The writings of Luke: a study for homegroups
Part 0: Luke - the man (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-3) published 10/9/2000

Through the winter season 2000/2001 All Age Worship services and fellowship groups will be looking at some of the passages in the two books which Luke wrote: the Gospel named after him and the Book of Acts (events prior to the conversion of Saul in Chapter 9). This study considers the man who wrote and the context of the writing.

Luke was a well-educated Greek disciple who joined Paul on his later missionary activity. During this period Luke keeps himself in the background, giving away the fact that he was actually in the team rather than recording events which concerned others only by his use of the word "we". Read Acts 16:6-17; 20:1-6. Luke had first-hand experience of what God was doing during this exciting phase of church growth and knew also of the deprivations and dangers. Read Acts 27:1-2. When Paul was arrested, Luke stayed with him, accompanied him to Jerusalem. At one point, as Paul put it when writing to Timothy, it was "only Luke" (2 Tim 4:11).

Q Somebody has said: "at best, we remember 25% of what we hear, 50% of what we see but 100% of what we do". What, if any, deep spiritual lessons have members of the group learned from things that they have actually been involved in, actually done, in the Christian life - lessons which could not be learned by listening to a preacher or reading a Christian book?

The Gospel. Luke was writing with great diligence to set out a record of early church history up to the time of Paul's imprisonment. He was closely involved with Mark (eg 2 Tim 4:11-13), and Mark's Gospel was one of the sources which Luke was able to draw upon in writing his own. Additionally he carefully researched all of the written and oral evidence available at the time. Each gospel writer shows, more than the others, one particular characteristic of Jesus. Matthew presents us with 'Jesus the King', Mark with 'Jesus the Suffering Servant', John with 'Jesus the Son of God'. Luke presents us with 'Jesus the perfect Human Being' and is perhaps best equipped of the four to do so: Paul tells us that Luke was a physician by profession (Col 4:14). Perhaps this is why he has further enquired about the leper who was healed and alone tells us about the extensiveness of the disease (Luke 5:12). Perhaps also, because he was a physician he had wanted to be more sure about the credibility of this miracle of healing. Also, the humanity and concerned nature of Luke are evident as he tells us about the raising of the daughter of Jairus. His further enquiries enable him to tell us that she was his only daughter (Luke 8:42).

Q How much time do we spend delving into the Biblical record and satisfying ourselves of its historical accuracy, and of its reliability as the word of God? Are there any areas of conflict for us between what we read and what our minds say?

Q Jesus was touched by the human suffering which confronted him and wanted to do something about it. Do we? Do we know how to?

Acts. The huge amount of historical detail in Acts, affirmed by other literature and archaeological findings, demonstrates the reliability of this record. Most likely the two books were written in quick succession in the years A.D. 60-61, just before the great Roman persecution broke out. It was as though, inspired by the Holy Spirit, Luke recognised the need to make out a written case for Christianity while he had freedom of movement to do so. Perhaps the writings would form a part of Paul's defence before Caesar (Acts 25:11-12); perhaps Theophilus (means 'Godfearing'), to whom both books are addressed, is a pseudonym for a VIP contact within the Roman Ruling family whose identity at this stage was to be concealed.

Q There is a responsibility on the church in every generation to present the Good News about Jesus Christ. That extends to every part of society, including every place of government, of learning and every workplace. Is there somewhere that we can make a special impact for God? How can we prepare ourselves to do that?