02 — The Gospel of Luke
The third Gospel is the longest book in the New Testament and the first volume of the only two-part work in the canon, addressed — like its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles — to one Theophilus (Luke 1:1–4; Acts 1:1). It is the Gospel that opens with a formal Hellenistic preface and closes on the road to Emmaus, the Gospel that traces the genealogy of Christ back not to Abraham but to Adam, and the Gospel the Church has loved above all as the Gospel of mercy. These files set out its literary design and sources, and then its distinctive theological signature — its concern for the poor, the lost, women, and the outsider.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Apostle and Evangelist)
Of the four canonical Gospels, Luke’s is at once the most consciously literary and the most tender. Its author writes as a careful investigator — one of the “many” who had compiled a narrative, but one claiming to have “followed all things closely” and to set them down “in order” for Theophilus (Luke 1:1–4) — and as a theologian of God’s reach toward the whole human race. This section treats the Gospel under two aspects. The first file examines it as a book: its prologue, its place as third in the canon, its structural pillars (the infancy narrative, the central travel narrative, the Emmaus resurrection), its sources, and its bond with Acts. The second draws out its theological character — the Gospel of mercy and of the lost — through the parables and persons found in Luke alone. The deeper source-critical questions are reserved for later sections.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Third Gospel | The literary preface to Theophilus (Luke 1:1–4); Luke as one of “many” and his claim to orderly investigation; the longest Gospel and its place as third in the canon; its structure — infancy, Galilean ministry, the great central travel narrative (Luke 9:51–19:27), Jerusalem and the Emmaus resurrection (Luke 24); its bond with Acts as one two-volume work; its sources; and its universalism (the genealogy to Adam, Luke 3:38; “all flesh,” Luke 3:6). |
| The Gospel of Mercy | Luke as the Gospel of mercy and of the lost: the parables found only in Luke (the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the Pharisee and the Publican); the concern for the poor and the great reversal; the place given to women; the welcome of sinners and outsiders (Zacchaeus, the sinful woman, the good thief); and the title “the scribe of the gentleness of Christ.” |
See Also
- The Acts of the Apostles — the second volume of Luke’s single two-part work
- The Theotokos in Luke — the infancy narrative that opens the Gospel
- The Theology of the Third Gospel — the salvation-historical and pneumatological framework
- The Synoptic Problem — where the question of Luke’s sources is resolved so far as it can be
- Holy Scripture — the place of the four Gospels in the Orthodox doctrine of Scripture
References
- Irenaeus of Lyons. Against Heresies. Trans. in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1. Buffalo: Christian Literature Company, 1885.
- Eusebius of Caesarea. The Ecclesiastical History. Trans. Arthur C. McGiffert, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. 1. 1890.
- Fitzmyer, Joseph A. The Gospel According to Luke. 2 vols. Anchor Bible 28, 28A. New York: Doubleday, 1981–1985.
- Bovon, François. Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1–9:50. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002.