“Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.” (Col. 4:14) “Only Luke is with me.” (II Tim. 4:11) “There salute thee Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus; Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.” (Philemon 24)
These are the only passages mentioning Luke by name, yet more of the New Testament is penned by him than by any other (about 27%). By comparison, Paul penned about 22%. Without quoting textual criticism, the evidence is adequate to prove the same person wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Acts. There is significant support among early church historians that this was Luke, the companion of Paul.
Background
In Acts, there are a series of “we” passages indicating Luke was accompanying Paul when those events took place. Acts 16:10 begins the “we” passages as Paul prepares to leave Asia for Philippi of Macedonia. Because of this, it is suggested that Luke was a Philippian; perhaps he was the man of Macedonia through whom Christ’s message was conveyed to Paul. Another tradition has Luke as a native of Antioch in Syria, the great ecclesial center outside of Jerusalem. Additional traditions claim Luke was unmarried, died at the age of 84 and was a twin brother of Titus.
Following the account of Paul’s travels, we find that Luke remained in Philippi for six to seven years. He rejoined Paul on the latter’ s return to Jerusalem and stayed with him through his trial, imprisonment and trip to Rome.
The Gentiles
Even as Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, Luke directed his gospel account particularly to Gentile readers. Luke’s name is a Gentile name and the record of Col. 4:10-15 groups him with Gentile believers, indicating he was a Gentile.
The Gentile orientation of the Gospel of Luke is evident in a number of places. In Luke 19:10, Jesus is recorded as saying, “…the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost.” While this would include the Jews, it specifically impacts the Gentiles; apart from Christ, they were completely lost. Luke underscores the fact that the gospel is good news to all people. The angels declared, “…on earth, peace to men of good will.” (Lk. 2:14) Simeon, holding Jesus in his arms, sings, “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles…” (2:30-32) In 3:6, Luke alone includes in the Isaiah quote, “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” In the first public message Luke records, Jesus indicts the Jews of his synagogue by referring to two incidents in their history when Elijah and Elisha dealt with Gentiles. (4:25-27) And he records the commission to the apostles as, “…repentance and remission of sins would be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” (24:47)
He emphasizes Jesus’ encounters with the Samaritans, includes the parable of the good Samaritan and records the incident when one of 10 leper turns back to give God glory, that one being a Samaritan. (9:51-56; 10:25-37; 17:11-19)
In addition, Luke uses dates, events and terms familiar to Gentile readers. He explains Jewish practices and events to help non-Jewish readers. And he traces Jesus’ genealogy back to Adam, the father of all mankind.
The beloved physician
As would be expected, Luke’s background as a physician may be detected in his account. Firstly, a physician is generally characterized as one who is careful with details. In his setting of the time of Jesus’ birth, Luke lists six items which specifically date the event. He notes it is the “right” hand of the man healed in the synagogue (cp. Lk. 6:6 to W. 3:1); it is the “right” ear of the servant cut off by Peter (cp. Lk. 22:50,51 to Mk. 14:47).
In 9:38, the father of the epileptic son cries, “look upon my son.” The Greek word for “look upon” is epiblepein, a technical term for a doctor’s examination. Also, note the detail given of the ailment.
In 7:15 and Acts 9:40, the word used for people revived from the dead sitting up is anakathizein, the term used for people sitting up in a sick bed.
When referring to the “devil” seizing a man (4:35), Luke uses riptein, the medical term for seizure, in contrast to Mark who uses the word sparassein, a general term for convulsion (Mk. 1:26).
Mark records that Peter’s mother-in-law had a fever (2:30). Luke records that she had a “high” fever (4:38). Mark describes a man as being a leper (1:40); Luke says he was “full of” leprosy.
In Acts 3:1, Luke uses the word sphudr to describe the lameness of the man at the temple gate; that word is a rare medical term for the anklebones. In Acts 9:18, he uses technical terms to describe the healing of Paul’s blindness. Describing the blindness of Elymas, he uses the word achlus, a technical word for a specific kind of eye disease.
One of the most interesting details is seen when comparing the reference to “the eye of a needle” in Matt. 19:24, Mark 10:25 and Luke 18:25. Matthew and Mark use the word raphis, the word for a household needle; Luke uses the word be-lone, which is the word for a surgeon’s needle.
There are many other instances where Luke is more precise in his description of a miracle or an event, again reflecting the precision of a doctor’s training and practice. Most commentators also note the excellent Greek construction of Luke’s phrases which reflects an educated background.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One