The four “gospels” of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John provide us with an accurate, precious view of the life of the Saviour. These books are the primary source of our knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth’s life and teachings. As posted before, Mark was a prominent member of the early church. The Last Supper may have been held at his family’s house, he served multiple missions with Paul and Barnabus, and was with Peter in Rome. His sources in writing were primarily Peter and other eyewitnesses of Jesus’s teachings and works. Matthew, to whom the first book in our present compilation of the New Testament is credited, and John were apostles of Christ. Who is Luke?
Luke is never mentioned by name in the New Testament. However, by examining his text and analyzing his words, we can know more about this man. Luke begins his narrative by writing his reasons and qualifications for writing about Jesus. He writes that the records already had (likely the gospel of Mark amongst other things) are true and accurate, but that he is qualified to write additional material because he has done his research. We assume that Luke was a doctor. Doctors then and now could be considered historians of sorts since they think cause-and-effect. When a patient comes into their office with an illness, the doctor asks them their history in the last few days or weeks to try to determine the cause of the ailment. Luke would therefore be a good historian in researching and piecing together the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.
From the early passages of Luke and parts of the Acts of the Apostles, we can piece together where and how long Luke would be doing his research. In Luke 1:3, he basically dedicates the book to his patron, or the one who funded and financially supported him as he wrote. When compared with Acts 1:1, it can be argued that Luke was also the primary author of the this book as well. If this is the case, then Luke is implicitly mentioned in Acts 16:10. When describing the activities and journeys of the people therein, the pronoun changes from “he” and “they” to “we.” So, we can roughly pinpoint the time that Luke rejoins Paul in the ministry. We know, therefore, that Luke was in Judaea and Galilee for two entire years. It is probable that Luke was researching and interviewing people during this span. He likely went to Capernaum and other sites of Jesus’s ministry to get first-hand accounts of what happened. He too wanted to construct his narrative of the Saviour’s life from those who witnessed it for themselves.
Due to his careful research and methodical, linear writing style, we have a different view of Jesus’s life than that presented to us by Mark. We get an account of His birth in Bethlehem, for example. We have a clearer, better picture of Jesus the Christ thanks to a man who never even met him, a physician named Luke.