In addition to there being four gospels, another proof that the Bible was authored by God is the fact that Luke, a Gentile disciple of Christ, wrote one of the gospels in addition to the book of Acts which is a history of the early church. The 39 writers who wrote the other 64 books of the Bible were all Jewish men. Why would God use a Gentile in his Word? I see two reasons. First, God wanted to show his salvation plan for man included Gentiles as well as Jews. Second, God wanted to reveal the gospel of Christ to a Gentile audience therefore he needed a Gentile writer. In the ancient world Jews and Gentiles were suspicious and untrusting each other. No Gentile was likely to put much stock in Jesus as the Son of God unless they heard it from a fellow Gentile and vice versa, That’s one of the reasons why we have the Jewish gospel of Matthew speaking to the Jews and the Gentile gospel of Luke speaking to the Gentiles. The gospel of Mark was a special case. There you had the Jewish Mark writing his gospel for the Gentiles in Rome at their own request because they had heard Peter preach the gospel of Christ and had become believing Christians. Rome was the seat of the Roman empire and the largest city in the world at the time so it was filled with Gentiles eager to receive the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
The first Christians were converted Jews in and around Jerusalem but once the faith moved out into the wider world it became almost exclusively a church comprised of Gentiles. Luke was actually part one of a two-part history of the church that he authored. Since that history was a Gentile history only a Gentile could tell it and have a Gentile audience believe it. God again used Luke to write the book of Acts which was part two of the history of the church. Who better than a Gentile to chronicle the growth of the early Gentile Christian church? Only God could coordinate the two books of the Bible essential to Gentiles and have them both written by a Gentile so they would be believed. God is in total control of his creation and nothing happens without God’s consent. Luke’s gospel is carefully researched and written in Greek by someone good with words. Luke was both a physician and a scholar. Luke was also a disciple of the Apostle Paul and accompanied Paul on some of his missionary trips. Luke was even imprisoned with Paul for two years in Caesarea. Luke makes it plain in his gospel he wasn’t an eyewitness to the life of Jesus Christ but he affirms that he thoroughly investigated the ample evidence available on the life of Jesus. Luke interviewed all the eyewitnesses he could find who actually saw the miracles Jesus performed and heard his teachings.
Luke was believed to have been written after Mark and Matthew and sometime in the early AD 70’s. There’s no doubt Luke carefully documented the findings in his gospel because there was tons of evidence and he knew all the players personally. Luke wrote his gospel narrative in an orderly sequence but perhaps not in a strict chronological order (because he wasn’t there). Luke’s portrait of Jesus is well balanced and skillfully emphasizes Jesus’ divinity and perfect humanity. Luke wrote his gospel to strengthen the faith of believers and to challenge the misconceptions of unbelievers, especially the Gentiles for whom it was written. Luke seldom quotes the Old Testament and while Luke is the longest gospel it’s the easiest to read. 60% of Luke’s gospel is unique and contains stories found nowhere else. Thus, there’s a great deal that readers of Scripture would not know if the third gospel were not in the Bible. For instance, Luke is the only gospel with a description of Jesus’ ascension into heaven.
Luke gives special emphasis to prayer because he considered prayer one of the most precious things in the world. The gospel of Luke is noted for its portrayal of the importance of women in a time when women were treated as second class citizens. Luke praises God more than any of the other gospels. Luke shows supreme interest in the poor, the outcasts and the downtrodden of the world. The most outstanding characteristic of Luke is that it’s the universal gospel. All barriers are down. Jesus Christ is for all people without distinction. A Jewish person would not have written Luke. Of all the gospels Luke best shows the infinite sweep of God’s love for man, his special creation. Luke answered Jesus’ call to preach the gospel to all nations. Luke was from Macedonia so he returned to Greece to preach the gospel of Christ where he suffered martyrdom by hanging.