5 questions to better understand the Gospel of Luke

Luke: who is he?

Not much is known about this man who was not a first generation apostle. For certain specialists, it would undoubtedly be, originally, a pagan close to Judaism.

For others, a Syrian Jew from Antioch, converted by Paul. In the New Testament, he is only cited three times: in the letter to the Colossians, Paul speaks of one of his companions, Loukas, a “beloved physician” (Col 4:14). Evoking his friends and “collaborators”, he cites him again in a letter to Timothy (2 Tim 4, 11) and in that addressed to Philemon (Phil 1, 24).

What is Luke’s symbol?

The evangelist is represented by the bull. A tradition resulting from the transposition into a Christian environment of the prophecy from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel (Ez 1, 5-10), evoking “four Living Ones” glimpsed in a vision.

The choice of this animal refers to the beasts sacrificed at the Temple in Jerusalem. A reality also highlighted by the figure of the priest Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, and which Luke alone mentions in his text.

What is Luc’s style?

Luke speaks and writes in Greek, the common language of the time. But his style is elegant, with a consummate art in telling stories. He is undoubtedly a well-trained man, initiated into classical Hellenistic culture. A knowledge that he uses to make the message of the Galilean Jesus accessible to as many people as possible.

Where does the first name Luc come from?

The first name Loukas comes from Greek word leukos which evokes what is white, pure, luminous. But it could also be a diminutive of the word designating the inhabitants of Lucania, in Asia Minor.