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Act_16:11
This territory comprised at a later period “the seven churches that are in Asia.” It was at first the intention of Paul and Silas to turn their steps south-westwards into this region, and preach the Gospel in its many rich and populous cities. But they learned, perhaps by direct revelation, that it was not the mind of the Spirit that they should as yet labor in this field, probably because other fields were more ripe for the harvest. They therefore turned their faces northward, to go into Bithynia. But here also “the Spirit suffered them not.” By this time it must have been guessed, if not distinctly intimated, that Europe was to be their destination; and they therefore proceeded westward through Mysia, and reaching the coast at Troas, awaited there for more distinct intimations of the divine will. In Troas was preserved the name of old Troy, the site of which lay about fifteen miles to the north and now, in their march for spiritual conquests, the apostolic party were upon the theater of a strife which the genius of poetry has made the source of a far-spread and long-enduring education in images of blood, and pride, and passion—very different from those doctrine’s of peace, and love, and self-negation, which, from this same point, Paul and Silas stand ready to bear away to the nations of the west.
Troas, or more fully Alexandria Troas, was intended as a sort of memorial of ancient Troy, and received its name and origin from the successors of Alexander. It was favored by the Romans, who liked to trace their origin to the Trojans: but it had not at this time acquired that importance which it at length attained; and it is probable that few of the ruins which, now embowered in a thick wood of oaks, attest that importance, belong to buildings that had any existence when Paul was there. Still it was a considerable and prosperous place, and had a good harbor, the resort of vessels arriving from or departing for the coasts of Thrace and Macedonia. That Paul went to this place may therefore indicate that he expected that he should have to take up a passage here, though he knew not yet precisely for what quarter. This reminds one of the case of Abraham, who went forth not knowing, till after he had set forth, whither he was to go. But the apostle was not long left in any doubt of his destination. In visions of the night he beheld a man whom, from his garb, and perhaps from his dialect, he knew to be a Macedonian, draw near to him, and standing before him in an attitude of entreaty implore him to come to the aid of his countrymen, in words simple and few, but deeply emphatic in their earnestness—“Come over into Macedonia and help us.” Paul knew how to interpret this summons, and we may be sure it was most promptly obeyed. We cannot doubt that the next morning saw the friends down at the harbor among the shipping, inquiring for the vessel that was soonest to sail for Europe. But before their departure an addition was made to their number in the person of the author of the apostolic history, Luke, “the beloved physician,” who at this point indicates his presence with the party, not only by quietly exchanging the third person for the first in his narrative, but by a transition from the historical to the autoptical style of narration, as shown in the much fuller statement of details.
Luke had probably known Paul before at Antioch, of which place he is supposed to have been a native, and where he seems to have been early converted, perhaps by Paul himself. Whether he had come over direct from Gentilism, or had intermediately passed through Judaism as a proselyte, does not appear; but it is clear that he was not a born Jew, as Paul himself distinguishes him in Col_4:14, from disciples of Jewish descent. His name indeed indicates not only his Gentile descent, but that he was either a slave or a freedman. That name Lucas is a contraction of Lucanus; and in this contracted form it frequently occurs as a name given to slaves. The quality of Luke as a physician strengthens the impression derived from his name, respecting his condition as a freedman. The higher ranks of Romans were averse to the practice of medicine, which they left rather to their freedmen. Many of these were highly educated, and only such as showed the requisite talent were trained to the liberal arts. In Luke, then, we behold an educated and well-informed Greek, versed in the medical sciences. That he was also a painter there is no evidence to show, and the tradition is disregarded by modern writers, although there are extant three or four pictures ascribed to his pencil. All that we can with any confidence adduce concerning him, therefore, is, that although a Syro-Greek: by birth, he had been a slave at Rome, where he acquired and practised for the benefit of his owner the art of medicine; and after his services had been rewarded with freedom, he returned to his native city, and continued there the practice of his profession.
Whether he joined Paul, Silas, and Timothy, at Troas, by pre-arrangement, or by a providential meeting, or with reference to Paul’s delicate health, cannot be said. But it cannot be doubted that the friends received him as a valuable associate in addition to their party. Luke’s medical skill might be very useful to gain an opening for publishing the Gospel among the Gentiles, as we now find it in modern missions to the heathen. Even the gift of healing would not, as Neander observes, render this useless; since that gift was applicable only in particular cases, where its possessors were prompted to employ it by an immediate divine impulse or feeling excited in their minds.
We shall be able to trace Luke as the companion of Paul through most of the remaining history, and with Paul that history leaves him at Rome. What became of him after the apostle’s death is not known, and the traditional accounts are not only of little intrinsic value, but differ in every point—as to the scene of his labors, and as to the place, the time, and the manner of his death. It is, however, generally understood that he was of mature age when he became acquainted with Paul, and that he survived him some years, dying at the age of eighty or eighty-four.