The Message in the Gospel of Luke
In order to understand the Gospel of Luke, you must first know what to expect in his book, including the themes.
Luke was not a disciple of Jesus. He used the Gospel of Mark as a source for the narrative of Christ's earthly life because Mark was the first of the four gospels to be written. Mark is the quick, fast, and in a hurry gospel while Luke takes his time. It is a slow-paced gospel where Luke said, "It came to pass" or "And it happened" about 50 times.
Luke is the author of the Gospel of Luke as well as the Book of Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew are the only two writers who give details about the ancestry, birth, and development of Jesus. Luke did it from a doctor's perspective as he documents the perfect humanity of Jesus as the Son of Man.
He traces Jesus' ancestry back to Adam, the father of the human race through 77 names. Matthew traces Jesus' ancestry back to Abraham through 42 names.
Luke's message has the most universal outlook because he portrays Jesus as a man with compassion for all people.
Luke's gospel is the most literary gospel with narratives such as the good Samaritan, Jesus left in the temple when he was twelve, the prodigal son, and other familiar stories.
This physician wrote about women, children, the poor, the despised, and the downtrodden. As a doctor, he wrote about sickness and gave thorough details about the birth of Jesus tracing the genealogy back to Adam. Luke is that slow-paced gospel making a point of telling how things "happened." His phrase, "It came to pass" occurs over 50 times.
Keywords and Phrases in the Gospel of Luke
2:1 "And it came to pass..."
5:12 "And it happened..." "leprosy"
10:33-34 "Samaritan" (despised people), "bandaged" "wounds" "oil and wine" as medicine
14:2 A doctor would talk about "dropsy"
15:3 "widow"
Things that are ONLY in the Gospel of Luke
Mary Visits Elizabeth
Jesus in the Temple at 12
An Angel Appearlng to Joseph
Shepherds
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
The Parable of Lost Things
---The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15)
---The Parable of the Lost Coin (Luke 15)
---The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15)
Other Things to Notice
Over half the events in Luke's Gospel are devoted to Passion Week
Luke refers to Jesus as the "Son of Man"
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