Luke Overview
Luke was not an apostle or eyewitness to the events of the Gospels. He was a physician, probably a Greek (Gentile), and travelled with Paul at least on Paul's third missionary journey.
The normal criteria for considering a book as part of the New Testament included that it was either written by an Apostle, or written under an Apostle's authority. Luke is considered to be written under Paul's authority, although it records events that Paul also did not witness. Paul cites Luke in 2nd Timothy, calling his writing Scripture.
Luke announces that he used eyewitness sources in compiling his account, and from the content we can deduce some of these. Blocks of text duplicate blocks of Matthew, and other blocks duplicate some of Mark. Much of the added (unique) material appears to originate with Mary, mother of Jesus, as it includes details about her relatives, private thoughts, and incidents that happened in or near Nazareth, which remained her hometown after Jesus moved his ministry to Capernaum.
Luke addresses his letter to Theophilus, a Greek name that means "one who loves God." This is generally accepted to be real person, but Luke travelled with Paul, and when Paul first entered a new city he would preach in the synagogue, where he could reach both Jews and Gentile "God-fearers." Some have suggested that the similarity between "Theophius" and "God-fearer" may mean Luke was writing to Gentiles who were seeking YHWH.
Luke states his purpose as "so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught." The best understanding of this is that it is an evangelical purpose, to reach people who had heard about Jesus, so that by knowing the truth they could come to believe with saving faith.
Luke has prepared "an orderly account" - organizing much of the material differently than Matthew or Mark, in order to emphasize his "proof" to a Greek way of thinking. While Matthew is strongly concerned with showing the Pharisees wrongly opposed and rejected Jesus, and Mark stresses Jesus' sacrifice for the nation of Israel, Luke uses the teaching of Jesus more to compare attitudes of those who seek God with those who do not.
Also, Matthew (and probably Mark) were written to Jews to whom the Mosaic Law had been written. Luke is written to people who had little knowledge of the Law. Since Paul makes it clear that the purpose of the Law was to reveal sin, and thus one's need for a Savior, it appears that Luke was including much of his detail to also show his readers their need for a Savior. There is more detail that would draw them to compare Jesus' teaching to their way of life.
Luke comes across as more intimate communication than Matthew and Mark. Many Christians consider it their favorite Gospel, probably for this reason, but also because our reasoning is more "Greek" than "Hebrew" in nature.
Luke presents Jesus as the sinless man who came to save that which is lost. He presents Jesus' genealogy from Mary's line, tracing back to Adam, who brought sin. Jesus, of course, is the solution or help that man needs because of that sin. Luke stresses that Jesus came for all men, Gentile as well as Jew.
Many believe Luke is chronological, but details show that is not strictly true. For example, Chapter three shows John the Baptist being locked in prison by Herod, then Jesus being baptized. This is a logical arrangement by topic, not chronological. Thus the chronology of Luke is not absolute.
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