Luke the Evangelist

Paul identifies Luke as 'the beloved physician' (Colossians 4:14) and names him among his companions in Philemon 24 and 2 Timothy 4:11 ('Only Luke is with me'). From these references we know that Luke was a Gentile Christian (Paul lists him separately from 'those of the circumcision' in Colossians 4:11–14), a physician, and a loyal companion who remained with Paul when others departed.

The 'we passages' in Acts (16:10–17; 20:5–15; 21:1–18; 27:1–28:16)—sections where the narrative shifts from 'they' to 'we'—are traditionally understood as indicating Luke's personal presence on those portions of Paul's journeys. If authentic, Luke accompanied Paul on parts of the second and third missionary journeys and on the voyage to Rome, providing eyewitness testimony to Paul's later ministry.

Luke's Gospel is a literary masterpiece. His prologue (Luke 1:1–4), addressed to 'most excellent Theophilus,' is the only Gospel preface that describes the author's method—he has 'investigated everything carefully from the very first' and writes 'an orderly account' (diēgesis). His Greek is the most polished of the evangelists, ranging from classical Atticizing style in the prologue to Septuagintal Hebrew tone in the infancy narratives.

The Gospel's distinctive material reveals Luke's theological and social concerns: the Magnificat and Benedictus; the shepherds at the manger; parables of the Good Samaritan (the merciful Gentile), the Prodigal Son (God's boundless mercy), the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (the vindication of the humble), and Zacchaeus (salvation comes to the marginalized); Jesus's word to the penitent thief ('Today you will be with me in Paradise'); and the Emmaus road appearance. Each emphasizes God's mercy toward those on the margins—the poor, the sinful, the despised, and women, who feature prominently in Luke's narrative.

Acts carries the story forward with the same theological concerns. The Spirit empowers the Church for mission, crosses every boundary of ethnicity and class, and drives the Gospel from Jerusalem through Samaria to the Gentile world and finally to Rome. Luke is a theologian of salvation history—he sees God's purposes unfolding through time, from Israel's promises through Jesus's ministry to the Church's mission. The structure of Acts (Jerusalem, Samaria, the ends of the earth, per Acts 1:8) unfolds this vision systematically.

Traditionally, Luke was a painter as well as a physician—credited with painting the first icons of the Virgin Mary. This tradition is first attested in the sixth century (Theodore Lector) and has no basis in canonical or early patristic sources. It probably arose from Luke's literary 'portrait' of Mary in the infancy narrative (Luke 1–2)—the most theologically rich and emotionally intimate account of Mary in any Gospel—which was imaginatively extended to a visual portrait. Jerome places Luke's death in Boeotia (Greece) at the age of eighty-four. The tradition that he was martyred is late and uncertain.