Luke. The Gospel of the Son of Man.

The Gospel According to Luke The Gospel of the Son of Man: I. Luke: Physician, Historian, Companion of Paul Paul calls him *“Luke, the beloved physician”* (Colossians 4:14), and at the end of his ministry writes, *“Only Luke is with me”* (2 Timothy 4:11). *Mark stands especially near Peter’s eyewitness preaching; Luke stands especially near Paul’s missionary labors.* Where Mark writes as though saying, *Look at this*, Luke begins by explaining how and why he writes. II. Luke the Historian Read **Luke 1:1–4**. Luke speaks of prior accounts, eyewitnesses, ministers of the Word, careful knowledge, orderly narration, and certainty. The Christian Faith is perfectly agreeable to historical inquiry; Luke employs it in the service of faith’s certainty. Compare Mark: *Mark:* green grass, pillow, gestures, looks, Aramaic phrases—eyewitness-like immediacy. *Luke:* sources, chronology, rulers, places, journeys, investigation, orderly narration. *Mark shows us the room; Luke chronicles the age.* Thus Luke 3:1–2 locates John among **Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, Annas and Caiaphas**. Redemption enters identifiable world history. Luke-Acts then moves: *Nazareth → Galilee → Jerusalem → Judea → Samaria → Gentile world → Rome.* III. Luke the Physician Luke displays a peculiar interest in the whole person: *bodies, diseases, age, birth, barrenness, hunger, wounds and social condition.* Matthew says Peter’s mother-in-law was *“sick of a fever.”* Mark says she *“lay sick of a fever.”* Luke says she *“was taken with a great fever”* (Luke 4:38). Matthew and Mark mention a withered hand; Luke specifies *“his right hand”* (Luke 6:6). Only Luke records Christ’s sweat becoming “as it were great drops of blood” (Luke 22:44). Yet his physician’s eye is not merely clinical. **Healing means restoration of the person. IV. Luke the Philosopher Luke is not a philosophical treatise, but repeatedly addresses the great moral questions of human existence: **What is happiness? What are true riches? Who is my neighbour? What is mercy? What is man? What is the proper use of possessions? Hence his peculiar material: *Good Samaritan* — Who is my neighbour? *Rich Fool* — What is wealth worth when man dies? *Prodigal Son* — What is alienation and restoration? *Rich Man and Lazarus* — What is prosperity before eternity? *Pharisee and Publican* — What is righteousness before God? *Zacchaeus* — What does repentance do to possessions? *Emmaus* — How does despair become understanding and joy? *Matthew especially considers the saint as a subject of God’s kingdom; Luke considers man standing before God and among other men.* V. Abraham, Adam, and Eternity Matthew begins with **David and Abraham**: kingdom and covenant people. Luke traces Christ backward to “Adam, which was the son of God” (Luke 3:38). His horizon embraces mankind. John goes further still: **“In the beginning was the Word.” Thus **Matthew → Abraham: covenant history. **Luke → Adam: human history. **John → beyond Adam: eternity. **Mark → no genealogy: Christ immediately acting and preaching. VI. Luke and Ordinary Human Life Matthew’s infancy narrative moves through: *Joseph → Magi → Herod → prophecy → Egypt → massacre → fulfilment.* Luke gives: **Zacharias and Elisabeth → Mary → pregnancy → barrenness → shepherds → Simeon → Anna → childhood. **Matthew gives royal-covenantal history; Luke gives redemption entering ordinary human life. Luke consequently attends especially to **women, widows, children, publicans, Samaritans, Gentiles, poor men, rich men, sinners, sickness, feasting, hunger, sorrow and rejoicing. VII. The Gospel of Joy Luke begins and ends with joy: **Luke 2:10— “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” *Luke 24:52— “And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”* Thus: **Joy at Christ’s coming → joy at Christ’s ascension. Even repentance produces “joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10). Luke’s joy is not mere cheerfulness, but the rejoicing produced when salvation restores what sin has ruined. VIII. What Luke Contributes Luke presents Christ within the whole breadth of human existence: **womb and grave, childhood and old age, rich and poor, male and female, Jew and Gentile, sickness and health, feast and hunger, sorrow and joy, sin and repentance. Thus the fourfold Gospel may be summarized: **Matthew — divine order. **Mark — historical event. **Luke — human experience. **John — eternal reality. The physician observes the human creature. The historian places him in time. The philosopher considers his condition. *The Evangelist declares his Saviour.* Hence *the Son of Man* is an excellent governing title for Luke: Christ enters the entire human condition, traces His line to Adam, and carries salvation outward until in Acts the Gospel reaches the nations.