Studies in Luke’s Gospel - Introduction and Background (Luke 1:1-4)
In previous studies in NewLife, we have looked at the essential understanding of salvation and role of leadership in the book of Titus, and we walked through the life of Peter from fisherman to true follower of Jesus ( go to NewLife homepage for a free e-book version of this). We explored Daniel’s amazing life experience and prophetic ministry and then saw the painful spiritual decline in the time of the Judges but with the important proviso that there is always ‘God’s Grace in Dark Times’. Now we’re going to go right to the source of the Christian life – the person and work of Jesus as recorded for us in the book of Luke.
As Jerry Benjamin (excellent Jewish Bible teacher) says ‘‘The Bible does not primarily teach us how to live the Christian life… rather, it reveals to us the One who is the Christian life”
THE WRITING v1-4
Luke has been described as “The most beautiful book in the world” (Ernest Renan) and because it features Jesus and is the longest of the four Gospels, I think that is an appropriate description. The focus of Luke’s Gospel is to give a full portrait of the person of Jesus, the full range of people he interacted with and the full range of responses he received from deep devotion to outright hostility. Throughout it all, the theme can be summed up by Luke 19:10 ‘For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’.
It begins with a formal preface (v1-4) which was a secular convention and so it was intended for public reading as well as private reflection. As the opening sentence of verse 1 says, there were many oral and written records of Jesus’ life and ministry circulating around the community but only Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were deemed reliable and inspired and therefore ‘canonized’.
This mean they were recognized and accepted as authoritative by the community of God’s people.
Each Gospel is distinctive:
Matthew is written primarily for the Jews and presents Jesus as the Messiah
Mark is written primarily for the common people/Romans and presents Jesus as a Servant
Luke is written primarily for the educated Greek community and presents the humanity of Jesus
John is written primarily for the early church believers and presents Jesus as Divine
According to v2, those writing the Gospels were “eyewitnesses” – they were not relying on gossip or propaganda etc. As Peter says, ‘We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye-witnesses of his majesty’ (2 Peter 1:16). John says much the same thing: ‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and which our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life’ (1 John 1:1-3).
However, they were also”servants of the word” - those fully identifying with God’s revelation through his Word. Contrary to the Pharisees who liked to ‘impose their authority on everyone else’ (see Matt 23:1-36) the true apostles were ‘servants’. All the apostles based their authority not on their experience of Christ personally but on the Word of God. It starts with the apostle Peter in Acts ‘In those days Peter stood up among the believers… and said, “Brothers the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago” (Acts 1:15-16); see also 2 Peter 1:19-21.
Later, Paul’s authority was also “according to the scriptures” (1 Cor15:3-4) so not primarily based on his or others experience. As I have said before: the Blood of Christ makes me safe, the Word of God makes me sure. Furthermore, Luke says it was “an orderly account” (v3). Luke follows a clear chronology of Jesus’ life and ministry (so ‘synoptic’ like Matthew and Mark) but he also presents logical themes such as: the Kingdom; Salvation; the affirmation of women (13 are mentioned); Prayer; Discipleship). Luke says, ‘I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning’. He is often called ‘Doctor Luke’ because of his status as a physician (Col 4:14). He includes more miracles of physical healing than do any of the other Gospels and he shows his technical knowledge of illnesses as in his use of the precise medical term ‘dropsy in Luke 14:1-6.
As Warren Wiersbe says, ‘Luke wrote with the mind of a careful historian and with the heart of a loving physician’. Luke’s purpose is that “you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (v4) – so he is not just asking for a passing interest but a strong commitment and obedience. He himself describes the content of his Gospel as “all that Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1)
THE WRITER v3
This is a trick question you can use with other believers: ‘who is the most prolific writer in the New Testament?’ – many will understandably say Paul because he wrote more letters than anyone else but in terms of actual volume, Luke wrote more than Paul. Luke is a Gentile name so probably he was a Gentile and affirming Christ for the world not just Judaism – which makes him an appropriate author of Luke - Acts. Remember he records Jesus’ words in Acts 1:8 that ‘you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’ (so that’s us in Australia!).
The only personal reference to himself (in either Luke or Acts) is in v3 “I myself” - so he is a humble man with a focus on presenting Christ not himself.
As we noted earlier he claims to have “carefully investigated” (v3) – and so in summary we can say Luke is intellectually capable (he uses exceptional Greek in these verses); culturally astute; theologically informed (through Paul’s teaching see Acts 16:10; 28; active in ministry (Paul calls him a ‘fellow-worker’ in Philemon 24); and most important of all he is faithful in character (in 2 Tim 4:9-11, Paul lists a number of people who have left him for various reasons but tellingly says ‘only Luke is with me’).
THE READER/LISTENER v3-4
Luke’s Gospel is formally addressed to “most excellent Theophilus” (v3) Theophilus literally means ‘lover of God’ or ‘loved by God’ and so may have been a prominent Greek person – the word “excellent” was often associated with high officials (Acts 23:26; 26:25). However, it could also mean anyone who was a true believer i.e. anyone who loved God and who knew the love of God personally. So I trust we can all identify with this Gospel and take it to heart.
Luke finishes his introduction by stating that his intention is ‘that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught’ (v4). The Greek word for “the certainty...” here is asphaleia which Strong’s defines as ‘firmness, stability, certainty, undoubted truth’. Luke uses it again in Acts 5: 23 where he describes the jail in which Peter is imprisoned as ‘securely locked’.
I trust as we go through this study in Luke’s Gospel we will have the certainty of our faith strongly affirmed because we are not dealing here with fickle opinion but with the truth and especially with the One who is the Truth.
Remember one of Jesus’ favourite sayings was “I tell you the truth...” but he did this “to set you free” (John 8:32)!
Prayer:
Thank you Lord that you have given us such a comprehensive record of your life, ministry, death and resurrection that is completely reliable
We pray that we will be faithful and reliable witnesses of you in our world today as Luke was in his
Thank you for the ‘truth that sets us free’