An Interview with Luke

Curt: Dr. Luke, I know you were a companion of the Apostle Paul during the latter years of his life, and that, among other things, you recorded many of his healing miracles. So exactly what was your function on the missionary team? Did you have to abandon your medical practice as useless and unnecessary?

Dr. Luke: It's true that Paul, through the power of the Lord Jesus, did heal a number of people. But he did not heal every sick person he met.

Curt: Why not?

Dr. Luke: The short answer is because that was not the Lord's will.

Curt: What's the long answer?

Dr. Luke: The long answer is that the Lord Jesus, and later the apostles, had two motives for healing the sick. First, of course, was love and compassion for hurting people, whose pain and affliction could be cured.

Curt: Jesus loves everyone, but He didn't cure everyone. At the pool of Siloam, for example, He healed only one man out of a crowd of hundreds of sick folks.

Dr. Luke: Jesus said that He only did what He saw the Father doing. So apparently, it was not the Father's will for Jesus to heal everyone.

Curt: You said two motives?

Dr. Luke: The second reason for God's healing of certain people was to serve as a sign that His anointing and power were present, which ultimately brought praise to His holy name.

Curt: But surely it was the Father's will for Paul and other members of his team to enjoy good health. After all, they were on a mission to serve God, and to win souls, and to plant churches.

Dr. Luke: However, just being a dedicated believer, in the center of God's will, does not guarantee perfect health. For example, God could easily have cured Paul's failing eyesight, but even though Paul and the rest of us prayed earnestly several times for his healing, it didn't happen.

Curt: The Lord just said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."

Dr. Luke: I heard Paul say several times, "I take pleasure in infirmities for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Curt: So Paul couldn't heal himself; his thorn in the flesh was God's way of keeping him humble. But couldn't he and didn't he heal others of his party?

Dr. Luke: Sometimes yes; sometimes no. Epaphroditus became gravely ill, and he almost died on his trip to Rome, bringing Paul a gift from the church at Philippi.

Curt: That's right. And then there was Timothy's chronic stomach problems.

Dr. Luke: Yes. We prayed for his complete healing, but it was not God's will.

Curt: Your scientific background clearly shows through your books, Dr. Luke. The Gospel and the Book of Acts are very comprehensive, orderly, and accurate. But who was the man, Theophilus, to whom you addressed both volumes?

Dr. Luke: Theophilus, whose name means "Lover of God," was an old friend. He expressed interest in knowing the particulars of Jesus' life, so I interviewed people who had known Him during His life on earth.

Curt: Did you meet his mother, Mary?

Dr. Luke: Yes I did. She told me about the events surrounding her Son's birth.

Curt: The angels, and the shepherds . . .

Dr. Luke: And Elizabeth and John . . . about the whole family.

Curt: And you met the Twelve?

Dr. Luke: Not all of them. Some were martyred before I was privileged to meet them, but I talked with Peter and John, and James, the Lord's half-brother . . . and, of course, all the women who had known the Lord.

Curt: You joined Paul during his second missionary journey, didn't you? About the time he saw the vision of the Macedonian man inviting him to come over into Greece? (I noticed your story switched from saying "they" to saying "we" in chapter 16.)

Dr. Luke: Yes, my home and medical practice was in Troas. I was converted under Paul's preaching there, and traveled with him for a while during that journey into Europe, until we returned to Troas.

Curt: You rejoined Paul's party again when he came back through Troas during his third journey.

Dr. Luke: And I never left his side after that. We traveled to Jerusalem where he was arrested, then two years in prison in Caesarea. And I was with him on that voyage to Rome.

Curt: You survived the shipwreck near the island of Malta?

Dr. Luke: Then we spent two years in Rome under the "hospitality" of Nero. Paul was a prisoner, and I was his companion and attendant.

Curt: You gave him medical attention?

Dr. Luke: I did whatever I could to make his life more comfortable. Both of us were busy writing during those prison days . . . during the daylight hours, that is. He wrote epistles to the churches he founded, and I wrote my Gospel and Acts. At night, we discussed great theological issues. Paul was a remarkable interpreter of the Scriptures, you know, and he continually witnessed to everyone who would listen.

Curt: His Roman guards must have heard lots of sermons!

Dr. Luke: Most of them became Christians, and many of them asked to be assigned to the night shift, just to hear him teach.

Curt: Dr. Luke, would you like to share a final word with our readers?

Dr. Luke: I closed my second book, Acts, at the point where Paul and I were living in Rome. Lots of wonderful things happened after that, and you believers in this century are still a part of what Jesus continues to do and teach. Remember this: in the end, even I had to leave Paul. But the Lord Jesus never left him. And He'll never leave you!

Dr. Curt Scarborough is the founder and president of the Pillsbury Institute of Applied Christianity, and CEO of the FreeWay Foundation located at 3426 Bridgeland Drive in Bridgeton, MO. Dr. Scarborough has authored more than 40 books, including Personal & Practical, the 5-volume devotional commentary on all 1,189 chapters of the Old and New Testaments.  Hundreds of his essays, feature articles, devotional meditations, and short stories have been published in national monthly magazines and religious journals. For more information regarding the FreeWay Foundation and the Pillsbury Institute of Applied Christianity visit their web site at www.pillsburyinstitute.org or call (888) 737-3392.