LUKE 1:1-23 MOST SURELY BELIEVED In this dispensation, the grace of God is more openly displayed and written of then in any other period of God's dealing with mankind. The book of the Gospel according to Luke's writing has had far-reaching effects on people of many cultures. He was a Greek physician by training and gave this teaching to a Roman named Theophilus ("one who loves God") which certainly is for all of us who "love the Lord in sincerity and in truth." The reliability of the message is that it has come to us by the Holy Spirit through Luke and was testified to by eyewitnesses of the events recorded. Luke knew these were facts because he got them from those who were there. We don't have to have doubts about these written accounts even though some are given in this book that are not in the other Gospels. Luke was receptive to the message because there were those who ministered the word and those who saw what happened. Theophilus was responsive to this testimony of Christ as the Perfect Man and would have passed it on to others as the Spirit of God intended.
The believing saints of those times as well as today can understand the things Luke wrote in the written form and apply them to ourselves in a personal way. Probably by his training and work as a physician Luke was precise and accurate in the way he wrote of those events. The humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ is taught in almost every recorded event, teaching and parable in the book. He made them understandable by making each subject very readable. In this way things are able to be reviewed until they are truly learned. He was committed to writing of them in a very positive way so they would be known of a "certainty."
The response to what Luke heard was evident in the historical account of "a certain priest" and his wife who are introduced to us at the very beginning of the book. The time is precise, "in the days of Herod;" the account is accurate in that he was a Levite (priests were of that tribe) and his wife, Elizabeth, was also a Levite ("of the daughters of Aaron"). The carefulness of the very first account in the book sets the tone of the whole Gospel of Luke. Zacharias is identified as not only a man of position, a priest, but an honorable man who with his wife was committed to live a righteous life before God. He was not one of the priests who only went through the forms of public worship, but he practiced what he taught. Both he and his wife feared and respected God, without relying on their pedigree as of the Aaronic priesthood to make them acceptable. These two were united in their devotion to God and in their walk before the Lord. God had been watching them and was able to use them to bring the prophetic fulfillment of the forerunner to pass. These two people were consistent in following God and His laws. They backed up their outward holiness of life with inward obedience. God could trust them with the important task of guiding their miracle son, John, to prepare the way of the Lord and to open the door of history to be changed. God used them and guided them. Even though there was doubt on Zacharias' part at first, he was able to accomplish his responsibility.
It is of interest to see the multitude of people praying appropriately while Zacharias was inside the temple tending to the priestly duties in the appointed way and time. God makes Himself known through messengers He chooses. In this case it was Gabriel, an angel who stood in the presence of God and was sent by God to give this good news. The preciseness of Luke's writing sets the on-going tone of the book. Zacharias was God's man, doing God's work, in God's way, in God's time. We need to be reminded that what we pray for is not forgotten. God remembered Zacharias past prayers and used him to be the answer to his own prayers. This is not uncommon with God today in His dealing with us. "Impossible situations" are not actually impossible. God works in His own time and way through us as He did with that couple.
That "certain priest" had a specific prayer he had been making and God knew what it was and how and when He would answer it. He, his wife and others were looking for the "Dayspring on High" to come to God's people. A person who is faithful in service for God, who is committed to living righteously as God intends and carries out what God has already instructed is one God can entrust with other responsibilities. This "certain priest" and his wife were given the privilege of being the channel through which prophetic scriptures were fulfilled. The son, John, was to be the "prophet of the Highest." To serve God and His people in any way is a great privilege. To be specifically chosen to do a work designated by Him is one of life's highest honors. To see others blessed by God through the efforts we have made overshadows any difficulties our labor may have imposed on us. To see believers, we have nurtured and prayed for, go forward in effective service for God is a great delight and is a reason to be thankful for and praise God for. How wonderful God is to allow us to play a small part of what He is doing in the world today.