THE GOSPEL OF LUKE The authors known as 'Luke' and 'Matthew' were experienced authors who, unlike Mark, are fully conversant with the style of Greek history writing. Luke specifically may have been a dramatist schooled in Greek drama, for his narrative is very compelling and often conveys great dramatic tension.

St. Luke, after an anonymous 14th century French illumination

According to the majority opinion, Luke wrote his Gospel between 80 and 100 CE. A physician named 'Luke' appears in Paul's letters and other New Testament writings. This prompted the church fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE to suggest that the evangelist was a medical doctor (Col 4:14; 2 Tim 4:11). However, there is nothing in the Gospel text itself that suggests that the author was a doctor or was interested in medical issues, particularly when it comes to scenes of Jesus' healing.

The second thing we notice about Luke is that despite of his obvious gifts as a writer, he is not very familiar with Palestinian topography. What's more, his Greek is heavily influenced by the 'biblical' style of the Greek translation of the Jewish Bible, known as the 'Septuagint.' This could indicate that Luke was a Diaspora Jew who wrote somewhere in the Mediterranean region, possibly at the behest of an early Christian community that nevertheless was strongly gentile. Luke's intimate knowledge of the Septuagint is further borne out by his frequent use of quotes from the Jewish Bible. These appear as evidence to show that the biblical prophets foretold Jesus' ministry, but these segments are also used as models for his dialog.

Luke's magnificent prose, stretched across 24 chapters, is focused on the revelation of Jesus as part of God's plan for mankind. With the sweep of a Greek historian, he provides a detailed genealogy of Jesus and remains concerned throughout with the historical significance of Jesus' ministry on his contemporaries as well as the world at large. Luke's Gospel deliberately aims to be a natural continuation of the Jewish scripture as the fulfillment of God's covenant through the mission of Jesus Christ.

Unlike Mark's Gospel, Luke provides a detailed Nativity cycle that ranges from the Annunciation to the visit of the 12-year old Jesus with the Jewish lawgivers in the Temple. Other Lucan stories that do not appear in any of the other canonical Gospels are the parables of the Samaritan and of the Prodigal Son, and the account of Jesus' Ascension into heaven.