Luke

Identity

Luke is 'the beloved physician' (Colossians 4:14). He is the author of the third Gospel and the Book of Acts — two volumes that together make up about a quarter of the New Testament by length. A Gentile by background, he was Paul's companion on the later missionary journeys and remained with him to the end ('only Luke is with me' — 2 Timothy 4:11).

Name and titles

'Luke' — Loukas — is a Latin name meaning 'from Lucania' (a region of southern Italy) or possibly short for Lucanus. He is called 'the beloved physician' by Paul, and Christian tradition adds 'the Evangelist.' Later Christian tradition (from the fourth century) also calls him a painter — the first iconographer, whose alleged icon of the Theotokos is preserved in several Marian traditions.

Historical period

• c. AD 10 (est.) — Born, probably at Antioch in Syria (Eusebius Church History III.4).
• c. AD 49-50 — Joins Paul on the second missionary journey at Troas (the first 'we' section of Acts begins at Acts 16:10).
• c. AD 57-60 — With Paul on the third journey and during the arrest in Jerusalem.
• c. AD 60-62 — With Paul in Rome during the first Roman imprisonment (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24).
• c. AD 60-67 — Writes the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts.
• c. AD 66-67 — With Paul in his final imprisonment (2 Timothy 4:11).
• c. AD 84 (traditional) — Dies in Boeotia (Greece) at 84 years, unmarried (Gregory of Nazianzus and later Fathers).

Scripture appearances

• Colossians 4:14 (KJV) 'Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.'
• 2 Timothy 4:11 (KJV) 'Only Luke is with me.'
• Philemon 24 (KJV) Named as a fellow-worker of Paul.
• Acts 16:10ff (KJV) The first 'we' passage — Luke joins Paul at Troas.
• Acts 20:5 - 21:18 (KJV) Second 'we' passage — with Paul from Philippi to Jerusalem.
• Acts 27:1 - 28:16 (KJV) Third 'we' passage — the voyage to Rome and shipwreck.

Connected Places

• Antioch — his likely home city.
• Troas — where he joined Paul.
• Philippi — where Paul left him for several years.
• Jerusalem — where he travelled with Paul.
• Rome — where he stayed with Paul in prison.
• Malta — where he was shipwrecked with Paul (Acts 27-28).

Connected People

• Paul — his lifelong companion.
• Christ Jesus — whose Gospel he wrote.
• Mary the mother of Christ — the likely source of his infancy narratives.
• Peter — whose sermons he preserved in Acts 2 and following.

Salvation history role

• The historian who preserved the ordered account of Christ's ministry (Luke 1:1-4) and of the earliest Church (Acts).
• The physician who gives us tender details of Christ's compassion — the Good Samaritan, the lost sheep, the prodigal son, the woman who touched the hem of His garment.
• The Gentile witness — a reminder that from the beginning the Gospel embraced the whole world.

Christian tradition

• Feast: 18 October (Western and Eastern Christianity).
• The Church honours him as one of the four Evangelists; his iconographic emblem is the ox (from Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4).
• Patron saint of physicians, surgeons, and artists.
• His two books (the Gospel of Luke and Acts) together form the longest single New Testament contribution.

Household reflection

Luke teaches the household that Christian witness is more than one shape. He was a doctor. He wrote history. He travelled with Paul. He preserved Mary's memory. Every skill of the household can serve the Gospel.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read the Gospel of Luke straight through in Advent; the Acts of the Apostles straight through in Eastertide.
• Pray (Chapel) — On his feast (18 October), pray for physicians and hospitals.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — Read the parables of Luke 15 (lost sheep, lost coin, lost son) aloud at the family table.
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) and Nunc dimittis (Luke 2:29-32) — both preserved in Luke's Gospel.
• Learn (Workshop) — Study Luke's careful prologue (Luke 1:1-4) — the ancient world's most compressed statement of historical method.

Further reading

The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts in the KJV.

Eusebius, Church History III.4 (on Luke's life).

Jerome, De Viris Illustribus 7 (short life of Luke).

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Paul
• Luke 2
• Acts 2
• Antioch
• Rome
• Luke 15 — the three parables of mercy he preserved
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.