We should begin by asking, Who was Luke, the writer of this Gospel? Unfortunately, we have no definite proof on this matter. The actual text offers no indication of authorship; the heading Luke that is found in our Bibles is not part of the original.
The earliest evidence that we have dates to the end of the second century. From that time, we have copies of ancient writings which attribute the gospel to Luke, and there are no good reasons for us to doubt this tradition. As the commentator, John Nolland, writes:
"It seems best to assume that the early tradition is based on a continuity of memory that goes back to the first readers' undoubted knowledge of who it was who had produced this gospel for their use.
The Luke in question is most probably the companion of Paul, referred to elsewhere in the scriptures. In Philemon 2:4, he is noted as being one of Pauls fellow-workers. In Pauls letter to the Colossians, at 4:14, Luke - who is described as our beloved doctor - sends his greetings to the Colossians. In 2nd Timothy 4:11, he is said to be Paul's sole companion at that time. As well as knowing that Luke was a doctor, we can also say that he was a gentile by birth; this we can infer from Colossians 4:10-12.
It is also of some interest to us to ask: When did Luke write his Gospel? There is a common assumption that the gospel writers were ancient day newspaper reporters, writing down sayings and happenings as they occurred. In fact, even the earliest Gospel - generally accepted as being the Gospel of Mark - comes from the 60s A.D., that is, from some thirty years after the time of Jesus. Biblical scholars are less sure as to the date of Luke; some place it as early as the late 60s, others reckon it comes from the late 80s of the first century. In any case, the point is that the actual writing down didnt take place till long after the actual events and happenings described. Until the process of writing began, the stories of Jesus would have circulated orally, being passed on from one group to another. We neednt judge from that that the accounts are any less accurate; in pre-literate societies, the ability to memorise stories and teachings was much greater that it is now.
It is also clear that, besides the hearing of the stories, Luke had at his disposal various written documents; in other words, he wasnt the only one to write down the story of Jesus. He refers to these written sources in his own introduction, saying that many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place and adds that these written accounts were, indeed, based on eye-witness oral accounts Luke 1:1-2. Interestingly, most scholars reckon that Luke must have had the Gospel of Mark available to him. Marks Gospel has within it a total of 661 verses. Some 350 of these verses are also found in Luke and in 53% of these cases, the wording is almost exactly the same. This degree of agreement would be difficult to account for were we not to assume that Luke was using Mark as one of his sources. (On this same point, of Marks 661 verses, Matthew has the substance of over 600 of them and retains Marks actual wording in 51% of these cases.)
In terms of introduction, we should ask finally: Who was Luke writing for?
In part, the answer to this question is easy. Luke begins his Gospel as he does his sequel, The Acts of the Apostles with the greeting: Dear Theophilus, adding in verse 3, your Excellency Luke 1:1-3. This would suggest that Theophilus was of some social standing, perhaps, as Barclay suggests, a Roman official. But, almost certainly, Luke would have a wider readership in mind. He was himself part of a Christian community and would have wanted to provide for them an orderly account of the story of Jesus. Bearing in mind that the name Theophilus means friend of God perhaps we should conclude that Luke was writing in the first place for Theophilus, but with the hope that all friends of God would get to read his account thereby to hear the Good News!
In conclusion, then, we might say that this Gospel was
Martin Fair
Minister, St Andrew's Arbroath