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Luke....
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Luke was the writer of the third, and longest, Gospel book. He seemed
to have been the most formally-educated of the four Gospel writers, with
perhaps the greatest sense of historic detail and of Bible History. It is
interesting that God used people of such different talents and
personalities to present the facts from different points of view, much
like painting a picture with many colors instead of just black and white.
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While not a great amount is known of Luke personally, we
are told that he was a doctor, a fellow-worker with Paul, and that he alone stayed in support of Paul
at the end - Paul
wrote in 2 Timothy 4:11, shortly before his being martyred in
Rome during
the time of Emperor Nero, that "only Luke is with me."
The others left
either for reasons of personal safety, or perhaps because of Paul's intense
personality which would have been stressful to most people.
Luke was
obviously a very brave, loyal and faithful man. We would be very fortunate
to have Luke for a friend - but of course, one day we will. |
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Some believe that Luke was from Antioch, due to his
numerous familiar mentions of it in his writing. He apparently later lived
in Philippi.
Luke may well have been a
Greek, and was almost certainly a
Gentile. There are also indications that Luke was a good friend of
Mary, the
mother of Jesus Christ, for a number of years, at Jerusalem, or elsewhere.
Mary could well have been a source for at least some part of the book of
Luke, which would explain how he obtained much of the detail in his writing. |
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It is quite possible, and very likely, that Mary
supplied much information to the Gospel writers. An early anonymous source
wrote of Luke after his death: "He served The Lord without distraction,
having neither wife nor children, and at the age of 84 he fell asleep in Boeotia, full of The Holy Spirit." |
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