The Holy Spirit is the heart of the Triune Godhead. His purpose is to empower us to spread the Good News of the Gospel. We share His story of redemption and then He comes in to carry out personal salvation.
Luke was most likely a Gentile believer. As a Doctor and as a disciple of Christ, he used the gifts that he had been given to save others, both physically and spiritually.
Sometimes we need to take a step back to gain perspective. It is one thing for three of Jesus’ twelve disciples to write about the life of Christ; it is quite another for someone who did not know Him to write about Him. Luke never met Jesus, yet chose to follow Him. An obviously educated man he was a physician, Luke learned all that he could about Jesus and shared his findings with us. Thus his Gospel provides a “step back,” a unique perspective on Jesus’ birth, ministry, death, and resurrection. The author must have been a lately converted Christian who knew Paul and sometimes traveled with him. Colossians 4:10–14 seems to indicate that Luke was not “of the circumcision,” that is, not Jewish. If so, Luke would be the only Gentile author of a New Testament book. Tradition says that after accompanying Paul on some of his missionary journeys, Luke settled in Philippi, investing his life in the ministry of the Philippian church.
For Luke, Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Son of God, the Servant through whom God works, and the Lord who is called to sit at God’s right hand exerting His authority and giving the Spirit to those who believe. Though aspects of God’s plan are fulfilled in Jesus’ First Coming, other parts of the plan remain to be fulfilled when Jesus returns.
Luke wrote his Gospel to reassure Theophilus, a Gentile and a new believer, that God was still at work in the Christian community founded by Jesus. Luke presents God’s grace as revealed in Jesus’ ministry on earth. He emphasizes that this grace is available to Gentiles, even though the promises relating to Jesus’ ministry stretch back into Israel’s history.
The first two chapters of Luke emphasize the Old Testament and its promises of a Messiah, while 3:1–4:13 demonstrate that Jesus is the Messiah, who can resist the Evil One. Then, 4:14–9:50 introduce Jesus’ power and teaching. In these chapters, Luke records Jesus’ claims to authority and the numerous miracles that supported them.
Even with these miracles as evidence, the people rejected Jesus while the disciples’ faith in Him steadily grew.
There was a growing rift between Jesus and the Jewish leadership. The book ends with Jesus telling the disciples to wait for the coming of the Spirit. By now, they should have realized that everything that had taken place in Jesus’ life was promised in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms.
Jesus is the promised Messiah.
Forgiveness of sin can be obtained only through Him. The disciples were witnesses to this fact; their mission was to share this Good News with all nations, not merely the Jews. Jesus gave them this task, but He also provided them with the power to carry it out. Thus it is clear that Luke’s Gospel centers on God’s plan to provide salvation to the world. It closes anticipating the spread of the gospel that is recorded in its sequel, the Book of Acts.
Luke sensitively describes Jesus as One who reaches out personally and heals those who are mercilessly caged by devastating illnesses. As a person, He is concerned with people. Whereas Matthew likes to refer to Jesus as the Son of David and Mark refers to Him as the Son of God, Luke’s favorite expression is “the Son of Man.”
Jesus’ humanity and compassion are repeatedly stressed by the author. This, coupled with Luke’s portrayal of Jesus’ sinless perfection, set up his logical conclusion. Because Jesus is the only perfect person born of a woman and because He identifies compassionately with the plight of suffering sinful people, He alone is qualified to carry our sorrows, bear our sin, and offer us the priceless gift of salvation. NKJ Bible.
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