Vigils Reading – St Luke

ST LUKE THE EVANGELIST

By Servant of God Marie-Joseph Lagrange

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A custom had grown up among the Greeks of dedicating literary works to

some distinguished personage, a custom followed by Jewish writers. Luke

addresses his little book to Theophilus, a certain Christian distinguished by the

title of ‘Excellent,” but otherwise unknown to us. A few years later Josephus, as

a Jew writing on things Jewish for Roman readers, thought it advisable to insist

at some length on his impartiality. But Luke, following the example of Polybius,

thought that his impartiality might be taken for granted, and considered it

enough to point out that his aim was to show for his noble friend’s benefit the

solid truth of what he had been taught. He thus confesses that his purpose is (to

use the current term) apologetic…

Now only too often apologists have a bad name. They are accused of being

like certain lawyers, not over-nice in their choice of an argument so long as it

gets home: of being ready, for instance, to use even bad arguments on people of

little discernment likely to be convinced by them. But Luke aspires to be an

historian worthy of the name and to convince people who are well able to judge.

And, moreover, the very nobility of the cause which it is a writer’s ambition to

serve puts upon him the obligation of making use only of such facts as are

beyond dispute. This means that he must have recourse to none but

unimpeachable witnesses. And this, indeed, is what Luke professes to do.

Ever since he was first associated with the preaching of the gospel, he had

made it his business to get at the facts. This was all the more easy for him,

inasmuch as he was, owing to his apostolic work, in constant touch with the very

people who had been eyewitnesses from the beginning – with the Apostles, that

is, and the first disciples.

Now these Apostles and disciples preached first of all among the Jews

who had just condemned Jesus on false testimony; their own witness, they

claimed, was true. Could they, then, have put forward anything untrue without

being at once contradicted by fiercely hostile opponents? People sitting round

the fireside at night are content to listen even to the most fanciful of stories if

only they are interesting… But the disciples of Jesus were hardy enough to carry

on a work which the leaders of the nation had condemned as subversive of the

religion of their fathers. There was one temptation to which the disciples might

have seemed in danger of succumbing, from a desire to make their message

more acceptable: the temptation, namely, to modify certain features, to portray

Jesus as submissive to the Law, deferential to the rabbis, respectful towards the

priests.

But, far from yielding to it, they gave a faithful account of the very words

and deeds for which He had been condemned, and thereby showed themselves

absolutely trustworthy. It was precisely this fidelity to the facts which caused

their testimony to be instantly punished with imprisonment. Luke had been

present more than once when this same testimony had been received with

furious outbursts of hatred, though the facts no one had dared to deny. So he

was sure of the truth of the story he was about to tell once more. For he was not

the first to tell it: those facts, which had proved for so many the source of a new

life, had been related by many before him. He mentions no names, however.

Tradition gives those of St Matthew and St Mark; scholars conjecture others.