St. Luke

Today is the feast of St. Luke! I say that with some excitement because Luke is my favorite of the four gospels, and always has been. Some of you may know this, and others may not, but Luke wrote more than just the book of Luke; he is also the author of the Acts of the Apostles, making his contribution to the New Testament longer than any other writer (even Paul, who is one wordy bloke!). In scholarship, you often see these books referred to as Luke-Acts, as it is believed they were parts 1 and 2 of a longer story. Indeed, if you read the books back to back, you'll find that Luke deals with the story of Jesus while he was here on earth, and Acts is about the Spirit working in the earliest days of the Christian community (in other words, right after Jesus ascended back to heaven). The two books are not side by side in the Bible, but it helps to read them in tandem.

The readings for today expose us to several aspects of this Luke guy. On the one hand, in the New Testament readings we see Luke's introductions to his books: Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1-8. Here we have the author stating his purpose.

"So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story's beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught." (Luke 1:1-4, The Message)

"Dear Theophilus, in the first volume of this book I wrote on everything that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he said good-bye to the apostles, the ones he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but "must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon." When they were together for the last time they asked, "Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?" He told them, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business. What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world." (Acts 1:1-8, The Message)

So you see, in the first book (Luke), Luke wants to lay out the story of Jesus in a methodical way, relating what he's heard. I've heard Luke compared to a newspaper approach before; however wrong or right that might be, he's trying to cover the major aspects of who Jesus was and what he did. Interesting is the fact that the one story we have in a canonical Gospel (meaning it's in the Bible, and not another Gospel-like Judas, or Thomas) about Jesus as a child is in Luke. He's trying to cover everything he's heard. Then he starts Acts by giving a short synopsis of what the Gospel was about and he sets up Acts as a book about the working of the Holy Spirit. If you think about it, you'll notice in church that during the Easter season we're always reading out of Acts-that's because Jesus is risen and we're learning about what happened after (and what is still happening after!).

That's one aspects of Luke: Luke the author of Luke/Acts. Another aspect comes in the Old Testament reading. Luke is also an evangelist: the word "Gospel" comes from the Greek "euangelion" which is "good news" (from "eu" good and "angelos" message/news). I won't go into my long thoughts on evangelism here, but suffice it to say that Luke, through his writing, spread the Good News of God in Jesus Christ. The Old Testament reading also speaks to this. In Ezekial 47:1-12, Ezekial is brought to a stream that eventually becomes a torrent. Of this stream, Ezekial notes,

"While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river. He told me, "This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En-gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean. "The swamps and marshes won't become fresh. They'll stay salty. "But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won't wither, the fruit won't fail. Every month they'll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." (Ezekial 47:6-12, The Message).

The waters are those of life and healing, and pretty common theme in the Bible. Luke's word provides such a stream-the life that comes through Jesus Christ and the healing that life can bring. The healing is also notable as Luke is also thought to have been a physician.

Healing, good news, and the Holy Spirit. These are some big themes in the Christian story, and Luke has played a part in all of them. Even if you haven't read Luke intentionally, there's a good chance you've been exposed to his Gospel, especially at Christmas time. Linus recites part of Luke 2 (the Christmas story) in the Peanuts Christmas Special. Luke and Matthew provide the two Christmas narratives we hear in church, so you're more familiar with Luke than you might think!

So think about Luke. Maybe read some of his stuff. I would recommend starting at chapter 1 verse 1 of Luke. It's a good place to start. :)

(I couldn't find the writer of the above icon, but I found the icon at this website. There's a signature in the bottom left corner of the icon, though; if anyone has more info on this source please let me know so I can give the person due credit).