Taylor Kemp (1:38)

It is.

Dr. Ben Akers (1:40)

And which I think is actually why some we see mercy, why we see healings in his gospel in a particular way.

Taylor Kemp (1:46)

Yeah. With some detail.

Dr. Ben Akers (1:47)

Yes. And he also is not a disciple of Jesus. So we don't have any evidence that he met Jesus in his lifetime, which.

Taylor Kemp (1:54)

I actually think that's a point that's worth hanging on a little bit. There's been times where I remember telling people that not all of the people who wrote the Gospels knew Christ. And they're like, what?

Dr. Ben Akers (2:04)

Right.

Taylor Kemp (2:04)

So, yeah, St. Luke didn't. He was not a disciple of Jesus in his earthly ministry.

Dr. Ben Akers (2:09)

That's right. So same with Mark. So we look at Mark. We don't. We. You know, there's a chance that Mark could have been part of the 72. And, you know, some I've heard or even heard argued that Luke might have been part of the 72. But really Matthew and John are the two disciples of Jesus. We see them listed as apostles of Jesus as well. Mark bases his gospel on the preaching of St. Peter. Luke bases his preaching on the gospel of St. Paul.

Taylor Kemp (2:31)

And how do we know that?

Dr. Ben Akers (2:34)

Yes. So a couple. A couple things we can look at. So not only gospel, his gospel is not only based on Paul's account, because we have scenes in Luke's gospel that we don't have in other gospels. And Luke has this beautiful beginning to his gospel if you have your translation in front of you, but just the very beginning of Luke where he tells, you know, he writes his gospel and he's writing to a person named Theophilus, and he's telling him what he's gonna do in his gospel. In as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past to write an orderly account for you. Most excellent, Theophilus, that you may know the trut concerning the things of which you have been informed. So that's Luke, chapter one, verses one through four. Couple things to note about this, that many have undertaken to compile a narrative so that there are other gospels out there. So Matthew and Mark could be two of those. Yeah.

Taylor Kemp (3:39)

And plus probably others who are writing about Christ that did not end up in the canon.

Dr. Ben Akers (3:44)

And then those who are delivered to us by those from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word. So I talked to people that were ministers of the Word of the Gospel. And eyewitness accounts. So I have talked to people that are eyewitnesses. And I'll go into some of the stories that he has in a particular way. And I want to give you an orderly account. So he puts it in a particular order to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He wants to tell you a story. He has a narrative. He's pushing forward. He's making an argument for why Jesus is the Christ and is the Messiah. When he says he talks to eyewitnesses with some incredible stories from the life of Christ that others don't have in the Gospel. For example, the early life of Jesus, the Annunciation to Zachariah, the Annunciation to Mary, the Annunciation of the angels to the shepherds when Christ is born, the birth of Jesus, the finding of the child Jesus in the temple when he's 12 years old. These are all stories that are particular to Luke. Okay, so what else is in particular to Luke? We also have Luke's influence as a, you know, communicating the hymns that were sung in the early church. So we have the Benedictus, the Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from Zechariah, after he. After John the Baptist is born, the Magnificat. These are just the Latin first words of these prayers that we say in the Church. The Benedictus is said every morning by every priest, religious, bishop, the Pope, in the divine office, the Liturgy of the Hours. So it's said during morning prayer, the Magnificat, My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. The Psalm of Mary is said in the evening prayer. The Nunc Diminish is said every day for night prayer. That's the prayer of Simeon in the temple who says, lord, now let your servant be dismissed. And then the Gloria that the angels sing at the birth of Christ.

Taylor Kemp (5:27)

I did not realize how many.

Dr. Ben Akers (5:29)

So Luke has really influenced the daily and weekly liturgical cycle of the church and the hymns. Where does he get this information from?

Taylor Kemp (5:38)

Are you asking me? Is that rhetorical?

Dr. Ben Akers (5:40)

Rhetorical?

Taylor Kemp (5:40)

Well, I would believe there is a tradition in which our Blessed Mother came to live with Luke for a period of time.

Dr. Ben Akers (5:48)

Yep. I think he hears it from our Blessed Virgin. I think he hears it from John, who would have also heard it from Our lady if she's already been assumed.

Taylor Kemp (5:54)

So when you read the infancy narratives, the detail with which you're like, how would he know these things? So it makes you think, oh, he would have heard it from Jesus.

Dr. Ben Akers (6:03)

And he tells us at the beginning. He's like, I talk to eyewitnesses. And so I'm going to communicate this to you. I've done my homework, I've done my research, and now I want to share with you the good news of Christ. There's some stories in Luke that are only found in Luke, like parables. The parable of the Prodigal Son, the famous story of the Great Merciful Father, and also the parable of the Good Samaritan. Those two parables are only found in Luke's Gospel.

Taylor Kemp (6:24)

He's a beautiful storyteller. There really are. They're lengthy. There's some lengthy segments.

Dr. Ben Akers (6:29)

There's a tradition that he's an artist, and we can get to that. But really, he's also artist with words and story craft. He's telling a wonderful narrative of the life of Jesus and weaving these details together. He's the Only gospel writer to tell us the ascension in his gospel.

Taylor Kemp (6:45)

Oh, yeah, wow.

Dr. Ben Akers (6:47)

Yeah. And he'll, you know, give more detail in Acts of the Apostles. One of the themes of Luke's Gospel as well is that you see Jesus as a prayer, as one who prays. So seven times in his gospel. He makes it clear that at particular moments of Jesus life that are important to his ministry, Jesus is praying before the event. So he's teaching us as Jesus is teaching us by noting that for us he also. One of the themes that you'll see is mercy. As I mentioned, women have a prominent role. Meals, lots of conversation takes around the place around meals. The Gentiles are included in a particular way in the plan of salvation. So God came to redeem humanity, not just a select nation. So one of the ways we see that is in his stories. But he traces the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam.

Taylor Kemp (7:34)

Okay.

Dr. Ben Akers (7:35)

He wants to show you that, like, this is the story of the human race, everyone being redeemed. Jesus is saving everyone. And then, you know, details about him being a physician. He'll use words in his telling of a story that only a physician, a well trained physician. So example of this would be he gives us the detail in the agony in the garden of Jesus sweating blood, which is a very technical, you know, medical reality. Hematohydrosis. And he puts that in.

Taylor Kemp (8:03)

Interesting. Yeah, he puts that in. In terms of. He describes it.

Dr. Ben Akers (8:06)

He describes it and uses the word. Uses the medical term for it. Yeah.

Taylor Kemp (8:10)

So we translate that into like sweating blood. Sweating blood. But it's actually a.

Dr. Ben Akers (8:14)

And only a doctor would know that at a particular moment of someone being under severe distress, duress, that would happen.

Taylor Kemp (8:21)

Fascinating.

Dr. Ben Akers (8:22)

Yeah. So this is really, you know, just some general themes if we're going through Luke and his gospel as he writes it. And he also writes part two to his gospel, we call it. He's the only gospel writer to write a part two.

Taylor Kemp (8:32)

Yeah.

Dr. Ben Akers (8:33)

So we have John, John's Gospel. He writes epistles and he writes the book of Revelation. But Revelation is not a part two to John's Gospel, but really Acts of the Apostles is this divinely inspired historical narrative of the life of the early church. What do Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel have in common? They're both written by the same person. They're addressed to the same person, to Theophilus. So he says in that first book, Theophilus, I told you everything Jesus began to do and teach. And the implication is, in this book, I'm going to tell you everything. Jesus Continues to do and teach, which.

Taylor Kemp (9:04)

Is an incredibly important theological point.

Dr. Ben Akers (9:06)

Yes. In what way?

Taylor Kemp (9:07)

Well, okay, so if you try to break that down, the gospel of his first book, the Gospel, he is saying that I'm going to teach you everything that Jesus began to do and to teach. However, Jesus is crucified, he dies, he is resurrected and he ascends. And so, you know, in consequence, then by saying that there is this continuation of Jesus ministry, but Jesus is not there, he's implying, okay, so then it is. Jesus's work is continuing in the world and he's going to unfold how that happens through the church.

Dr. Ben Akers (9:43)

Exactly right. So the. What Jesus does in the historical body, his physical body, is communicating the gospel. What Jesus continues to do in his mystical body, the church, the lives of the disciples, the apostles is manifest. So Jesus healed people. Jesus forgave people sins. He. He cast out demons, he raised people from the dead. These things that Jesus did in his public ministry, the Church will do in her ministry.

Taylor Kemp (10:08)

And it's so for us today, the thing that we have to remember is that that is not something that simply continued back then as we read about it in the pages of the book of Acts, but that that is something that is continued by the power, the sending of the Holy Spirit and the life of grace in all of us who are members of the body of Christ today. So this is not some story that was to be left back then, but that Acts lays out, this is how God is continuing to work and that that has continued, that has not stopped.

Dr. Ben Akers (10:39)

And the Holy Spirit active in the life of the Church that makes all these things possible for Jesus's mystical body, the Church, Sometimes some scholars even called Acts of the Apostles the Gospel of the Holy Spirit. So if the Gospel of Jesus, the Gospel of the Holy Spirit, how is the Holy Spirit, you know, animating the life of the apostles that are. That are living out the life of the church?

Taylor Kemp (11:00)

And this squares perfectly with a lot of the same theology that St. Paul is saying. Of course, the Church makes up for what is lacking in the body of Christ, that he is active in all things as the head through the body, his church. So obviously this corroborates with the rest of scripture.

Dr. Ben Akers (11:14)

No, Luke and Paul are hand in glove in their theology. That's good insight. Another connection between the Gospel and Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel of St. Luke begins centered on, ends on Jerusalem, Acts of the apostles. So all the actions in Jerusalem, because this is where Jesus is going to save the world and save people from their sins. And then you Rise, Rise from the dead and ascend into heaven. Acts the Apostles begins in Jerusalem, but ends in Rome, the very center of the empire. So really the very Jerusalem centric Gospel. Acts begins in Jerusalem, but really the trajectory is out to the ends of the earth because this message can't be contained. It really is for the whole world. And so Acts of the Apostles ends with Paul in Rome, in prison and Acts 28.

Taylor Kemp (12:01)

So do we know how? Well, before I move on.

Dr. Ben Akers (12:04)

Yeah.

Taylor Kemp (12:05)

Oh, oh, keep going.

Dr. Ben Akers (12:07)

Yeah, go ahead.

Taylor Kemp (12:08)

I was just going to say, do we know how he died? But I don't want to go there yet if we're still walking through.

Dr. Ben Akers (12:12)

No, I. What I wanted to highlight is just a friendship between St. Paul and St. Luke because St. Luke will use Paul as his principal witness in especially Acts 13:28, where we really see the ministry, the writing is and the stories are centered on the life of Paul. Luke joins Paul at his second missionary journey. And he's also with Paul at the end of his life. End of Acts, the Apostles, as I mentioned, but also at the end of his life. We don't know how they're met, okay, but we do know they're friends. Saint Irenaeus, in his wonderful work against the heresies, says describes Luke as Paul's quote, constant companion and fellow traveler. And, and claims that Luke was inseparable from Paul. So really, just really, for me, this is a beautiful testament of friendship and serving the kingdom is. They had a friendship, they worked closely together, and even Luke was there with Paul as his life ended in a particular way. In, you know, we see this shift. If you've read Acts, if you're a casual reader of Acts of the Apostles, the narrative shifts from the third person singular to the first person plural. @ certain points where Paul, you know, we say we did this. And that's where we start to really see that Acts of the Apostles is this travel log. You know, Luke's keeping a journal. He's like, this is what's happening as we're going and spreading the Gospel. One of the things that I wanted to highlight about the friendship of Luke and Paul is that the three times that Luke's name is actually mentioned in Scripture, he's mentioned with a third person. He's mentioned with another co worker. His name's Damas. D E M A S Damas. In Paul's letters, he's always listed us alongside of St. Luke. So in Philemon 24, Damos and Luke, my fellow workers, Colossians 4:14, Luke the beloved physician and Damos Greet you. But the third time that Damos and Luke are mentioned together, it's in 2 Timothy, chapter 4. So 2 Timothy is the last letter of St. Paul, chapter. He's about to reach martyrdom. This is not the Acts 28, the end of Acts 28. He goes on another missionary journey after that, but he's near the end of his life. And Damos has abandoned Paul and Luke on the mission. So this faithful friend, formerly faithful friend, has now abandoned him. And St. Paul says in second Timothy, chapter 4, verse 10, that Damos was too much in love with the present world. He deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. The next verse, he says, but Luke alone is with me. I love that just line. I mean, it's a sad and kind of melancholic line. But Luke alone is with me. But Luke was faithful to his friend Paul. Luke was faithful to his mentor Paul, and spreading the gospel. And he was there at the end. And if you ever go to St. Paul outside the walls, the beautiful cathedral in Rome, I know you just went there this year.

Taylor Kemp (15:01)

I am, to my shame. Did not.

Dr. Ben Akers (15:02)

Oh, you didn't make it. You didn't make it far. It is far out there.

Taylor Kemp (15:05)

Outside the walls is.

Dr. Ben Akers (15:06)

It's far outside the walls because it's far outside the walls. It's far outside the metro system, down the metro line. Okay, so if you get. When you go back to Rome and you see this, you've been there before, this beautiful church, and there's this big statue of St. Paul at the front, and he's got this fiery eyes, and he's got a big sword, you know, which represents how he dies. He's beheaded, but also the word of God that he preached. And you look behind him, there's two pedestals. And one of the pedestals has St. Luke on it. And you know, St. Luke, he's a stylus, a scroll. He's got an ox at his feet. So in iconography and images of St. Luke, you'll see that this image of ox with him, and then the other pedestal is empty.

Taylor Kemp (15:42)

Was it supposed to be Damos?

Dr. Ben Akers (15:43)

I think it's supposed to be Damos. And so you got Luke alone is with me. And so St. Paul is there on the pedestal, and so is St. Luke. And so, you know, the challenge for us is, you know, how. How might we be faithful to those who have handed on the faith to us? And even if they become unfaithful to, how do we become faithful to the word of God and to the message of the gospel? You know, he heard the words of Jesus Christ, you know, he heard the words of the good news of Jesus Christ, and it so transformed him that he actually wanted others to hear it as well. So he writes the gospel, writes, asks the apostles, we, you know, so indebted to him and grateful to him for that. His response reel psalm today. So if you go to Mass, his feast day is October 18th. So if you go to Mass on this day, you'll hear the response for the psalm. It's one of my favorites from Psalm 145. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of youf kingdom. That's what friends of Jesus do. They tell others about what it's like to be in this kingdom.

Taylor Kemp (16:37)

That is beautiful. I love about St. Luke too. As you said, we're so indebted to him. It's this beautiful gospel. It's really well written and it's always been a great testament. When I think about St. Luke, that he put his talents at the service of Christ. So a, he's traveling around, being a physician. So he's. He's taking the things that have been given and allowing those to build up the kingdom. And he's a good writer, he can tell a good story. He's a great kind of travel blogger. Yeah, one of the first. And he's putting his talents at the feet of Christ and we've all benefited. And that, that's a great invitation for all of. Of how can we take what has been given to us naturally and spiritually and put them at the feet of Christ so that we can serve, to share, to make known the glorious splendor of God's kingdom.

Dr. Ben Akers (17:17)

I love also that he's a physician and one of the ways that he saw he could heal people is by sharing the good news of Jesus. So there's a healing power to hearing the gospel. There's a healing power, you know, we who are sick in both, you know, body and soul. It's really the message of Jesus who can. Who can heal us?

Taylor Kemp (17:34)

Which is what salvation comes from salve or healing. So two things. And I have two final questions for you, unless there's anything else you had. Alrighty. So one is we have a sacred art episode called Luke the Artist. So if you want to learn more about St. Luke the artist, check that out.

Dr. Ben Akers (17:49)

That was a fun one because we talked about Luke painting an image of Mary.

Taylor Kemp (17:53)

So check that out. And then the other one is if you've never seen Lectio the Case for Jesus with Dr. Brian Petrie, it's a great series. It talks about the historicity of the Gospels and Luke's Gospel in particular. The beginning of it makes it like. It grounds it as this is history. But it's a. It's a great series. If you've ever wondered about the Gospels, the historicity of them. My two final questions for you. So if anyone is listening to this and they haven't read the Gospel of Luke, would you have any, like, kind of pro. Tips for how to get started reading Luke's Gospel?

Dr. Ben Akers (18:20)

Yeah, I'd say start at the beginning.

Taylor Kemp (18:21)

Okay.

Dr. Ben Akers (18:22)

Or actually Luke 10 or Luke 15. Luke 10 is a Good Samaritan. Luke 15 is a prodigal son. Sometimes the prodigal son is actually called the gospel in miniature. It tells the whole story of what the gospel message is about. But really, I think Luke is. Is very relatable. You can dive right in. You don't need to know. You know, he's writing for a gentle audience, gentile audience, so an audience that may be not as familiar with some of the Jewish traditions and customs. So he's writing and he's. I think what you get, it's. It moves at a very nice clip. It's very meditative. It's clear. It's clear. And because he doesn't assume like a.

Taylor Kemp (18:58)

Super in depth knowledge of Jewish tradition and custom, which Matthew does or something. So, yeah, it's a good.

Dr. Ben Akers (19:04)

Yeah. So I'd say really just start at the beginning and just read if you've never done it before, like Luke and go straight into Acts and you'll see lots of parallels between what Jesus did in his Gospel and then what the apostles do in the Acts.

Taylor Kemp (19:16)

All right, my final question. Do you have a favorite story or parable from Luke? Because it does have those unique stories.

Dr. Ben Akers (19:22)

Yeah, you know, the more. The older I get, I think I've always appreciate. I think the more I appreciate the prodigal son and the merciful Father. Because when you start to pray through the Luke 15 passage, you see that there's also other. There's two parables before that and there are three parables in a row. The prodigal son is the third one in a row of something being lost and something being found. The coin that's lost and then found, the sheep that's lost and found, and then the son who's lost and found. And I just. I think through my life I've noticed that I'm always trying to be like the father. Now that I have kids, I appreciate that more, but it makes me Appreciate my father and my parents even more. But I think that I realize that sometimes I'm like the prodigal son, and sometimes I'm like the older son who doesn't want to let the younger son in, doesn't want to celebrate when someone's brought back. But that's what you want to do. You want to celebrate when the sheep that has been lost has been found. You want to celebrate when the coin that was lost has been found. We should want to celebrate when someone who's lost has been found. And so to go through, at different stages of my life, praying through it, like, realizing which person.

Taylor Kemp (20:28)

Yeah.

Dr. Ben Akers (20:28)

I identify with. But we're all called to be that. That the Father.

Taylor Kemp (20:32)

Yep. There's so many layers to the prodigal son story, too, because I remember this wasn't that long ago. It was maybe a year ago. But I heard someone say, like, you can read that story, in a sense, that Jesus is the prodigal son. He leaves heaven because Paul talks about. He, like, leaves behind his defeat, like, in a sense, his divinity, his place in heaven to enter and become poor, like us, up to the point of the cross. And that Jesus left everything in order to. He shed everything that he had up to the point of his life, and he was. He's God. And then he comes back with all of us with him. So it's a little bit of a different reading, but there's just so many layers of that story that hit it in different ways at different times. It's a beautiful story.

Dr. Ben Akers (21:15)

Yeah. He leaves. He doesn't spend his money on ill things, but we have. And he identifies with us and then brings us back to the Father.

Taylor Kemp (21:22)

Yeah, there's some qualifiers there, but. Wonderful. Any. Any parting comments?

Dr. Ben Akers (21:26)

No. What's your favorite story in Luke?

Taylor Kemp (21:28)

It's probably the Prodigal Son. It's just such a great story. And I've. And I found, you know, when I remember as a convert, the. When I was really first getting into Scripture, people were like, this is a really great story. You should read it. And I just remember reading it, then loving it in its own way. And then, you know, a couple of years later, you spend more time in prayer with it, and you're like, is it a totally different way? You see it, totally different reflection. And then it's. It just keeps. I mean, all of Scripture does that. It always speaks in different ways, but that story always has resonated in different ways. So I would probably say that one.

Dr. Ben Akers (22:02)

Yeah. Yeah. Let us know in the comments what your favorite section is. I know a lot of people love the road to Emmaus In Luke chapter 24, in Acts chapter 8, the Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. So he really does have some incredible stories.

Taylor Kemp (22:13)

Yeah, that's true. So thank you all for joining us on Catholic Saints. We will see you next time.

Podcast Host/Producer (22:19)

Thank you for being a dedicated listener to the Catholic Saints podcast. Your support truly uplifts us. For those seeking additional thought provoking content, go to formed.org It's a platform brimming with resources, including insightful videos that align seamlessly with our podcast themes. If you're finding value in our podcast, please consider taking a moment to leave us a review. Your feedback serves as a cornerstone for our growth and outreach.

Dr. Ben Akers (22:51)

Reach.