Deeper ReflectionLUKE IS A HISTORIAN. LUKE’S CONTRIBUTION CAME AFTER
diligent research. His sources were eyewitnesses with first-hand knowledge
of Jesus’ life and ministry. Luke’s Gospel was historically grounded,
accurate and purposeful. If not for Luke, we’ll not have the Christmas
story of Jesus’ birth
13 . If not for Luke, we’ll not have some of the stories
that augment the Christmas story, and for that matter, the beginning and
growth of the early church in Acts.
14 Luke was also a theologian. He wanted
to teach the recipients of his Gospel about God and the ways of God
through Christ. He was interested in confirming Theophilus in his faith.Luke can be said to use history to inform his theology. There are distinct
emphases: the themes of prayer, salvation and God’s special interest in
the marginalised people in first-century Jewish Palestine (e.g., the sick,
tax-collectors, women and children). Luke also emphasises the work of
the Holy Spirit more than the other Synoptic Gospel writers.
15 This has
two important applicational implications: (1) We can trust the Bible as
historically reliable; and (2) We can share our story. Luke has a story of Jesus
and the church (in Acts). If there’s a central theme in Luke-Acts, it might be
“salvation”. Luke-Acts is the story of the “Saviour” (Lk 1:69; 2:11; Acts 5:31;
13:23), the story of those who are being saved (e.g., Lk 19:1-10; Acts 2:47), and
traces how salvation extends from Israel to the ends of the earth (Lk 1:77;
2:30; Acts 1:8; 13:47). What’s your story? Are you purposefully sharing your
redemptive story and how it weaves into the story of Jesus this Christmas?
13 Only Matthew, besides Luke, has several verses describing the birth of Jesus; cf. Matthew 1:18-25
14 It is almost universally recognised that Luke wrote Acts as a sequel to his Gospel; cf. Luke 1:3 with Acts1:1.
15 The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke form the Synoptic Gospels
