Who Wrote the Gospel of Luke? An Introduction to Luke | Daily Devotional & Bible Study

Luke Was Not a Disciple: An Introduction to the Gospel of Luke

We're starting our fall study of the Gospel of Luke, and before we open the text, it's worth knowing who wrote this book and why. Luke was a physician, a careful historian, and the only non-Jewish author in all of Scripture. He wasn't one of the twelve. He never met Jesus. And he wrote for someone who had already heard the stories but needed something solid underneath them.If you have ever felt like an outsider in church, or found that your own faith has gotten a little shakier than you'd like to admit, this is your gospel.

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I close this episode by sharing what it was like to stand in Luke's house in Rome. Our Bible Study Live group visits there every November, and it's one of the places where Scripture stops feeling far away.

Why are we studying Luke and Acts together?

Because that's how they were written. Luke was originally the first of two books, with Acts as the second. Treating them as one continuous work is the way they were meant to be read, and together they make up roughly a quarter of the New Testament. Luke gives us the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Acts picks up with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the formation of the early church, and the work of the apostles.

Who wrote the Gospel of Luke?

The book itself doesn't name its author, but the consensus is unanimous and uncontested. Early Christian tradition, along with the writing style and structure, all point to Luke. This isn't one of the books scholars argue about.Here's what surprises most people: Luke was not one of the disciples. He never knew Jesus personally. He was a Gentile who later became a follower of Jesus, which makes him the only non-Jewish author of any book in the Bible. Paul calls him a dear friend and tells us he was a physician. He was educated, careful as a historian, and a theologian.

Who was Theophilus?

The name means one who loves God, which has led some to read it as a title for any believer. That's a fair application, but it's probably not what it meant originally. Luke calls him most excellent, and that same phrase is used elsewhere in Scripture for Roman officials. Most scholars land on Theophilus being a Roman official or at least a man of real wealth and status, quite possibly Luke's sponsor, the person who funded the writing and distribution. Either way, this was a letter written to a specific man for a specific reason.

Why did Luke write a fourth gospel?

Because there was a gap. Matthew wrote for a Jewish audience. Mark wrote a short account for the church in Rome. But Greek-speaking Gentiles had only oral accounts and brief written summaries. They had no complete story of Jesus from a perspective that made sense to them. Luke saw the need, and the Lord led him to fill it. Most of his research was likely done while Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea, and he probably finished soon after arriving in Rome.You can see that Gentile focus in the text itself. Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus back to Abraham, which is what a Jewish audience would want. Luke traces it all the way back to Adam, because his readers needed to know that Jesus came for all of humanity, not one nation.

What makes Luke different from the other gospels?

Luke's writing (Luke and Acts together) is the longest book in the New Testament and the most comprehensive account of the life of Jesus. It has the most polished Greek. It's the only gospel that shows us Jesus as a young boy. It gives us a large body of teaching and parables found nowhere else, most of it delivered on the road to Jerusalem.Luke also keeps his eye on particular people: the poor, women, widows, children, the sick, the social outcasts. He was a doctor, and he notices things the others don't. He pays close attention to the prayer life of Jesus, to joy, and to the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus and in the lives of His followers. The title he uses most is Son of Man, which holds together that Jesus was fully God and fully man.

What does "exact truth" actually mean in Luke 1:4?

This is the heart of it. Luke states his purpose plainly: so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. The Greek word behind exact truth shares a root with our English word asphalt, and it carries the sense of something firm and solid, a stable foundation, something that will not let you slip.That's what Luke was after. He wrote so that a man who had already been taught would have something concrete under his feet when life got hard.

Why does that matter for us?

Because a lot of people are walking around with a faith more fragile than they would ever say out loud. You can attend every Sunday and know all the right words, and still find that a hard season, a painful loss, or a stack of unanswered questions has softened the ground underneath you.That's exactly who Luke wrote for. And it's why this gospel is so accessible now. Luke wrote for outsiders, for people with no background and no context, starting from the beginning. The poor, the Gentile, the tax collector, the Samaritan woman, the leper, the sinner, all of them get placed at the center of his story.If you have ever felt too far outside to be included in what God is doing, this is your gospel. And if you haven't felt that way, someone near you has.

Featured quote:

"Luke is saying, I wrote this for you so that you would have something firm and stable to stand on."

Scripture referenced: Luke 1:1-4 (NASB)

Timestamps

• 00:00 Where we've been, and why the Bible Study 101 episodes matter
• 00:55 Why we skipped Luke last year, and why we're doing Luke and Acts together
• 01:48 Reading Luke 1:1-4
• 02:25 Who was Theophilus, and what "most excellent" tells us
• 03:41 Who wrote this gospel, and why there's no real debate
• 04:30 Luke was not a disciple, and he was not Jewish
• 05:26 What Luke and Acts cover together
• 06:36 What Paul tells us about Luke
• 07:29 The gap Luke was filling for the Gentile church
• 08:26 Abraham or Adam: how audience shapes a genealogy
• 09:22 What's inside Luke, and what's found nowhere else
• 10:19 The longest, most literate, most comprehensive gospel
• 10:49 The marginalized, prayer, joy, and the Holy Spirit
• 11:26 Why the big picture of Scripture changes how you read
• 13:18 Luke is the gospel for people who feel like outsiders
• 14:14 Rachael's own story of walking in with no context
• 15:14 The faith that's more fragile than we admit
• 16:39 Asphalēs: something firm to stand on
• 17:39 Why Luke is a better starting point than most people are told
• 18:32 What to expect this fall
• 18:47 Prayer
• 20:26 Standing in Luke's house in Rome

Frequently asked questions

Was Luke one of the twelve disciples?

No. Luke never met Jesus and was not one of the twelve. He came to faith later and built his account on eyewitness testimony and careful research.

Was Luke Jewish?

No. Luke was a Gentile, which makes him the only non-Jewish author of any book in the Bible.

Should I read Luke or John first if I'm new to the Bible?

There's no bad place to start. But Luke explains things in a way that assumes no background, which makes it an especially good entry point if church language feels unfamiliar.

Why study Luke and Acts as one book?

Because Luke wrote them that way, as volume one and volume two of a single work addressed to the same man.

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