Encountering the New Testament, 4th Edition

A Historical and Theological Survey

series: Encountering Biblical Studies

Chapter

6. The Gospel of Luke

Chapter Intro Video


Chapter Objectives

  • Identify Luke’s activities as a character in his own Gospel
  • Outline the content of Luke
  • Demonstrate the universal nature of God’s dealing with the world
  • List events from the early life of Jesus as presented in this Gospel
  • Explain how Jesus included women in his ministry

Chapter Summary

  1. Luke’s procedure in writing his Gospel included gathering information, checking the evidence, verifying the sources, evaluating critically, and arranging the material in an orderly manner.

  2. All the early evidence indicates that Luke was the author of the Gospel bearing his name.

  3. The dating of Luke must be closely related to the dating of Acts.

  4. Luke organized his Gospel for a theological purpose and arranged the story accordingly, starting with a prologue and then discussing Jesus’s early years, his years in Galilee, his trip to Jerusalem, and his time in Jerusalem.

  5. Luke emphasizes the comprehensive nature of God’s dealings with the world, from the beginning of the human race to the resurrection of Jesus.

  6. Jesus is seen as the Savior of the world in Luke.

  7. Luke gives special emphasis to Jesus’s early life.

  8. Luke demonstrates how Jesus treated women differently than the dominant cultures did.

  9. The Holy Spirit plays a central role in the Gospel of Luke and continues to be emphasized in Acts.


Study Questions

  1. How does Luke describe his writing of his Gospel?

  2. Who was Luke?

  3. When was the Gospel of Luke written?

  4. How does Luke emphasize the universal nature of Jesus’s work?

  5. What special place did women play in Jesus’s ministry?

  6. How is the Holy Spirit emphasized in Luke’s Gospel?