19 October 2026

Some may ask, ‘Who was the Luke who wrote this beautiful gospel?’ He was certainly an educated man. His Greek confirms it ‘writing sometimes formal, classical prose, sometime racy narrative style in the vernacular of his own day and sometimes a semitic Bible Greek …’ observes Caird in his commentary.

He was a second-generation Christian writing sometime after the resurrection. For he has written two books. His gospel is addressed to Theophilus and his book of Acts picks up where the gospel has left off. ‘In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach …’ And he continues with a history of the early church!

In this second volume, the author implies that he was one of St. Paul’s companions. ‘Setting sail therefore, we made a direct voyage … we remained in this city some days … one who heard us was a woman named Lydia …’ But who was this companion who wrote the gospel and accompanied St. Paul on his journeys?

There is a tradition going as far back as the second century that the author was Luke. In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul sends greeting from Luke, the beloved physician. In his letter to Philemon, St. Paul describes Luke as one of his fellow-workers. In his second letter to Timothy, St. Paul concludes that ‘Luke alone is with me.’