INTRODUCTION Luke 1:1-4 Luke is the only one of the Gospel writers who begins his account of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ with a preface. He made it clear that he was not the first to write a narrative of the ministry of our Lord when He was here. He also made it plain that he was not personally acquainted with the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus as one who was there when those things happened. However, he clearly states that he received information from eyewitnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ when He was here, when He died, and after He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. He received testimony from those there when the Lord taught and lived among the people. He interviewed individuals who were dedicated servants of the Lord and spread the message of the Gospel. They had seen Him, heard His word, obeyed His commands, and were ready to live or die for the truth they had received from the Lord.
The Gospel of Luke begins with one of the key themes of “joy” and ends with “great joy.” Sharing what we have experienced as followers of Christ is important to those who come after us, especially if we have evident joy in our lives. Each believer has a unique perspective regarding their Christian life and the circumstances in which they are found. Every child of God lives a different life from others, during which our Lord tests and trains us to be suited to our calling in Christ. It is helpful to young believers to know how God dealt with us as older believers in ways different from our contemporaries.
The uniqueness of Luke’s account is that as a careful investigator, he interviewed different people, checked out the historical details, and then wrote them in an orderly fashion. There is a meaningful arrangement to his account that is, for the most part, chronological. Likely, as a doctor, he realized the importance of being thorough in his research. He would have been skilled in observation and analysis in his effort to come to a conclusion. He may have been a clear-thinking Greek who, after putting effort into gathering all the evidence he could and, at the same time, being guided by the Holy Spirit, came to the logical conclusion that would have resonated with skeptical Greeks and Gentiles in general – “The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true!”
Every Gentile believer must know that the Gospel is not only for the Jews but for every person, no matter who they are or where they are. So, he writes the account to Theophilus, who would, in turn, pass it on to others – Greeks, Romans, Jews, and all other nationalities who would pay heed to the Gospel. It must have been an effective way to pass on the truth of the Gospel because he followed the same pattern when he wrote the book of Acts and sent it to Theophilus.
Audible accounts of truth and our life experiences with God are good, but they can be easily forgotten or not passed on the way they were given. The Spirit of God gave “holy men of old” the ability to put into words the accurate accounts of our Bible's Old and New Testaments. The written words of truth and things learned can be reread and reviewed as often as necessary to ensure we understand the point. Doctor Luke clearly states the whole point of written words being put in book form. “That you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.”
The Gospel of Luke was written after the Gospel of Mark, so Luke may have heard Mark’s account read or even had access to it because his account follows Mark’s account quite closely. His account has much more material than Matthew’s and Mark’s. Nearly half of Luke’s Gospel is about the final journey of the Lord Jesus Christ to Jerusalem. Much more material in Luke’s narrative indicates he had independent sources of information as he wrote his own distinctive account of Jesus.
Just because two people give a different view of the same event doesn’t mean that one is wrong or contradictory to the other. Perspective and the purpose behind providing an account must be considered. The view of an event is kind of like viewing a house. It can look very different depending on where you are. If you are outside looking from the front, your view would differ from looking down from above or behind. The view would be even more different if you were inside looking at the same house. The living room and bedrooms would be important to describe if one wants comfort. The kitchen, family room, laundry, and garage are important if interest is in activities.
When we read and study the scriptures, we can learn different lessons. Different people respond to those things with which they can identify themselves. A Sunday School teacher will look at the same parable or illustration as a Gospel preacher but with a different perspective. A mother or father may be seeking the meaning of a passage of scripture to apply to their children of different ages, and their reading and perspective will be different from a teacher or student preparing for a public Bible study.
In His great wisdom, God has given us different accounts of our Lord’s time on earth with the intent of meeting every need. Luke did not write his account as a dispassionate observer looking at things from a distance. He was already a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ who wanted to commend the Savior in whom he had put his trust by faith to other people. He wrote about supernatural events that defy skeptical observers’ opinions. He based his account on the testimony of eyewitnesses to events rather than on human logic that is limited by human experience. Luke believed in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who was seen and heard by eyewitnesses in several locations and situations.
Many people in Luke’s day, the same as in our day, wrote accounts of Jesus and His life and ministry. Likely, some were from a biased religious or political position. One of those was a man named Josephus, who was a Jewish agnostic. Then, as now, some write to seek to discount what people of faith know to be true. Confusion results from conflicting opinions, but “in the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established.” That is a tried and proven method of passing on the truth.
Luke had firsthand material, likely from some of the twelve disciples. Women from Galilee would have been able to tell what they had seen and heard, and perhaps he had talked with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and got a first-hand account of the birth of Jesus. He is the only writer discussing Jesus’ birth as a narrative. Other writers referenced His birth, but Luke gives an account of it at the beginning of the life and ministry of Jesus. He presented himself as a serious researcher rather than a collector of vague reminiscences.
The “order” in which Luke put things was related to the subject material rather than being restricted to a chronological time chart. His point seems to have been to present Jesus’ mission as a planned program to be filled out in order from before He was born to His concluding blessing on His disciples when He was received up into heaven, having “finished the work” He had been given.
When there is “certainty” regarding a matter verified by eyewitnesses, that is a firm foundation on which to base our faith. Speculation by skeptics from far and distant places and times holds no weight when faced with reliable eyewitness accounts. The accurate history in an interesting and acceptable literary form characterizes the Gospel of Luke. He had a message he wanted to pass on to other people. His way of expressing the Gospel in this book and the book of Acts is very distinctive. His association with Paul, the last of the apostles, gives his writing great credibility.
The essential message of Luke’s Gospel is the salvation of the lost. In chapter one, “salvation” is referred to three times, and the book's main theme is Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Lives transformed by God’s grace, such as Zacchaeus, assure us that Jesus Christ, who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever,” still transforms lives through salvation to those who repent and believe the Gospel. The book begins with Luke introducing himself and then Theophilus.
Those associated with him, including us, are recipients of the message he conveys. His purpose in writing and the time in which he wrote illustrate the importance of the narrative. The book reads like a story with an introduction, an accurate, trustworthy account of the conflicts that accompanied the work of the Lord, and a climax to the whole message of salvation. It ends with a resolution to the worldwide need for redemption.
When we read such impacting books, we do well to put ourselves into the narrative as much as possible and take all that is written personally. We will find it interesting to read, history to ponder, parables to illustrate salient points to be made, and incidents to compare ourselves to. There are lessons to learn and principles to apply to our own lives. Faith is essential because it tells of others' choices, consequences, and actions. We are challenged as to whether we will remain observers of an ancient book or whether we will read this book as an up-to-date, life-changing message from God. God wants the best for His people and has used a faithful, well-qualified doctor to tell us that our Lord Jesus Christ is truly “The Son of Man” who was willing to identify Himself with our humanity so He could be our saving substitute.
Theophilus represents everyone who wants to know the truth, “the certainty,” of what we have been taught. It is possible for us today, with the word of God in our hands, to know the truth [Jn.8:32]. The Holy Spirit has instructed us to buy the truth and never sell it [Pro.23:23], and the Lord Jesus taught us that if anyone will do His will, that person will know the truth [Jn.7:17; 8:32].