42) The Book of Luke

LUKE the physician focuses upon the fleshly aspect of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:3). The family tree of the Son of man records the lineage of Mary to Adam (Luke 3:23). The phrase Son of man occurs 26 times in the book and the key verse is 19:10. The man Christ Jesus is portrayed by the man-like cherub and the man whose name is the Branch (Zech. 6:12; Rev. 4:7). The LORD inspired Matthew the publican to focus upon the King of the Jews, Mark the servant to focus upon the ministry of the Prophet, and Luke the physician to record the manhood of the LORD of glory with great details of His virgin birth.

Luke begins with a preface to outline the purpose of the book. The purpose was to present an orderly account of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus and His Apostles. This organized record was addressed to Theophilus. The title most excellent implies Theophilus was a Roman official (Acts 23:26; 24:3; 26:25). This organized account is recorded in two volumes with the book of Acts as the sequel. Luke began with the forerunner of Jesus Christ and ended with the chosen Apostle of God for the Gentiles (Acts 9:15-16; Rom. 11:13; 15:16). Luke records the two official rejections of Jesus Christ by the unpardonable sin and the martyrdom of Stephen (Luke 12:10; Acts 7:51-53); therefore, Luke reveals the complete transition from the kingdom of heaven to the kingdom of God and from Judaism to Christianity (Luke 17:20-21).

Luke was an eyewitness of most of the events in the book of Acts and as the close traveling companion of the Apostle Paul, Luke witnessed the acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by the Gentiles (Acts 28:28; Col. 4:14). The Gospel according to St. Luke concentrates upon a Gentile application and viewpoint (Luke 4:24-30; 19:11-27). The book is the longest book in the New Testament and it contains 24 chapters and 1,151 verses.