New Testament · Gospel · book 42 of 66 · 2 min read
The book of Luke
The gospel that keeps putting the wrong people at the centre — shepherds, a Samaritan, a tax collector, women — and the first half of a two-volume work.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”
At a glance
- Chapters
- 24
- Author
- Traditionally Luke, a physician and companion of Paul
- Written
- Probably 80s AD
- Written for
- Theophilus, and a largely non-Jewish readership
- Themes
- the outsider, prayer, reversal, the poor
What it is about
Luke opens like a historical work, addressed to a named individual and stating a method: an orderly account based on eyewitnesses. It is the longest of the four gospels and the first volume of a two-part work continued in Acts.
Its distinctive material is what makes it the most-quoted gospel in general culture. The nativity with shepherds and a manger, the good Samaritan, the prodigal son, the rich man and Lazarus — none of these appear anywhere else.
The pattern in that material is consistent: the person expected to be marginal is the one who acts rightly, and the respectable one does not. Luke also gives more attention to women, to the poor and to prayer than the other gospels.
Where to start
Chapter 15, three parables about losing and finding, of which the third is the prodigal son.
The chapters worth knowing
- Luke 10 — The good Samaritan, told to a lawyer trying to narrow the definition of neighbour.
- Luke 15 — Three parables about losing and finding, ending with an older brother who will not come in.
- Luke 24 — The road to Emmaus, where he explains the whole thing to two people who do not recognise him.
What people get wrong about it
That the prodigal son is about the younger brother. The parable has a third act about the older one, who refuses to come in, and it is left unresolved — because Luke's audience for the story were the respectable people complaining.
Questions
What is unique about Luke's gospel?
Much of its best-known material appears nowhere else: the shepherds at the nativity, the good Samaritan, the prodigal son. It gives unusual attention to women, the poor and prayer.
Did Luke write Acts?
Both are addressed to Theophilus and Acts explicitly refers back to a former book, so they are almost universally treated as two volumes of one work by the same author.