August 10. Luke 1. Ben Cadena
An Orderly Account of Jesus Christ
"Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy, he is possessed of the true historic sense. In short, this author should be placed along with the greatest of historians." - Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, Archeologist
As I began reading through the first words of Luke's gospel, I realized how unfamiliar I am with everything Luke said. So, I set about digging here and there for a few answers. To be honest, I now have more questions than answers. But here are a few of the things I've found.
To begin with, he states that several accounts have already been written, presumably Matthew and Mark, which according to most scholars indicates that Luke is the last of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) to be written. He then states that those accounts align with what the eyewitnesses say. So, apparently, he is not an eyewitness himself, or he would say so, but has dedicated himself to finding out whether everything is true. This man is a detective!
The main point of Luke's book and the one thing he wants the reader to get is this: to be absolutely sure of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And to make sure that these things are true, Luke used different sources. One source was Mark and another was the testimony of firsthand witnesses (e.g., source “Q”). The rest of the book's content is exclusive to the Gospel of Luke, which is known as source “L". Scholars also say that Luke intended his book to be read regularly in the gatherings of believers, therefore he calls it "an orderly account."
After a very modest and neat introduction, what happens next just takes my breath away. The reader is suddenly dropped into a story loaded with miracles. There is scarcely a verse where something miraculous doesn't occur. Each sentence is loaded with action.
Luke introduces an old couple (Zechariah and Elizabeth), and he presents them in such a way that reminds one of Abraham and Sarah. They are unable to bear children "because Elizabeth was not able to conceive," they are both "very old," and the husband gets a prophecy from an angel saying that they will have a son! Except that Zechariah does not believe what the angel says, whereas Abraham did. The amazing thing is that God fulfilled it anyway!
Many amazing things happen in this chapter, so when you read it, buckle your seatbelt and take it slowly. Don't rush! There is much beauty and wisdom to be learned there, most importantly, the good news about Jesus Christ.