Commentary on Luke

Scholars generally agree that the Gospel according to Luke was written somewhere towards the end of the first century, probably in the 80s.  It was written in the Greek language by an author who wrote quite stylishly.  The Gospel is the first of two works by the author, its companion volume being Acts of Apostles.  Tradition has given the name of Luke to the author, but there is no certainty that Luke was the author’s name, and if it was, whether he was the Luke mentioned in Acts of Apostles and the Epistles of Paul.  It was a common custom of the time to attribute literary works to known and famous persons so as to ensure their being taken seriously.  Luke may have come from Antioch in Syria, though this is uncertain.  He was possibly of Semitic but not Jewish background.  A number of internal factors lead many scholars to conclude that he was writing for a community of Gentile Christians.