The Gospel of Luke is the third Gospel in our Bibles. If you recall, the word for “gospel” comes from the Greek word which means “good news,” and each of the gospels present Jesus as the One who not only is the “Good News,” but who is also the One who brings it!

If you recall, Matthew was a tax collector and one of the twelve disciples, and Mark was a cousin of Barnabas and a companion of Peter. But who is Luke? Matthew and Mark were both Jews, but Luke was a Gentile, whose “profession” was in the medical field. In other words, he was a doctor. We don’t know much about him other than the fact that he met the Apostle Paul on his Second Missionary Journey, just before Paul entered Europe (Greece) from Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). How do we know this? In Acts 16:7-10, Luke makes reference to “they” as Paul and his companions traveled through Asia, but then in verse 10 he refers to “we,” indicating that just before entering Europe, Luke joined them. And, Luke traveled with Paul for the next twelve years before Paul was martyred in Rome in about AD 65-66. And, as we will see later, Luke also wrote the Book of Acts.

It is interesting to note that Luke addressed both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts to an individual named Theophilus (see Luke 1:1-4). Although there are many conjectures as to whom the individual might be, we should note that Luke likely gathered all of the material for his Gospel during the time that Paul was in prison in Caesarea awaiting passage to Rome for his trial before Nero. While under guard in Caesarea, I believe that Paul “dispatched” Luke to travel into Judea and gather every eye-witness he could find to attest to Jesus’ life and ministry, including His death, burial and resurrection. In other words, Luke acted as an “investigative reporter,” being very logical and systematic about presenting the life of Jesus from eyewitness accounts. As you might have guessed, Luke never met Jesus during his lifetime, and only came to know about Him through the Apostle Paul and the eyewitnesses that he interviewed.

So just who was Theophilus? I believe that he was Paul’s defense attorney waiting for him in Rome who would later present Paul’s case before Nero. Although no one can be sure, it makes sense that Paul’s defense attorney should get to know Paul and the One whom he was proclaiming throughout the Roman Empire. And so, it is very likely that Luke had compiled his gospel by the time he and Paul traveled by ship to Rome. If you like history, check out Acts 27:1-3ff and you will see how Luke refers to “we” once again as they headed together for Rome.

Luke contains some wonderful sections of Scripture, including the Christmas story; the miraculous catch of fish on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus called Peter and Andrew, as well as James and John, to follow Him; the calling of Matthew, the tax collector; the healing of the servant of a Roman Centurion; the healing of blind Bartimaeus; as well as His well-known parables of the “lost sheep,” the “lost coin,” and the “lost son,” who is known as the Prodigal Son. Actually, it was both of the Father’s sons who were lost, not just the prodigal. One of my favorite passages in Luke comes from his encounter with Zacchaeus, you know, the short tax collector who climbed up in a tree to see Jesus. At the end of the meal in Zacchaeus’ house, Jesus told those gathered that,

“Truly salvation has come to this house because he, too (Zacchaeus), is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).  

On many occasions Jesus would refer to those who were “lost” as “the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” Being “lost” is the condition of everyone’s heart and life that is alienated from God, outside of God’s family, and lost in a world where sin abounds, a world in which each of us is numbered among those who have sinned against God. The remedy for being “lost” is to be “found,” and that is just what Jesus does as He calls and gathers His sheep to Himself.

Another passage of Scripture in Luke that means a lot to me is found in a parable about two men, a self-righteous Pharisee and a despised Jewish tax collector, who collected taxes for the Romans from his own countrymen (Lk. 18:9-14). Both went into the temple to pray, the Pharisee praying with a prideful heart about all of the “good” things he does “for God,” like fasting and tithing. He asks for nothing, but thanks God that he is not like that despised tax collector also standing in the temple, some distance away. But the tax collector was so ashamed of his life that he “beat his chest” and humbly prayed the following prayer:

“God, be merciful to me, the sinner” (Lk. 18:13)

Notice these SEVEN words that made all the difference. He asked God not to give him what he deserved (that’s what mercy is), and he identified himself, not as “a” sinner, but as “the” sinner. He was so ashamed of his life of sin that he didn’t want to be lumped together with other “run-of-the-mill” sinners, but as “the” greatest sinner of all. I like to say that if you were to look up the word “sinner” in a first-century dictionary, you would find his picture there!

As a result of his humble and heartfelt prayer, the tax collector left the Temple “justified” in God’s eyes, that is, he was “made righteous” and brought into a right relationship with God. That’s the kind of prayer that God welcomes and receives, and it’s the only kind of prayer in which God grants the verdict: “JUSTIFIED.” By being “justified,” a person becomes a new creation in Christ and a child of God. Notice what happened to the tax collector as he entered the temple: he was CONVICTED of his sin; he was so ashamed to even look toward heaven but could only beat his chest in remorse, and that’s called CONTRITION; and finally, he CONFESSED his sin and went home JUSTIFIED. The Pharisee left unchanged, still wallowing in his pride and “self-righteousness”

What happened to the tax collector can also happen to you and me. Repentance leads to Justification, and being justified opens the door for us to have “peace with God” (Rom. 5:1). Let’s all take a lesson from this humble, contrite tax collector, and if you have never done so, just repeat his same seven words to God: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.” Amen.