Jesus was legally a descendent of Abraham. That was necessary to comply with the law as legal guardian. But as discussed, Joseph's genealogy comes through Jehoiachin, he could not be the genetic father.88 If Joseph was the only genetic route then we might rightly say God does not keep promises and Jesus was not King of the Jews. But Luke provides a Genealogy from Mary’s line to show God has his own indisputable and clever ways of keeping his promises.
Luke also, not being Jewish himself, mentions other non-Jews like the Samaritan lepers who thanked Jesus, He also wheedled from James and John how they asked Jesus to call down fire on Samaritans, he mentions the non-Jewish widow of Zarapeth and Nahum the Syrian. Luke being a doctor notices the sick and outcast, lepers, tax-collectors and prostitutes. Ten women are mentioned in his gospel but no other. Luke, being less protective of the Jewish heritage, is much more pronounced in his account of the Sermon-on-the-mount89. Matthew’s Jewish account does not record the ‘woes’ in the sermon on the mount, Luke does. Woes are a curse and many Jews do not like to repeat them.
Luke also has a special heart for sinners. Jesus was a friend of those that have given up trying to keep the law. Luke ends with an account of the accension which is also unique among the gospels. His second book begins where he leaves off the first. Later when Paul was in Rome and once again imprisoned, Luke uses the time to gather material gleaned from the saints they had met on the journey. With it, he writes a defence of the Church to present as evidence the Church was no threat to Rome. But that is another book.
82People offer Colossians 4: 10-14 as proof. However no direct statement of that kind is made in the text
83Most of the books in the famous Pergamon Medical library, were in Greek or Aramaic
84Philippians 4: 22.
85Luke 1: 1-4 ; Acts 1: 1.
86Only Luke and John state that the servant's right ear was cut off, Luke and John agree the concept of the master serving the slaves, which is not found in Mark or Matthew as well as other issues common to both
87The suggestion of Matthew keeping a journal has its Orogen in first century writings .
88Jeremiah 22: 24-30
89 Recorded as the sermon on the plain in Luke