On this day we celebrate St Luke, so it is good to be able to take a moment or two to look at the man, his gospel, his view of who Jesus was and what it all can mean for us today – in our life.
First: the man. What do we know about him?
According to St Paul’s letter and what Luke himself writes the Acts of the Apostles he was a physician. An early document speaks of Luke as coming from Antioch in Syria which you might recall is the place where the earliest followers of the “Jesus Way” were first called “Christians” [Acts 11:26]. He accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey when he went from Troas to Philippi as we are told in Acts chapter 16 and on the third missionary journey from Philippi to Jerusalem [Acts 20]. Luke went with Paul to Rome and stayed with him when Paul was held captive there as we know from Paul’s letter to the Colossians [4:14] and from what we heard in the passage from 2 Timothy [4:11]: Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you because he is useful in ministry.
Luke was probably a Gentile, which people – cleverer than me – say is based on Luke’s use of
idiomatic Greek. I shall return to this gentile theme. A document known as the Anti-Marcionite
Prologues says that Luke was unmarried, that he wrote his gospel in Greece and that he died at
the age of 84. No-one seriously argues that Luke DIDN’T write the Gospel attributed to him – or
the book of Acts. The literary style the books exhibit shows the author to be well-educated,
maybe somewhat self-effacing, with historical sense and considerable gifts of expression. So:
that’s the man. I’d like to touch on the emphases he has in his gospel because I think it tells us
quite a lot about Luke the man and the Christian and his view of who Jesus was.
It is a commonplace that all four gospels are different and that they show us different aspects of
Jesus. The four gospel writers similarly are represented symbolically in Christian tradition.
Matthew as a man with the human face of God; Mark as a lion king of the wild beasts bounding along; John as an eagle, spiritual high flying and all-seeing — and Luke as an ox.
An ox. We 21st century westerners don’t see this large bovine creature as they did in the East
2000 years ago. In the absence of machinery, the ox was the ancient world’s most powerful
engine a symbol of divine strength. The ox did the work, carried the heaviest loads, ploughed,
pulled carts, treaded grain. In a very real way, no oxen equated to no food. It was a symbol of
wealth. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife / servant / OX / or donkey…
But an ox, by virtue of its strength, could be a dangerous animal. If the lion was king of the wild
beasts the ox was king of the domestic ones. It was also a sacrificial animal. It carried not only
physical burdens but also the burden of transgressions, the sins of others and paid the price for
them. Solomon sacrificed 22000 oxen at the dedication of the Temple [1 Kings 8:63]. That would
have kept the priests busy.
So, while we have the modern image of the plodder, let’s bear in mind the image of power,
strength, work, wealth – and sacrifice. Luke’s gospel doesn’t “plod”, at least to my mind. But it IS
full and detailed starting with the annunciation of John the Baptist and Jesus. And it ends with the ascension. In fact – useless fact – 40% of the New Testament was written by St Luke. That’s more than St Paul and certainly more than anyone else.
We can see Luke’s interest from his emphases. I’ve just said his gospel is comprehensive. It is also universalist. Maybe a clue to Luke being a Gentile. The angels’ goodwill message to the shepherds is directed to all mankind [2:14]. Simeon foretells that Jesus will be a light to the Gentiles… [2:32]. When John the Baptist is crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord: and ALL flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Then there is Luke’s interest in people, his focus on individuals when he is recounting incidents
with Jesus. His portraits of the priest Zachariah, the cousins Elizabeth and Mary, the sisters Mary and Martha, the extortionate tax collector Zacchaeus, the mournful Clopas and his companion of the road to Emmaus. There is no doubt that Jesus’ value of the individual deeply impressed Luke who, as a physician, was similarly predisposed I think.
More than the other gospels Luke shows Jesus’ deep concern for social outcasts of every kind. The immoral woman with the alabaster jar of ointment who anointed Jesus’ feet with her hair all the while weeping [7:36]: the transformation of Zacchaeus the greedy tax farmer, the repentance of the robber on the cross [23:40]. And Jesus’ parables that focus on the prodigal son, the two debtors, the publican at prayer: Lord, forgive me for I am a sinner.
And women. Thirteen women mentioned by St Luke who we don’t hear about in any of the other
gospels. The emphasis on the women at the cross and at the tomb, the story of the widow on
Nain. Jesus was completely accepting of women and Luke was anxious to portray this in his
gospel. One can also highlight Jesus’ attitude as reported by St Luke to children. Both groups were outsiders subordinated in their society. Compare them then, to society’s attitude to refugees and migrants here today.
And last: to poverty and wealth; probably our biggest challenge today. Many of Luke’s reported
parables of Jesus relate to money matters: the two debtors, the rich fool, the tower builder, the
lost coin, the unjust steward, the rich man and Lazarus. Those who are “poor” and “humble” are
often the objects of his mercy. He calls the Pharisees lovers of money [16:14]. At Nazareth Jesus
proclaims, “good tidings to the poor”. In the Magnificat the hungry are filled and the rich are sent
empty away.
But we are not to think that Luke is a “down” person. Along with Jesus’ teaching on prayer – of
which there is more in St Luke than the other gospels – likewise the Holy Spirit – what we also get from Luke is JOY. We get laughter and merriment when the lost is found, when Zacchaeus comes down from his tree and takes Jesus home. It is only in St Luke we get those wonderful canticles that grace Anglican liturgy, the Magnificat, the Benedictus, the Gloria in Excelsis, and the Nunc Dimittis. Good old Luke. Good old Thomas Cranmer.
St Luke – the ox plodding along – gives us not only the orderly account of the life of Jesus that he
promised his friend Theophilus in his introduction to the Gospel, but he also highlights for us
aspects of the character of Jesus that I think particularly challenge our society today.
One challenge is our attitude to “outsiders”. Jesus was shown by Luke to be completely accepting of all sorts and conditions of people seeing them as individuals and not part of some cohort that was to be judged as a block. We must, must strive to do the same if we are to live out our Christian faith.
The other is our attitude to money. We have won the first prize in life. We live here. Even those
here who feel economically challenged in these “interesting” times can acknowledge the contrast between life in England in 2024 and life in any of the many current conflict zones or the refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey, Palestine, various parts of Africa, you name it. And all
those people risking – and losing – their lives trying to reach Europe and the UK.
In his gospel St Luke shows us in Jesus a pattern of how we should respond in our day to the great need we see around us. How we do respond is the challenge that confronts us all.
