The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, a native of Antioch in Syria, an apostle of the 70, a companion of the Holy Apostle Paul (Phil.1:24; 2 Timothy 4:10), a physician from an enlightened Greek environment. After hearing about Christ, Luke arrived in Palestine and fervently received the saving teaching from the Lord Himself. Among the 70 disciples, Saint Luke was sent by the Lord to the first sermon on the Kingdom of Heaven during the Savior's lifetime on earth (Luke 10:1-3). After the Resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Saints Luke and Cleopas on their way to Emmaus.
The Apostle Luke took part in the second missionary journey of the Apostle Paul, and since then they have been inseparable. When all his co-workers left Saint Paul, the Apostle Luke continued to share with him all the difficulties of his evangelistic work (2 Timothy 4:10). After the martyrdom of the first apostles, St. Luke left Rome and preached in Achaia, Libya, Egypt and the Thebaid. In the city of Thebes, he ended his earthly life as a martyr.
Tradition assigns to him the painting of the first icons of the Mother of God. "May the grace of Him who was born of Me and My mercy be with these icons," said the Most Pure Virgin when she saw the icons. Saint Luke also painted icons of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The Gospel was written by him in 62-63 in Rome, under the guidance of the Apostle Paul. St. Luke in the first verses (Luke 1:3) clearly expressed the purpose of his work: he described everything that Christians know about Jesus Christ and His teachings in the most complete and chronological order, and thereby gave a firm historical foundation for Christian hope (Luke 1:4). He carefully researched the facts, made extensive use of the oral tradition of the Church and the stories of the Most Pure Virgin Mary (Luke 2:19,51).
In its theological content, the Gospel according to Luke is distinguished primarily by its teaching about the universality of salvation accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ, and about the universal significance of evangelical preaching. The Holy Apostle also wrote the Book of Acts of the Holy Apostles in 62-63 in Rome. The Book of Acts, being a continuation of the Fourth Gospel, tells about the labors and exploits of the holy apostles after the Ascension of the Savior. In the center of the narrative is the Apostolic Council (51 years after the Birth of Christ) as a fundamental ecclesiastical event that served as the dogmatic basis for the separation of Christianity from Judaism and its independent spread in the world (Acts.15:6-29). The theological subject of the Book of Acts is primarily the Stewardship of the Holy Spirit, carried out in the Church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ from Ascension and Pentecost to the Second Coming of Christ.