Today is the feast day of St. Luke and thus a fitting day to
recognize some of the remarkable contributions of Luke’s Gospel to our understanding of Jesus and his message.
First, as is well known, the Gospel of Luke has a clear
emphasis on the good news being for the poor, the sick, and those on the
margins of society: the gospel is “good news” for all people, not just those
who outwardly appear to be favored by God. (See Luke 4:16-21)
Second, Luke alone includes some of the best known parables
of Jesus. Without Luke we would not know of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)
or the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). The parable of the Good Samaritan is
itself a powerful illustration of mercy and compassion for those in need, and a
reminder that all people are our neighbors. It thus ties in directly with the
first point above about Luke’s emphasis on the good news being for all people.
Third, Luke preserves some very early songs from the first
century. These are particularly to be found in the birth narrative. In the first two chapters of the Gospel
of Luke, four different characters respond to news of God’s salvation with
joyful song that sounds very much like the psalmody of the Jewish Scriptures
and the words of the prophets. Like characters in biblical narratives and other
Jewish texts, they respond to good news with a psalm of praise. These four
psalms are commonly referred to by their Latin names. Mary’s song is the
Magnificat (1:46–55), Zechariah’s is the Benedictus (1:68–79), the angels’ song
of praise is the Gloria in excelsis (2:14), and Simeon’s is the Nunc Dimittis
(2:29–32). By quoting these four songs or parts of songs, Luke has preserved
for us a rich treasure and gives us a glimpse into some of the earliest ways in
which the advent of Jesus was celebrated through song and poetry in the early
church.
For our vision of Jesus and the events and significance of his
life, we owe much to Luke and his careful historical and literary work. We also
can be thankful today that he had an ear for songs and hymns, and that he chose to
include them in his Gospel for the benefit of all of his readers.
For more on Luke, see this reflection from the FaithND website.
For more specifically on the hymns in Luke's Gospel, see chapter six of my latest book.
