An analysis of the text indicates that Luke was a skilled writer whose native tongue was Greek. He apperas not to have been Jewish, but a Gentile.
Luke, who wrote his Gospel about 80 A.D., was not an eyewitness of Jesus' minsitry, but carefully drew upon the Gospel of Mark and other sources - some of which the other three evangelists do not seem to have had.
Because his writings have discrepancies about the geography and other details relating to Palestine, he is thought to have lived elsewhere, perhaps at Antioch in Syria - about 200 miles north of Palestine.
In the Letter to the Colossians, there is mention of "Luke, the beloved physician," which naturally gave rise to the belief that this is the same Luke who wrote the Gospel. Some have felt that trces of medical terminology in his Gospel confirm this, but others say that any edcated person would have known the terms that he used, so it remains uncertain.
Another tradition identifies him as an artist, but this is of much later origin and is thought to be more legend than fact
Luke's is the longest Gospel - about 23,000 words, divided into 24 chapters. His first two chapters make up his infancy narrative - about 2,600 words.
- Little Blue Book, Diocese of Saginaw