The Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke was written as an historical account of the ministry of Jesus. Not only would it serve as the basis for a sound faith on the part of professing Christians, but it would also claim a place for Christianity in history. Christ's ministry, as Luke shows, is realized prophecy; it is that time during which God's promise of salvation was fulfilled. His teachings, healings and acts of compassion are all part of the good news. In Luke's Gospel, Christ's message of salvation is directed to the weak, poor and needy, with an emphasis on the importance of self-denial and of whole-hearted discipleship. Thus, while Luke is the most conscious historian of the Gospel writers, his history is a vehicle of theological interpretation in which the significance of Jesus is expressed. This commentator calls attention to the theological message of Luke the Evangelist. His primary purpose is to exegete the text as it was written by Luke, so that the distinctiveness of Luke's Gospel may be seen.