Page 20 - Advanced New Testament Survey Student Textbook

Study Section 2: The Gospels of Luke and John

2.1 Connect
If you are a fan of Charles Schultz, you are familiar
with his comic presentation of “Peanuts.” One of my
favorite all-time TV shows was when the kids got
together to act out the Christmas story entitled, “A
Charlie Brown Christmas.” Charlie Brown is the
director of the show but the kids in the neighborhood don’t
corporate with him and all he can say is “Good Grief!” Toward
the end of the show Linus gave a recitation of the Christmas
story from the book of Luke. It is the highlight of the entire
show.

Luke gives us probably the most information about the birth of Christ. Couple it with that in Matthew,
we know quite a few details about how the Savior came into the world. While it may not have occurred
on December 25 , we are thrilled to set aside a day every year to thank our Lord for coming to earth to
th
bring us salvation from our sins.

2.2 Objectives

1. The student shall be able to locate when the witnesses wrote their testimonies.

2 The student shall be able to recite the themes and purposes to which the witnesses testified.

3. The student shall be able to restate the structures of the testimonies of the discussed witnesses.

4. The student shall be able to discuss the recipients of the testimonies from the witnesses.

5. The student shall be able to explain the special features of each of the witnesses.

6. The student shall be able to recite the key words of each of the witnesses.

2.3 Gospel of Luke: Son of Man

Background

Author

Undisputedly, early church tradition holds that both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts were
authored by Luke the physician, Paul’s frequent companion during his missionary journeys (Col 4:14). Early
church history also says Luke was a Gentile (non-Jewish) and came from Antioch—where Paul spent a
great deal of time (Acts 11:25–26; 15:35). These biographical details fit with the Gospel’s familiarity with
Graeco-Roman culture and its emphasis on Gentiles becoming followers of Christ. The Gospel also uses

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