Luke 1:1-4 “Investigating the Hero-King”
What is significant about the date 9-11-01?
Do you remember where you were when it happened? What kind of impact did that event have on the world? What changed because of it?
It’s safe to say that the terrorist attack that destroyed the WTC on 9-11 was a world-changing event, right? Maybe not to EVERYONE in the world...but in terms of the shape of the world’s larger civilizations and superpowers,...everything has been shaken.
The way we travel, the privacy we’ve lost, or sense of security... the whole world economy has all been impacted to some degree or another by the events of that day. Governmental policies changed, wars ignited…multitudes have lost their lives or way of life. And since that day, there have been countless books and articles and documentaries and movies made to investigate what happened, why it happened, what the results have been. Partly because its important for us to try and understand it...partly because we want it remembered so that future generations can learn from it...partly because we’re STILL experiencing the effects of that day.
When something like that happens...we FEEL the weight of it’s importance...and we also feel the sense of obligation to record it...because people under the age of NINE did not live through it…yet their world is SHAPED by it. So a book or documentary which recounts the events and ramifications of that day are pretty important documents, wouldn’t you say?
There was another event, which occurred about 2,000 years ago…
It was an event that took place over the span of 33 years, and was even more world impacting than the events of 9-11.The thing that is amazing about that event is the seeming insignificance of it at the time it happened...the incredibly understated way in which it all occurred…yet it is something that has shaped the very world we live in now...the world prior to this event was a completely different world.
This event changed the standard for world rulers and governments...it revolutionized the human race’s understanding of the importance of equality and freedom….of human dignity and human rights.
It is the direct root of all modern charities and relief organizations, of all hospitals and rehabilitation and recovery groups, like Goodwill or AA…The emphasis to educate our children and the advancement of arts and literature and music are all directly related to this event, as well as the advancement of civil liberties.
A lot of wars and horrible things have happened that have their origins in this event as well...things that have shaped the world in very undesirable ways…
but whether it’s the intended application or the twisted use and abuse of it...one thing is constant…and that is, this event is the ground zero of all those changes.
What event are we talking about? It’s incredible...it strains at the edges of what we could consider believable….but the news that comes to us from 2,000 years ago is that God appeared to the human race as ONE of us!
Here at ECF, we're going to begin an exploration of the Gospel of Luke.
Now...I’ll admit right off the bat, this is a pretty big undertaking...but I have some really important reasons WHY I believe we need to do this.
For one thing, the church used to THRIVE on teaching from the gospels...our whole thing as Christians is that we are FOLLOWING Christ...and to do that, we really need to know about him, who he is, what he taught...what he DID.
We’re going to find that in the Gospel story.
The teaching epistles are important, and we do study those...but this...the STORY of Jesus the Christ...this is paramount to our understanding of what it is to be His follower.
But there’s something else...the coming of Christ into the world is the event that changed the world...it shaped the world we presently live in…and yet...so few know anything about it.
Christianity has become so caricatured in our society that most people under the age of 30 automatically associate Christianity with intolerance and narrow-minded bigotry...without knowing anything about what J taught, or what J did.
That makes it profoundly important for us, His followers, to know and be familiar with the story and teachings of Jesus...right?
Ok...so, that being said…let’s get a little background on this gospel.
This gospel is one of the three SYNOPTIC gospels...that is, it tells the whole story from a common view...a synopsis. John is NOT considered a synoptic gospel because it doesn’t cover the story as an overview...and it contains so many different stories than the other 3.
Luke is the longest of all four gospels (it has 1,151 vrs compared 2 Matt’s 1,071)...and while it has much of the same material as Matt and Mark...it also has stories that those don’t have. In Luke we have a much more detailed account of Christ’s birth, we have a whole section of parables that are unique to Luke as well as characters that are highlighted nowhere else. And a protracted resurrection account.
The main themes that emerge from Luke’s gospel is the portrayal of Jesus as a hero to the marginalized. Over and over again, we’ll see Jesus reaching out to those that society and mainstream religion have written off...so we’ll find an overarching message that tells us that THIS GOSPEL IS FOR EVERYONE.
Another theme that will come through as we read is the fact that J’s appearance on earth was the fulfillment of a plan God had long put into place... That is...the gospel is the fulfillment of a divine promise made from the beginning of time.
Also...Luke’s gospel contains something called the “journey” section...a long detailed account of Jesus’s final trip to Jerusalem where he would die...it’s called the journey to the cross...the very same journey Christ calls us to follow in a figurative sense...and we’ll find that the gospel is mirrored in our lives.
Now...we would assume that the author of this book is Luke...but the text actually never tells us that. It wasn’t until 100 years later that Christian writers called this Luke’s gospel. The author is the same author as the book of Acts...the writing style is the same, and many believe that Luke and Acts were actually meant to be read as one work. If Luke IS the author, it is assumed that it is the same Luke who was Paul’s traveling companion mentioned in Col 4, 2 Tim 4, and Phil v24.
If it is THAT Luke, then we know he was a doctor...but that’s it. We don’t know if he was Jewish or a gentile...we only know from his writing style that he was well educated and Hellenistic...that is, he was like a culturally current Greek or Roman.
We don’t know where or when this gospel was written...but Paul quotes from it in 1 Tim 5:18, ...so it’s a safe assumption it was around in SOME form as early as the mid 60’s…..but most scholars put it anywhere from the mid 50’s all the way to the late 90’s.
Lets begin reading this...and today, we’re just going to cover the prelude, or the introduction of the first 4 vs. If you have a bible, open to Luke 1 one please.
This gospel opens with one very long, formal, run-on sentence...and it reveals just how elegant and educated this writer actually is. If you’re there, lets start w/v1
1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us,3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
This opening sentence is the prelude to the story that will follow. It is an explanation of WHY this story is being told. The main reason he’s writing is that, by this time, the message of Jesus has spread far and wide...way beyond it’s original context.
Luke makes it clear that he’s aware of other writings in circulation...in fact, he says “many” had written “narratives”...which reveals the importance of the story right off the bat.
This is way before the printing press or even easily accessible writing materials...for “MANY” people to undertake the task of writing this down, instead of relying on the common form of verbal history, reveals to us just how earth shaking this event was.
Not only that...but Luke describes what he’s about to share as “those things that have been fulfilled”...showing that this was important because it was a significant part of what G is doing in the earth.
So...we see HE'S WRITING THIS BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT.
Another reason he’s writing is the message of J has spread far and wide...way beyond it’s original context.
HE'S WRITING THIS SO THAT THE FACTS CAN BE KEPT STRAIGHT.
We know Pete, Paul, Tim and others had taken the message all over Asia Minor and Greece and Rome...and its very possible there were garbled and misleading reports circulating about who EXACTLY J was...what he said and what he did...and what exactly had happened to him. So while others are writing this down...he wants to make HIS contribution...and he has a wider audience in mind...an educated, intelligent and inquiring public who want to know just what it is that happened over there in Palestine. He’s the perfect author for us as Western Americans….because he’s writing to the uninitiated...he’s speaking to those who aren’t familiar with the locals, and he’s getting us the facts of his own investigation.
Now...don’t get me wrong...he’s not writing objectively or dispassionately...no, he’s writing for the purpose of persuasion...but he’s doing so the way a documentary filmmaker would do…he’s gone the places where J was, he’s interviewed the people involved in the stories...he’s seen the people who had been healed, talked to their friends and family...and he’s writing it down to provide “certainty” about these claims.
He wants to encourage those who’ve believed, but who haven’t seen for themselves...like even the one he addresses this account TO. Most excellent Theophilus…some have assumed that this was a wealthy Roman patron who funded this writing...others postulate that he was a Roman governor who Luke was seeking to convert...but there’s another thought too...one I like, and that is, Theophilus is US...you and I.
Theophilus lit. MEANS lover of God...this could have been a literary device, addressing those who love to know about God...or maybe converts who are eager to learn more about this Jesus they now follow….and if that’s the case, then Theophilus certainly IS us….and that’s certainly the mindset we’re coming to this gospel with. We love to know what G has done /what he’s doing...so it’s good to get the “certified” facts in order.
N.T. Wright suggests another reason for writing this down….one that makes a lot of sense. He believes Luke took the pains he took to write this gospel down FOR THE SAKE OF FUTURE GENERATIONS.
Starting in the early 1990’s, national historical agencies began a furious campaign to get WW2 vets to start recording their memories of their experiences in Europe and the Pacific. Why? Because it suddenly dawned on everyone, that generation was passing away...and they had been very closed lipped about many of the things they experienced…if we didn’t’ get it recorded soon...we never would. The coming generations would lose that first hand information.
If Luke is writing this in the mid 60’s, a terrible war was raging across Palestine, as the Jewish people tried to revolt against the Roman empire…not only was the older generation who witnessed the events of J’s life passing away...but the towns and villages where Jesus had done his ministry were being dispersed and destroyed.
Stories being transmitted verbally required a peaceful, stable society...and that was disappearing in Palestine...so unless the story was written down, it could be lost to future generations.
Luke, like all the early Chrsitians, believed that the things that had actually happened...the historical facts of this event...were things that had changed the course of the world, so it was vital that they be recorded and represented as clearly, as orderly and as accessibly as possible.
So that’s what Luke gives us…
An account of the event that happened on this planet which changed EVERYTHING.
Luke, in his opening sentence has thrown open a doorway into this story and invites us to come in and explore this with him.
So...that’s what we’re going to do...explore this gospel so that we, like Theophilus can be reassured about who Jesus is...what Jesus has said...and what he’s done…so that no matter what the pressures are that come to us in life, we can be confident that God has come to earth,and that he has a plan and a purpose, revealed and fulfilled in Jesus...a plan that includes us.
This wont be quick...it will take some time, but I can assure you it will be worth it. We may take a slightly different approach from time to time...and we’ll certainly do our best to keep each section interesting and applicable...so anyone should be able to join in this study at any time.
Does that sound like a plan? Cool.
