Luke | Chapter 1

The Gospel according to Luke

“Seeking and saving that which was lost”

Full Chapter Outline:

Chp. 1:1-4:13 The advent of Jesus the instrument in Israel.

1:1-4 The purpose and method of the gospel from the author

1:5-4:13 He came from heaven to earth

  1. 1:5-56 The birth announcement
    1. 1:5-25 The forerunner, John the Baptist
    2. 1:26-56 The Messiah’s birth announcement
      1. 1:26-33 Heavenly announcement
      2. 1:34-38 Mary’s miraculous conception
      3. 1:39-56 Elizabeth’s visit
  2. 1:57-2:38 Signs at Jesus’ birth
    1. 1:57-80 John the Baptist birth and ministry
    2. 2:1-38 The Birth of Jesus
      1. 2:1-7 Jesus is born
      2. 2:8-14 The angels announce to the shepherds
      3. 2:15-20 The shepherds visit Jesus
      4. 2:21-38 Three events of Jesus’ presentation at the temple
  3. 2:39-52 The three events in the early life of the Jesus
    1. 2:39-40 Jesus returns to Nazareth
    2. 2:41-50 Jesus celebrates Passover
    3. 2:51-52 Jesus grows in Wisdom
  4. 3:1-4:13 The events prior to Jesus public ministry
    1. 3:1-20 The ministry of John the Baptist
    2. 3:21-22 The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist
    3. 3:23-38 The genealogy of Jesus through His mother Mary
    4. 4:1-13 The temptation of Jesus

Chp. 4:14-9:50 The activities of Jesus in Galilee.

  1. 4:14-30 The twofold responses to Jesus’ ministry
    1. 4:14-15 Acceptance in Galilee
    2. 4:16-30 Rejection in Nazareth
  2. 4:31-5:28 The demonstrations of Jesus ministry
    1. 4:31-37 Demons are cast out
    2. 4:38-39 Peter’s mother-in-law is healed
    3. 4:40-44 Jesus ministers throughout Galilee
    4. 5:1-11 The first disciples are called
    5. 5:12-26 The leper and the paralytic are healed
    6. 5:27-28 Matthew the tax collector is called
  3. 5:29-6:49 The explanation of Jesus ministry

1. 5:29-6:11 Jesus teaches the Pharisees

2. 5:29-32 On eating with sinners

3.  5:33-35 On fasting

4.  5:36-39 On sewing cloth and wineskins

  1. 6:1-5 On working on the Sabbath
  2. 6:6-11 On healing on the Sabbath

II.

2. 6:12-49 Jesus teaches His disciples

  1. 6:12-19 Selection of His twelve disciples
  2. 6:20-26 The Beatitudes
  3. 6:27-38 Rules of the kingdom
  4. 6:39-45 Parable of the blind leading the blind
  5. 6:46-49 Parable of two foundations

d. 7:1-9:50 The expansion of Jesus’ ministry

  1. 7:1-16 The centurion’s servant is healed, and the widow’s son is raised
  2. 7:17-35 Jesus on John the Baptist
  3. 7:36-50 Jesus has dinner at a Pharisee’s home
  4. 8:1-3 Women minister to Jesus
  5. 8:4-18 Two parables on soils and lamps
  6. 8:19-21 Jesus true followers
  7. 8:22-40 A storm is stilled, and demons are cast into pigs
  8. 8:41-56 A women is healed and Jairus’s daughter is raised
  9. 9:1-26 The twelve are sent, five thousand are fed, Peter’s confession and the cost of discipleship.
  10. 9:27-36 The transfiguration
  11. 9:37-42 Demoniac is healed
  12. 9:43-50 Jesus speaks on His coming death and true greatness in the kingdom

III. Chp. 9:51-19:27 The antagonistic rejection of Jesus in Israel.

a. 9:51-11:54 Increased opposition to Jesus

  1. 9:51-56 Samaria rejects Jesus
  2. 9:57-62 Cost of discipleship
  3. 10:1-24 The 70 disciples are sent out
  4. 10:25-37 Jesus’ two lessons for the lawyers
  5. 10:38-42 Mary and Martha are contrasted
  6. 11:1-13 Jesus teaches on prayer
  7. 11:14-36 Jesus is rejected by the religious leaders
  8. 11:37-54 The religious leaders are rejected by Jesus

b. 12:1-19:27 Jesus’ instructions in light of the worlds’ rejection

1. 12:1-12 Jesus warns about hypocrisy
2. 12:13-34 Jesus warns about covetousness
3. 12:35-48 Jesus warns about the 2nd coming
4. 12:49-53 Jesus warns about the cost of discipleship

5. 12:54-59 Jesus warns about not discerning the times

6. 13:1-9 Jesus teaches on repentance
7. 13:10-17 Jesus heals the crippled woman
8. 13:18-30 Jesus teaches on the kingdom of heaven
9. 13:31-35 Jesus mourns over Jerusalem
10. 14:1-24 Jesus teaches the Pharisees
11. 14:25-35 Jesus teaches His disciples
12. 15:1-32 Jesus teaches on repentance
13. 16:1-31 Jesus teaches on stewardship
14. 17:1-10 Jesus teaches on offenses
15. 17:11-19 Jesus cleanses 10 lepers

IV.

1.

16. 17:20-37 Jesus teaches on the 2nd coming

17. 18:1-14 Jesus teaches on prayer
18. 18:15-17 Jesus blesses the children
19. 18:18-30 Jesus teaches on sacrifice

20. 18:31-34 Jesus teaches on His death and resurrection

21. 18:35-43 Jesus heals Bartimaeus
22. 19:10-10 Jesus stays with Zacchaeus
23. 19:11-27 Jesus gives the parable of ten minas

Chp. 19:28-24:53 The authentication of Jesus in Jerusalem.

19:28-23:56 The last week of Jesus earthly life

a. 19:28-44 Sunday: The triumphal entry
b. 19:45-48 Monday: Cleansing the temple
c. 20:1-22:6 Tuesday: Public ministry

1. 20:1-8 Religious leaders question Jesus’ authority

2. 20:9-18 Parable of the vineyard owner
3. 20:19-26 Herodians question tribute money
4. 20:27-38 Sadducees question the resurrection

5. 20:39-47 Jesus questions the Scribes
6. 21:1-4 Jesus teaches on the widows’ mites
7. 21:5-22:6 Seven events of the Olivet Discourse

d. 22:7-53 Thursday: Passover, and arrest
1. 22:7-13 The upper room is prepared
2. 22:14-18 Passover is celebrated
3. 22:19-23 The Lord’s supper is instituted, and Jesus predicts His betrayer

4. 22:24-30 The disciples argue over who is the greatest

5. 22:31-34 Jesus predicts Peter’s denial
6. 22:35-38 Jesus predicts coming conflict
7. 22:39-46 Jesus prays in the garden of Gethsemane

8. 22:47-53 Judas betrays Jesus

e. 22:54-23:55 Friday: Trials and crucifixion

1. 22:54-62 Peter denies Jesus
2. 22:63-65 Jesus is beaten
3. 22:66-71 Sanhedrin tries Jesus

4. 23:1-7 Pilate tries Jesus
5. 23:8-12 Herod tries Jesus
6. 23:13-25 Pilate retries Jesus

7. 23:26-49 Jesus is crucified

8. 23:50-55 Jesus is buried

f. 23:56 Saturday: In the grave

24:1-53 The authentication of Jesus ministry
a. 24:1-12 The resurrection
b. 24:13-32 Jesus appears on the road to Emmaus

c. 24:33-53 Jesus appears to the eleven disciples

1. 24:33-43 The proof of Jesus’ resurrection

2. 24:44-48 The great commission
3. 24:49-53 The ascension

The Gospel according to Luke

1:1-4
The Word (part 1)

  • Introduction
  • Vs. 1-2 Why do we have four gospels?
  • Vs. 3a A little bit about the author
  • Vs. 3b-4 The subject, sources of information, method, and purpose of writing

Introduction

As we take up this new study in one of the gospels I think it a worthy question to ask and answer, “Why should we gather together and study this book?” The reason for the question really addresses the broader question that has to the certainty of our Christian faith. There are developments that indicate that a person has had a true encounter with Jesus in their discovery of truth. These four facts in most cases starts in our daily life then moves towards a greater certainty of our faith concerning the Person of Jesus.

  • Unique life: There are unmistakable evidence of our faith that we experience in our daily transformed life such as: A peace in our spirit, a consciousness of a relationship to the presence of our creator, and hope and fearlessness about our future that causes us to be joyfully excited about our departure instead of fearful. This is even more compelling when we examine this on a broader level: Those daily experiences of a New “Unique life” are visible in a “Universal life”. That is to say; that irrespective of background, time periods education and personal experiences: Those daily experiences have occurred to all who have encountered Jesus and therefore personally testify of the same unique life. This is magnified when we analyze that people in different cultures and churches that don’t all agree on every detail of doctrine still testify of those same unique daily life experiences.
  • Unique Organization: Secondly, the gathering of those who have experienced a “Unique Life” also enjoy a “Unique family” as at its core it is not an organization but rather an organism. As an organism it can be traced back to the “living” connection that a handful of men had with their Master that united them together in a way that even the gates of hell could not separate. And as we shall note these men had been a part of religion but in Jesus their connection was “Living” and because of this could and would withstand the storms of time and will continue to do so no matter how much satan and the world tries to destroy and divide it.
  • Unique book: Third, we have a “Unique Message”! We have 66 books by over 40 different writers over a 4000-year period of time with a complete consistency as indeed it was written by One author. Its message is unique: That salvation is from sin and that we can enjoy this for free, fully, and permanently! Its power is unique: it is from God the Spirit; it’s life is unique as it isn’t just about the destination but equally about the journey. Its thought is superior: it alone critiques all other thoughts, influences and other opinions. Its preservation is unique: This book (The Bible) has survived the unending criticism of men in sciences, education, geography, history. Those who have held the truths of this book have died believing the truths and time again were proven right for them and those that continue trust in God’s Word!

• Unique Person: Lastly, the greatest certainty of our faith is in the Person Jesus Himself as we have the Uniqueness of His life: That Jesus’ earthly life was sinless and was testified as such by friend, family, and foe. Those that that observed His earthly life witnessed the perfect balance of a person who was the ideal Man, as well as the only Son of God. Those that witnessed His Work and His words testified that there was no difference between His walk, work, or words. Furthermore, none of those three things (His walk work and words) has ended even though His earthly life did at His death! Instead, those three things were magnified by His death as witnessed in His resurrection. There is no other figure in all human history be that religious or secular that can ever be compared to the PERSON OF CHRIST. There is no other Name given among men than the name of Jesus and at that Name every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He alone is Lord and savior.

II. Vs. 1-2 Why do we have four gospels?

Vs. 1-2 In the preface of this gospel (the first four verses) we discover some very interesting facts about the gospel itself. First, the aim of every preface is to introduce the reader to the book they are about to read. But the fact is that a “Preface” is never written at the beginning of the book even though it is placed at the beginning of the book. Instead, it is written at the end of the book then place in the front. Luke’s preface to this gospel is the same as we note the tenses in the first four verse.

  • Luke says in verse 3 that, “it seemed good to me also….to write to you.” The words “to write to you” are past tense which suggests that he had already written this gospel before he had written the preface.
  • The second thing I note about this preface is in verse 1 as it alludes to other gospels. Luke says that, “In as much as MANY HAVE TAKEN IN HAND TO SET IN ORDER A NARRATIVE”! Which means that Matthew and Mark were already written by the time that Luke takes up pen and parchment. That fact brings up some natural questions: “Why did God see fit to give us four very different accounts?” And a follow-up question, “What does reading the gospel according to Luke provide the reader that they couldn’t achieve by reading a different account.” Before we start digging into this account we will briefly address four reasons these four gospel records benefit the reader.
  1. By giving us four different records by four different men we have a stronger foundation for our faith especially as it relates to Jesus’, birth, life, death, and resurrection. In Matt. 18:16 we are told that “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established”. Here in the four gospels God has given witness by the Holy Spirit not by two or three witness but instead by four.
  2. Another reason why God has given us four gospels is that it is impossible to present Jesus as Lord apart from four different aspects.
    A. Matthew was chosen to present Jesus as the promised Messiah, the King of Israel.

B. Mark presents Jesus as God’s perfect, faithful Servant both towards the Father and towards humanity.

          C. John presents Jesus as the Manifestation of Deity, the Eternal Son of the Father, who became Man to bring salvation to man and end the curse from the fall of Adam. We read of that in the very first chapter where John declares Jesus as the Word made flesh that dwelt among us and that the disciples beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

         D. Luke presents Jesus as the Son of Man in all His perfection as that is one of Luke’s favorite expressions concerning Jesus in this account. This is clearly seen in Luke’s presentation of Jesus’ prayer life where He is connected to humanity and never makes a move apart from first seeking the Father.

  1. Another aspect of four gospels appears to be a fulfillment of prophecy as Ezekiel saw four faces of one of the cherubim: The Lion which is the majesty of Matthew. The ox which is patience in service of Mark’s account. The eagle which is John’s view of Jesus from the heavenly flight of the eagles’ eyes. And lastly Luke’s view which reveals Jesus in His earthly perfection as the Perfect Man who alone would be the sacrifice or redemption sinful humanity.
  2. Yet another reason for the four different accounts of Jesus may have to do with the four different offerings found in Leviticus chapters 1-5. A careful reading of these chapters with the four different gospels reveals a very interesting parallel that Jesus needs to fulfill all four of these sin offerings:
  1. Matthew presents Jesus as fulfilling the trespass offering as man has trespassed against God’s holiness. The trespass offering sets forth the death of Christ because of the sins actually committed against God and man.
  2. Mark presents Jesus as fulfilling the sin offering as man’s sin had separated him from a relationship with the Living God. The sin offering speaks of Christ dying for what we are, (sinners), not only for what we have done, (sin).
  3. John presents Jesus as the burnt offering totally consumed on the altar as a tribute to God for man’s sin. The burnt offering speaks of Christ dying to glorify God.
  4. Luke presents Jesus as the great peace offering as Jesus has made peace between God and man by the shedding of His blood on the cross. The peace offering speaks of peace made by the shed blood of the Lamb of God.

It is my view that no one view in the gospel records will ever be enough to completely view Jesus. Understanding our Lord and Savior can never be a secondhand activity, a carried over story or a repeated tale. It is these that aid in our personal experience and discovery. God’s revelation of His only Son does not come to the person who sits with their hands folded with a lazy mind who only waits. Instead, it comes to the person who’s mind is actively engaged in what they think, seek, and search out in each of these gospel records. God’s revealed inspiration comes when the mind of a person meets the revealing Spirit of God.

I conclude by noting the differences in the Gospel of Luke when compared to the other gospel accounts before we take up the remainder of these four verses where we will examine two things:

1. Vs. 3a A little bit about the author

2. Vs. 3b-4 The subject, sources of information, method, and purpose of writing Luke’s account is the only of the four gospels that gives us the wonderful account of the “virgin birth” of Jesus, though it is corroborated in Matthew’s account. The reality of this perspective is evident from the fact that Luke said that he had exact knowledge of everything he wrote and had probably interviewed Mary the mother of Jesus personally, where he would have learned of the miracle of the incarnation from her own lips. Furthermore, it is also the only gospel record that brings out truths from a medical perspective, which makes since seen that elsewhere in the bible Luke is called a physician. Luke’s gospel alone tells us of the visit of the angel Gabriel to Zacharias and Mary. He is the only one that records the song of Mary, as well as the prophecy of Zacharias. He is the only one that records the birth of Jesus in a stable, as well as the angel’s announcement to the shepherds. He alone records for us the presentation of the child Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem and the welcoming given Jesus by Anna and Simeon. Luke alone gives us the first meeting in Nazareth in the 4th chapter along with the great gathering of fishes. Also, Luke mentions the meeting with the women in the house of Simon the Pharisee found in the 7th chapter. In the 10th chapter Luke records the beautiful story of Mary at Jesus’ feet as well as the mission of the 70 disciples. Much of the material found in chapters 11-18 are exclusive to Luke’s account, like the story of Zacchaeus. Luke alone mentions the coming of an angel to Jesus to strengthen Him in the garden of Gethsemane. If not for Luke’s account, we would not have known of the repentant thief on the cross next to Jesus. Neither would we have known of the risen Jesus visit with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Then looking at the parables in the Bible, Luke alone records for us the story of the Good Samaritan, the rich fool, the barren fig tree, the great super, the lost coin, the prodigal son, the unjust steward, the story of Lazarus and rich man, the unjust judge and widow, the Pharisee and the publican, and the parable of the pounds.

I think that this brief start in Luke will whet your appetite for more as will take up the rest of the first 4 verses next week.

The Gospel according to Luke

1:1-4
The Word (part 2)

Introduction
Vs. 3a A little bit about the author
Vs. 3b-4 The subject, sources of information, method, and purpose of writing

Introduction

We now continue our examination of Luke’s preface to his gospel in the first four verses of chapter 1. Luke’s introduction is unique compared to the other gospels as it is the only gospel in which the instrument (Luke) that the Holy Spirit utilized steps out of the pages and on to the stage when he the use of the pronouns “us and me”. This places the instrument, Luke, into the very pages he was used in writing. The Greek scholar would have been impressed with the writing style of Luke. The style of writing Luke uses is the same as all the great Greek historians used.

It appears as if Luke knew the style of his fellow Greek historians and decided that if their style was good enough for Greek history then he could do no less for the greatest story ever told. Furthermore it is interesting that as noted last week Luke mentions that there were other  narratives that had been written of Jesus prior to his gospel and yet he still chooses to write another gospel. What this suggests to the reader isn’t that the previous narratives were in any way inadequate but instead, it suggests that Luke didn’t want to just rely on another copy of one of those; instead he wanted to offer to Theophilus his own investigation and study not just a copied manuscript.

Luke wanted and invited a new and fresh rediscovery of Jesus for himself and that is what he delivered in this gospel to Theophilus. Now we will finish the preface as we take a look at Luke as he affirms the production of this gospel when he indicates that he engaged in the most careful historical research and investigation.

II. Vs. 3a A little bit about the author
In all credible investigations of this gospel all agree in the instruments authorship as being that of Luke, so it’s not something that I will spend any time on and instead will focus my attention upon just who is this man known as Luke was. As far as direct biblical references on his name it only appears three times:

  1. Col. 4:14 “Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you”.
  2. 2 Timothy 4:1 “Only Luke is with me.”
  3. Philemon 24 “As do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.”

Beyond those brief references we can piece together; along with this gospel account, that when you compare Acts:1:1 where he writes “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach..” It becomes clear that Luke was also the instrument used in writing the sequel to this gospel, the book of Acts. It is also easy to see that Luke traveled with Paul while he traveled through the pages of the book of Acts as we can see that Luke again writes himself into the pages when he uses the first-person pronoun “WE” in chapters 16:10-17, 20:4-15, 21:1-18, and 27:1 – 28:16. As brief as those references are they are non-the-less informative. His name is suggestive as it is an abbreviated Greek name that would be used as a pet name.

When reading Paul’s closing in Colossians he mentions greetings to those fellow Jews that he calls “are of the circumcision” and then he mentions greetings to those that were NOT of Jewish ancestry and Luke is mentioned among those. That would make Luke a gentile and not a Hellenistic or Greek speaking cultured Jew. He mentions himself in both of his books as a friend of Theophilus whose name appears to also be a nickname as it means “Lover of God”. Luke’s method of addressing Theophilus as “most excellent” or “Your Excellency” and this is very revealing for both the writer; Luke, as well as the recipient Theophilus. Those terms in ancient Greek history were reserved for a freed man addressing his former owner. This makes it quite possible that Luke was a freed man, who had at one time been a slave and perhaps Theophilus had been his master.

If that is the case then it appears that Theophilus had freed Luke and the two had remained very close friends and followers of Christ. It is clear that Luke wrote this two-volume narrative to a person whom he regarded as his friend and benefactor. There is evidence that Luke was an educated Greek, he wrote in a manner that only educated Greeks would write. There are church history accounts that mentions Luke’s education as being educated in the schools of Tarsus where he was a fellow student alongside Saul (Paul) as well as Apollos though one can’t know for certain.

From the Col. 4:14 we note that according to Paul that Luke was a physician, and this is easily verified by Luke’s many references medical terms. Another interesting indicator is found in Acts chapter 27 as Luke places himself on the shipwreck voyage and while referring to the even uses both nautical terms as well as medical terms and that causes some to think that it was possible that he may have been a ship’s doctor at one point. The point of all this speculation and examination is to show the uniqueness of the instrument that the Holy Spirit has chosen to write this narrative.

The Divine inspiration of this book is further enhanced when we consider the human instrument that the Spirit of God chose to write with! God wrote through the personality that was selected by the Holy Spirit and perfected for that purpose. God selected a man with the gifts, education, and experience that when controlled by the Holy Spirit was fitted for the work! Luke was a man that came not from Judaism but paganism to Jesus Christ. He was trained in a Greek school and his outlook on life was Greek and that is entirely different that a Hebrew outlook. He would have had an entirely Greek philosophy on life! We know what that looked like by other Greek writers in history.

The master passion of Greek philosophy was the perfection of the personality of man. In the 300 years of Greek history and development it was the perfecting of human personality that the Greeks were after. If you compare ancient Greece with ancient China you see that China’s history stretches for 1000’s of years while Greece was only lasting for 300 years but in those 300 years Greece had amazing philosophers and educators where you don’t see that in China. China focused upon the worship of their ancestors and solidarity of their people.

Greece wasn’t concerned with this and instead focused upon the perfecting of the individual and this is visible in their arts seen in the multiple marble statues depicting the individual ideal, as well as the writings of all their philosophers and educators. Luke was a man, who in spite of all of his Greek education, philosophy and experience found in Jesus the One Person who was Perfect Man, Jesus was Perfection of Personality. Jesus fulfilled all that the Greek philosophers had imagined and beyond as Jesus broke the ideal by His greatness. As such Luke’s account draws from his Greek background as he examines our Lord from that standpoint. Jesus alone fulfilled the ideal of complete and absolute perfection.

Luke discovered in Jesus the One person, who was by His very nature that which all the other Greek gods could never be seen as achieving as they were always shown with human frailties. Oh, they many had superhuman speed, or strength but their personalities were always enveloped in sin and the Greek philosophers always showed them that way. Matthew could have never shown Jesus this way, nor could Mark or John. Each of these gospel writers had the same basic material and the same subject but as different men chosen by the Holy Spirit saw different views of the same truth and person. Luke, saw in Jesus the One person that not only was the ideal perfect Human but also destroy the myths and all that was false in the Greek ideal.

So with Luke the Holy Spirit found the person who was a scientist and had him engage in a scientific examination for truth, and he set out with that method in examining the personality of Jesus. But Luke was also a historical philosopher. The early church fathers spoke of Luke as an artist and poet who wrote early church hymns. So in Luke you have a man chosen by the Holy Spirit who examined the personality of Jesus like a scientist, and once discovered the truth with regards to Jesus was emotionally propelled to worship Him as an artist would.

Luke was well traveled, a personal friend of the apostle Paul and was certainly influenced by that relationship. As you put this all together, Luke was the perfect choice to write this gospel as he found in Jesus the Perfect Personality which is what his Greek ancestry had longed for and in Jesus Luke found more than what the Greeks longed for but what all of humanity needed the head of humanity!

Vs. 3b-4 The subject, sources of information, method, and purpose of writing

Vs. 3b-4 Lastly in this preface in the gospel according to Luke, the instrument gives us four things:

  1. Vs. 2 He names the subject: Luke writes in that the subject that he was interested in and it was the same as the other gospel recorders were interested in as Luke writes in verse 2 “just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us.” So then the subject of Luke’s investigation was the WORD but what is interesting is that in many translations the subject matter is relegated to the Bible as being the word. It is only when you examine this “word” that you realize that it is the same title that the Apostle John had used as a title for Jesus, “LOGOS”, and you see that the translators in many cases should have capitalized the “W” in word as the subject for Luke was NOT the bible but rather the subject of the bible Jesus! Luke’s examination will lead him to realize the “humanity of deity” “God manifest in the flesh of humanity”. It is interesting that as Luke tells the story of Jesus, he calls Him the Perfect Man but when he finished his investigation and wrote this preface Luke no longer write of Jesus as Perfect Man, he only calls Him what the Apostle John called Him “THE WORD”.

Vs. 1-2 He gives us the sources of information: Luke records for us two sets of sources of information in these verses: In verse 1 he describes them as “Many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of things that have been fulfilled among us.” Clearly this reference would include the gospel records of Matthew and Mark, but I also believe that verse 2 also gives us a reason to believe that Luke also included many other stories and interviews from those that he describes as “eyewitnesses and ministers… that delivered them to us.” It seems that Luke collected the stories and investigated them, and he was looking for two primary sources; those that had first-hand information and those that had been in direct contact with Jesus serving with Him in ministry. The word Luke uses for “eyewitnesses” is a medical term and is very interesting as it is the Greek word we get our English word “autopsy” from. Luke wanted information from those who had personally had a first-hand investigation, those who had seen for themselves Jesus. And the word Luke uses for “ministers” is also a medical term as well as a nautical term as it means an “under rower” and it describes a person of the 2nd deck of a slave ship who rowed from under the top rowers. But it also describes a person who was in attendance during a personal medical examination. What this suggests to me is that this gospel was no short story, it was not written in a few months but most likely took many years to complete. Luke first had to gather the information from those that a first-hand experience with Jesus those who were in attendance when Jesus was present. Luke talked to those who had all those stories, people Like Jesus’ Mother who was there and heard the angel Gabriel and had information that no one else did.

Vs. 3 He describes the methods of his examination: First, Luke says in verse 3 in the phrase “it seemed good to me also” that he traced those in verse two that “who from the beginning were eyewitness and ministers of the Word (Jesus)”. By this Luke means that he obtained all the material and then traced the course of all the things recorded accurately. What this describes is the work of true scientific investigation of the whole of the stories that Luke had gathered about Jesus. The word used for “beginning” is a word that means “from above” and I believe that Luke is referring to the fact that this scientific investigation was inspired by the Holy Spirit, under the guidance of God Himself. God empowered the thoroughness of the work and that it wasn’t dependent upon human power to do the work. What Luke prepared was done properly but not apart from the guidance and power form heaven. Luke also uses the word in verse 3 saying the product of the gospel ended up an “orderly account” and that word in the Greek is a word that is an artistic word as it describes a work of art. This is how Luke describes the methods of the examination.

4. Vs. 4 He reveals the purpose of his writing: Luke finally describes the purpose of this writing of the gospel as “that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.” Luke says that this is far more than an intellectual conviction, instead that his purpose was to provide safety and security in Theophilus faith. Notice the word “instructed” as it tells us that Luke’s gospel was to strengthen the previous method by which Theophilus had come to faith which is a word where we get our English word for catechism which is instruction by word of mouth. Theophilus had come to faith by word of mouth and Luke wrote that he might have more than word of mouth for his faith. Luke wanted Theophilus to have certainty and security to place with what he had believed by word of mouth. The Bible fixes our faith upon truth and grants us security and causes us to become immoveable in our faith.

So we conclude our examination the preface to Luke’s gospel and next week will start up verse 1:5-25 The forerunner, John the Baptist.