Fully Devoted: JesusSample

The Gospel According to Luke

Luke’s Gospel is just the first part of his account of what God was accomplishing through the person of Jesus and the beginnings of the Church. The story starts here in this Gospel focused around the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and then continues in the Acts of the Apostles as Luke tells the story of the early church and the work of God’s Spirit through those early Christians. 

 Question 1: Who is Luke?

There’s quite a bit of debate surrounding Luke’s background. Some think he was a Gentile, others think he was Jewish, and still others think that he may have been born a Gentile and converted to Judaism later in life. He was a doctor and a traveling companion of Paul during a number of his missionary journeys. 

Regardless of how he got there, at some point in his life, Luke found himself swept up in the story of Jesus, and his life was changed in the process. Luke was inspired by his experience to write down the story of Jesus’ life and the movement of the Church from Jerusalem to the ends of the Roman Empire. 

Question 2: Who was he writing to? 

Luke begins his Gospel with these words: 

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. Luke 1:1-4 NIV

According to Luke, he is writing to “most excellent Theophilus,” and his purpose is so that this person “may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

Theophilus is a Greek name meaning “friend of God” or “loved by God.” Some scholars argue that Theophilus was the name of a specific individual to whom Luke was writing—possibly a Jew living in Alexandria, a recently converted Roman official, or a high priest of the temple in Jerusalem some time after Jesus’ death. Others argue that Luke’s Gospel was written simply for anyone who identified as a “friend of God.”

Parts of Luke’s Gospel seem perfectly crafted for a Jewish audience, while other parts seem perfectly suited for non-Jewish readers. But no matter the intended audience, God has used the Gospel of Luke to reach a variety of people from very different backgrounds. And isn’t that the heart of the gospel? The Kingdom of God is coming on earth as it is in heaven, and everyone has been invited in. 

Question 3: What was he trying to accomplish?

From the beginning of Luke’s Gospel all the way to the end of the book of Acts, Luke tells the story of the mission of God coming to its climax in Jesus, the promised King the world has been waiting for. Through Jesus, the Church was launched and God’s Spirit was unleashed. 

Luke’s Gospel follows Jesus’ journey toward the city of Jerusalem (the heart of the Jewish nation), and the book of Acts then follows the journey of the early church from Jerusalem into the rest of the world. 

Another interesting aspect of Luke’s Gospel is the emphasis he places on the role of women. Luke refers 43 times in his Gospel to the contribution of women in the ministry of Jesus. Over and over, Jesus elevated and empowered women during a time and in a culture where that wasn’t the norm. Luke highlights the reality that the Kingdom of God is open to everyone—Jesus is on a mission to welcome those the rest of society has pushed down or to the side. 

Luke wants his audience to know that the pathway for human beings to return to God has been paved—in Jesus—no matter how far they’ve run, or how lost they’ve become. Even though our sin was separating us from God, Jesus came to bring us home. 

Journaling Questions

• What verse or passage from today’s reading stood out to you the most? Write it down in your journal. Why did that stand out to you? 
• Based on today’s reading, write down how you think Luke would summarize the gospel in 2-3 sentences. Why would he summarize it that way?