Luke 1:1-4
Luke's Research
1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
Acts 1:1-5
Jesus Appeared to His Disciples for Forty Days After His Death
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Luke 15:11-32
The Parable of the Lost Son
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Luke it seems was commissioned by Theophilus to study and write about Jesus...As Luke wrote about Him in the Gospel According to Luke and the Acts of the Apostle, we see that Luke sees Jesus as a very powerful figure, one who could do miracles, and was a great healer...And Luke also was a healer and a physician...Luke writes as an historian and gives us names of others and places where events happened around Jesus...People back in Luke's time, could easily have checked on his writings about Jesus...
Luke was close to Paul and we see this in the Acts of the Apostles...He writes much about Paul in the Book of Acts, and we learn much about Paul from Luke...
And we see that Luke is a little different than many who believed in Judaism, as he writes about the Prodigal Son...Jesus tells the story that the Father, being God (in the Parable), runs to the lost son, because He LOVES and misses him...The lost younger son has now found the Father, again...While the older son who was faithful and stayed with his Father, is perturbed about the younger son spending half of his Father's wealth, while he says he has received little in return...But the older son has been with the Father all his life...And being with the Father is everything...
So Luke's writings may have a Gentile twist...The faithful brother who stayed at his Father's side was not given a feast, while the younger prodigal son, who wasted his Father's resources gets the fattened calf and a feast...The young son had sinned and asked for forgiveness...
God wants all the people of the world to see that He is LOVE and LOVES each of us...God welcomes all of us, even the ones of us who have sinned...He forgives us of our sins...We learn from St. Luke that God is Full of LOVE, Forgiveness, and Grace...