HAVE WE WRITTEN THE GOSPEL?

Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist

Lk 10:1-9

We can know a man by what he writes. This is true of Luke whose feast we celebrate today. Being a physician from Antioch who was converted to the Christian faith and became a disciple of Paul, we know very little about Luke. And the very little we know about him comes from what, how, and for whom he wrote.

Luke wrote the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. His message is plain and simple: Jesus is for all – Jews and Gentiles alike, and saints and sinners as well. Because Jesus is for all, salvation in and through Him is universal and not an exclusive gift to the Israelites and to a particular breed of righteous people. The Parable of the Good Samaritan and the Parable of the Prodigal Son, both written by Luke and are not found in the other three Gospels, highlight this specific bent in what he wrote.

Luke was not only a physician; he was a good writer too. He healed not only the body but likewise soothed the soul by the eloquence and creativity with which he wrote his version of the Good News. He restored health to the spiritually sick or handicapped with the medicine of Jesus administered with the sweetness and effectiveness of his literary style.

Because Luke’s message is that Jesus and salvation are for all, he wrote for every man and woman. He wanted to reach the ends of the earth with the message and person of Jesus the Christ. Though written thousands of years ago, Luke’s Gospel still addresses us and his parables seem to be the stories of our lives as well. Why? Simply because his Gospel and his parables were written for us.

We know Luke by what he wrote. But when we read and reflect on what Luke wrote, we come to know more about Jesus and His unconditional love for us.

How are we known? If we were to write the Gospel, what, how, and for whom would we write it? And when what we would have written is read, who and what do our readers come to know more about? If our readers come to know more about us than about Jesus, then we have not written the Gospel.