Luke & Acts
A Brief Introduction and Study Guide
The Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles were most likely written c. 57-59 A.D. during Paul’s imprisonment in Rome. These two texts are a set and, although they do not reside “next door” to each other in canonical order according to typical Bible arrangements, they deserve to be read successively. Luke is, in fact, the author of both texts and a man named Theophilus is the original, initially intended, recipient of both texts. A word or two about both author and recipient is in due order.
Luke is one of the four “Evangelists” to write an inspired canonical Gospel. Luke’s account is one of the three “synoptic” Gospels (along with Matthew and Mark) which are so-called because they share similar accounts, perspective, and information while offering important and distinct details and emphases according to their intended audiences. John’s Gospel, on the other hand, has approximately 90% original content (likely because he was aware of the other three accounts and wanted to provide additional information about Jesus which had not been previously written down).
Luke himself was, in fact, not one of the 12 apostles as is often mistakenly supposed. In Mark 3:16-19 we are told that Jesus
appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Luke is not mentioned because he was not there. In fact, Luke wasn’t one of the original eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection, nor was he even Jewish. Luke was a gentile convert to the faith, most likely under the ministry of the apostle Paul, and he became one of Paul’s most faithful companions.
While addressing his Gospel to Theophilus Luke informs him that he has “followed all things closely for some time past” which allows him the ability “to write an orderly account” about the life of Jesus and the growth of the early church in the first century. Luke makes clear that he received his information from “eyewitnesses” but that he himself was not an eyewitness of the life of Christ (Luke 1:1-4). In other words, the Gospel of Luke is unique in that it is a product of research and inquiry, more akin to an investigative journalist’s approach to covering a story.
Luke was a gentile (meaning he was non-Jewish by birth), and that means that he had to learn all about the Jewish customs which he did not grow up with. Because his audience (Theophilus) was also apparently not a Jew, Luke takes great pains in his account of things to explain the relevant Jewish laws and customs that would be unfamiliar to gentiles (which can be really helpful to many today as well).
Luke was also a medical physician (Colossians 4:14). As such it has been noted by many commentators that he takes a special interest in issues concerning medical matters. Luke used some Greek words found nowhere else in the New Testament but which were frequent in the medical literature of his day. For instance in Luke 14:2 the text refers to Jesus healing a man with “Dropsy”. The Greek word is ὑδρωπικός (hydrōpikos) which refers to “an edema in which various parts of the body become filled with fluid.”1 Beyond the use of technical terminology Luke also took special notice of the length of various illnesses, the way in which it affects the person’s overall health and posture, etc.
Luke is noteworthy among the gospel writers for being a person of attention to detail in general. For example in Acts 27, when Luke is accompanying Paul in his transfer to Rome (Paul having appealed the decision of his case to go before Caesar himself), he notes the sailors’ measurements of depths as they are trying to survive a great storm, “So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.” Luke also paid careful attention to matters of who was reigning in various regions of governmental authority at various times (see Luke 2:1-7 for just one key example). Many such details as these are unique to Luke’s style as a writer and they help to ground his account in real time and space.
One of the most interesting, and very subtle, things in Luke and Acts is a shift in verbiage that takes place in Acts 16. Up until this point Luke writes about the events he records from an impersonal third-person perspective but in chapter 16 he begins to say “we”. In other words, implicitly, it appears that Luke himself joins the company of the apostle Paul at this point. Possibly this actually marks the time where he himself became a believer but that is not absolutely certain. Nonetheless, the shift occurs and Luke ceases to write as an investigative journalist and begins to write as a narrator of what he himself saw with his own two eyes.
So Luke is an interesting fellow in his own right, a faithful missionary after his conversion, a great man of detail and careful investigation, who became one of Paul’s closest companions in the latter part of his ministry. What then of the original recipient of these books, Theophilus?
The name Theophilus is a combination of two different Greek words θεός (God) and φιλέω (love). The name, as you may puzzle together, means “lover of God” or “friend of God”. Some have suggested that Theophilus’ name should be taken as Luke writing to all who are “lovers of God”, that is to say the church in general, and that there is no historical person named Theophilus to whom Luke is writing.
This, however, seems unlikely despite the providential name Theophilus was born with. A major strike against the idea that Theophilus is not a historical figure is the title affixed to his name in Luke 1:3 where Luke calls him “most excellent Theophilus”. This language smacks of officiousness, possibly a person holding some level of rank or influence within the Roman government.
One theory about Theophilus, which I personally find compelling, is that he is in fact in some way responsible for managing Paul’s case as it is being prepared to come before Caesar in Rome. Some New Testament historians have argued that Luke and Acts were written by Luke as a trial brief for his defense. The texts taken together form a complete account of the life and ministry of Christ, his death and resurrection, ascension, and the spread of the good news about Jesus throughout the Roman Empire. The texts do much to show that Christianity is not an undermining force trying to cause division and dissension in Rome but, rather, that it is about uniting people to God by faith in Jesus Christ. The book of Acts actually ends with Paul, in Rome, on house arrest, waiting for his trial date (Acts 28:17-31).
The truth is, we can’t really know for sure who Theophilus was, but his being an actual historical person seems more probable than not. Some have noted that Luke drops the formal title “most excellent” before Theophilus’ name in Acts, the second book, and have speculated from this that perhaps Theophilus has become a brother in Christ and no longer desires to be addressed with pomp. In favor of this is the statement in the beginning of Luke where, when addressing Theophilus, he states that these things are being written “that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.” (1:4) This may imply that Theophilus is already a new disciple needing further instruction.
This much we do know, Luke sought to write an orderly account, with accurate information, for the benefit of those who would read the work. The nature of Luke’s Gospel and his second work, Acts, is apologetic through and through. That is to say it is a work of making a defense of the legitimacy of Paul’s ministry because of the legitimacy of his claims that Jesus rose bodily from the dead after being crucified to death by Pontius Pilate. Luke takes great pains to represent the plain truth as an investigative journalist, including important details that others might miss, and he even shows how this great story has swept him up into being part of the narrative.
My hope is that this great story, indeed the truest story ever told, does the same thing for you as it did Luke (and maybe Theophilus!) and that it draws you in until you find you are part of the story, part of the unfolding plan for God’s people in the world today, loving and proclaiming that Jesus is Lord! “For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we may be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
This post is the landing page for the Study Guides concerning The Gospel of Luke and Acts. Below you will find links, as they become available, to discussion questions for each lesson. Please feel free to use them for your own private enjoyment and reflection or in your classroom or homeschool. To see the growing list of completed Study Guides you can click HERE.
The Gospel of Luke
Acts
A great read, Acts 3:11 is a verse I go back to time and time again. Always excited to learn and hear more from Luke and Acts.