Luke's Overall Message

Luke's own opening tells his recipient that his intent was to "write an orderly account" in order that the reader might "know the certainty of the things [he has] been taught." (Luke 1:1-4, NIV) However, Luke is not writing simply as an historian. As the section "Themes" below will explore, Luke is also writing with a keen eye on the theological aspects of the life of Jesus, seeking to proclaim a particular message in his account.

Luke, a Gentile doctor, writing for Gentiles and with a concern for the sick, is particularly concerned to show Jesus' dealings with Gentiles, lepers and other medical outcasts, despised tax collectors, and many others. We meet Jesus as one to whom the social boundaries of polite society were irrelevant, and who is himself relevant to people from all backgrounds.

In a careful counter-point to his view of Jesus as reaching out to those whom contemporary Jewish society rejected, Luke emphasises the Jewishness both of Christ and the Jewish roots of the early church, as well as having a focus on the Temple. His gospel starts with Zechariah in the Temple; he quotes Mary's song, with its links to Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel; and he recounts two separate incidents in the life of Jesus, set in the Temple. He closes the account of his gospel with the disciples staying "continually at the temple, praising God." (Luke 24:53, NIV)

Although we know few facts of his life, Luke has left us a strong impression of himself by what he wrote. In his Gospel, he emphasizes Jesus Christ's compassion. He vividly recorded both the power demonstrated by Christ's life and the care with which Christ treated people. Luke highlighted the relationships Jesus had with women. His writing in Acts is full of sharp verbal pictures of real people caught up in the greatest events of history.

God also made special use of Luke as the historian of the early church. Repeatedly, the details of Luke's descriptions have been proven accurate. The first words in his Gospel...