Daily text, Thursday, September 28. 2017

[Queen Esther]

Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings.—Col. 4:14.

It is reasonable to believe that Luke gave Paul medical advice and rendered medical services to him and to others in his missionary group. Why would Luke need to do that? Because even Paul got sick while traveling. (Gal. 4:13) Luke could provide medical help that was in line with what Jesus had said: “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but those who are ill do.” (Luke 5:31) The Bible does not indicate where or when Luke received his medical training. It has been suggested that Paul mentioned to Christians in Colossae the role of Luke as a physician because they knew him. Interestingly, there was a medical school in nearby Laodicea. In any event, Luke was not some untrained layman spouting health recommendations; he was a physician. That is evident both from the specific medical language that Luke used in his Gospel and in the book of Acts and from the way he focused on Jesus’ healings of others. w15 12/15 4:11, 12

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/dt/r1/lp-e/2017/9/28