What was Luke's job?

Answer 1

Luke Wrote both the Gospel of Luke and Acts From the claims amde in Luke 1:1-3 it seems clear that he decided to write the Gospel which bears his name to add to what others had written before him. Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most certainly believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

He also indicates that, apart from being himself a believer, he had at least three main sources of information from which to compile his account, which he also tells us is intended to be 'in order' that is, chronological. (This explains some of the unnecessary conflicts and alleged contradictions between the Gospel accounts, since the clear implication here is that the others were not necessarily attempting a strict chronological order but merely to give us a record of Jesus life) Thus Luke here gives us insight into how he was to approach his work, as well as into how others ordered theirs.

Luke's sources were these:

1. Those who had written before him - at least Mark and Matthew and possibly others.

2. Those who were themselves both eyewitnesses (indicating first-hand personal knowledge) and ministers of the word.

3. He himself had 'perfect understanding of all things from the very first', indicating that he, although not a disciple had gained personal knowledge of events, and most certainly this is indicated in the use of 'we' in the book of Acts.

Luke also tells us that his account is to be 'in order', suggesting a chronological approach towards his work and also suggesting that others before him may have had a different approach such as simply recording 'all that Jesus said and did' etc. This also does us a service in clarifying what are often unneccessary claims madeof contradiction between the different gospel records when they are merely differences in style or approach to the subject.

Luke's comment that his account is to be 'from the very first' is highlighted with the extra material that he provides around the early days of both Jesus and John the Baptist.

Together with the additional material about the early days of both Jesus and John Luke includes more songs than any other book in the New Testament in his gospel account. More than 50% of Luke's gospel is unique to Luke either indicating different sources of information or a deliberate intention to add material not mentioned by others, or both. This helps to make the Gospel according to Luke unique.

Luke's approach, as indicated in Luke 1:1-3 is to be careful and methodical. This is borne out by the many details which archaeological investigation has verified which were previously thought (unneccessarily so) to be in error. By mentioning so many incidental details in his narrative, especially in Acts, he has ennabled the Biblical record to be verified on those points.

Answer 2

A:

Strictly speaking, Luke, the physician and companion of Paul, probably did not write the gospel that now bears his name. The gospel was originally anonymous and was only attributed by the Church Fathers to Luke later in the second century, on the dubious grounds that the polished style of Luke meant that the author was a well educated man and that the author of Acts, clearly the same person, must have known Paul. Of course, there were many well educated men at the time, so there is nor reason to give any weight to the first supposed reason for choosing Luke as the author. As to the author knowing Paul, at the time Acts of the Apostles was written, early in the second century, Paul's epistles were being widely circulated, so all the author had to do was choose excerpts from Paul's epistles.

Luke's Gospel opens by saying that it is an account of what is believed by the author and his fellow-Christians. These things were passed down by others, from someone who must have been an eyewitness (Luke 1:2), although of course Luke was only surmising this to have been the case.

Scholars say Mark's Gospel was the main source to which Luke refers in the prologue. There is clearly a literary dependency, and even a 'Missing Block', a set of sequential events that are missing from Luke and correspond to probably thirteen pages that were missing from Luke's copy of Mark. The author also copied additional sayings from the hypothetical 'Q' document that was also used by the author of Matthew's Gospel. This total reliance on earlier written sources is contrary to the notion of an author who learnt the gospel from Paul. In addition to Mark and 'Q', the author of Luke seems to have relied on the writings of the first-century Jewish historian, Josephus, for some background information to provide a historical context. This reliance on Josephus is undoubtedly true for his second book, Acts of the Apostles, and probably true for Luke's Gospel.

Answer 3

The significance of Luke's Gospel is his special emphasis of the humanity of Jesus. Luke presents Jesus the Son of man, who brings salvation by identifying with humanity in all its weakness. He heals the sick and seeks out those rejected by society.

Answer 4

All people were, and are, important to Jesus. Luke, however, never even met Jesus. Luke was a Greek physician, and his gospel came about after a long period of interviewing people who knew Jesus. Luke only came to the Christian faith after Jesus's death and resurrection.

Answer 5

Luke is mentioned by Paul (or more probably pseudo-Paul) in Colossians and 2 Timothy as a physician. In Acts, Luke is referred to as a travelling companion to Paul, and as one who who helped evangelize the Gentiles. Many Christians believe that this is the same person who wrote the Gospel According to Saint Luke.
However, We do not really know who wrote the Gospel. From as early as we have anything like a title for it, the title was given with the Greek phrase "Gospel according to...", using kata, which ordinarily means that the contents of the books were not written by the person named (Richard Carrier, Why I Don't Buy the Resurrection Story), but that the person named was used as the source. The use of "kata" means the authorship was assigned later, meaning the Gospels were originally unsigned.
Thus the author we now know as Luke was different from the Luke known to Paul. He even said (Luke 1:1) that he was writing about those things that were believed, not those things that he knew first hand or from actual witnesses.

So:
1. St Luke, the travelling companion, used his skills as a physician and as an apostle to spread the faith.
2. St Luke the evangelist was a brilliant exponent of the written message: His portrayal of Jesus and the teachings of Jesus is the one most closely accepted by Christians today. He alone wrote that Jesus taught us to love our enemies; more than any other, his Gospel taught us to care for the poor.

Acts of the Apostles (also written by the same author) may differ in many places from the first-hand testimonial of St Paul, but it is Luke's account that is most readily remembered by modern Christians.

Answer 6

Not sure what Luke you are referring to, but the Luke in Gilmore Girls owned a diner.