Luke, the beloved physician, returns to Israel to write a massive biography of Jesus. He hires a Jewish assistant, Augustus, from a family that had embraced Roman ways, to help him as a researcher, secretary, and scribe. Luke's work is opposed by both the Roman government and the Jewish authorities. He runs afoul of an ambitious Roman, who does his best to restrict Luke from completing the work.
Augustus is conscientious, but somewhat of a bumbler in his work. He becomes enamoured with a girl in the Jerusalem church. To win her affections he finds a way to obtain the release of her dad from prison—except in doing so he breaks the law and Luke is blamed for it. The work almost comes to a halt.
It continues, however, as Luke and Augustus spend much time in Judea and Galilee, finding witnesses, interviewing them, looking at time and space issues with Jesus' life. The biography is finished after three years. Luke's nemesis in the government, however, has different plans.
Long novel: 155,000 words, about 480 pages.