Luke 1:1-4
Is There A Doctor In The House?
Introduction
George W. Bush took the oath of office as the 43rd president of the United States. It was an interesting election-to say the least! Newspapers and magazines had been flooded with articles analyzing the election results, especially the recount in Florida. Even Gary Trudeau’s Doonesbury comic strip poked fun at the "chad dilemma."
But there have been other close presidential races in American history. John Adams won a narrow victory over Thomas Jefferson to become our second president. Adams secured 71 Electoral College votes to Jefferson’s 68. But, of course, Jefferson won the next presidential election four years later. Thomas Jefferson-now there’s a unique president!
Ten years ago I was in Charlottesville, Virginia. Since I was so close to Monticello, I decided to take a tour of Thomas Jefferson’s house and museum. I learned that Jefferson was a remarkable figure. He was highly educated and skilled in many areas-a true Renaissance man.
Jefferson was the son of a well-to-do landowner. He attended the College of William and Mary and then studied and practiced law. He began his political career in 1769 and among the offices he held were governor of Virginia, US minister to France-living in Paris for 5 years, secretary of state, vice president, and president of the United States from 1801-1809.
Jefferson was a master architect. He designed every detail of the building of his Monticello home. He was also an accomplished naturalist, linguist, and farmer. The major accomplishment of the last 17 years of his life was the founding of the University of Virginia. He conceived it, planned it, designed it, and even supervised its construction and hiring of faculty.
I marvel at people like Thomas Jefferson-people who are multi-talented and able to perform a variety of skills. Another remarkably gifted individual was the author of the third gospel-a man by the name of Luke.
Please turn with me to Luke chapter 1 in your Bible.
Today we begin a systematic, expository study of the gospel of Luke. During my first year of ministry at Shiloh I preached through the book of James. James, of course, is 5 chapters in length. My second year I preached through the book of 1 Peter, which is also 5 chapters. It took me almost all of last year to get through Philippians, which is only 4 chapters. And now we come to Luke-24 chapters. I think we’ll be camping out in this book of the Bible for a while! It may take us a few years to get through it, but that’s okay! We’ll trust the Lord to teach us life changing truth as we study the words and works of Jesus Christ.
In this first, introductory message to the third gospel, I’d like us to consider the man behind the book-the author Luke. He was a multi-talented man who was involved in a variety of endeavors. For example,
1. LUKE WAS A SKILLFUL WRITER
In 1:3 we discover that Luke wrote this book to a man named Theophilus. Theophilus is a compound Greek word which means "lover of God." Some Bible teachers conclude that the name represents a group of Christians, since believers are lovers of God. But I think it’s better to read it as a proper name, especially since Luke addresses Theophilus as "most excellent"-a title used for a person of high social standing. That title is also used in Acts 23:26, 24:3, and 26:25 for the Roman officials Felix and Festus.
Verses 1-4 reveal several interesting facts about this skillful biographer. Luke writes, "Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught."
From this prologue we discover that Luke was not an eyewitness to these events. So, where did he get his information? He says from several sources, one of which was earlier written accounts. Some believe he is referring to the gospel of Matthew or the gospel of Mark. This is possible, although it may have come from noncanonical stories about Jesus which were circulating at that time. Luke also said he made a careful investigation. So another source of information may have been personal interviews. That makes sense to me. I can envision Luke sitting down with Mary, Jesus’ mother, and asking her to describe the events surrounding the birth of Christ. And Luke could have interviewed a few of the apostles. They could tell him in detail about the miracles and parables of Jesus. And it’s also possible that Luke consulted genealogical records as a source of information. In Luke 3 we find the ancestry of Christ traced back to Adam. Perhaps Luke got this list from records kept in the temple in Jerusalem.
Luke put all his scholarly methods to work in order to produce a thorough, accurate, and reliable record of Jesus’ life and ministry. Luke was a very skillful writer. Biblical scholar D. Edmond Hiebert comments on Luke’s remarkable literary ability: "The prologue (1:1-4) is a carefully balanced sentence constructed in accordance with classical Greek patterns, revealing Luke’s cultural background. But without warning, he changes to a style with a strong Semitic flavor in relating the infancy narratives. The remainder of the gospel is written in good Koine Greek, the language commonly used throughout the Empire. As an artist Luke chose a style which would harmonize with the life situation being dealt with. . . . Luke’s style is simple and dignified. He reveals a strong power of accurate observation, a vividness of description, and the ability to delineate a character or paint a scene with a few vigorous lines or words. He possesses the art of composition. He knows not only how to tell a tale truthfully, but how to tell it with effect. Luke has a remarkably large vocabulary, the largest of any New Testament writer. In his gospel and the Acts there are some eight hundred words which do not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. He also employs a wide variety of expressions and constructions more often than any other writer. . . . Clearly he must have been a man of remarkable and thorough training."
Luke possessed great literary ability. Even the French rationalistic critic Ernest Renan said that Luke’s gospel is "the most beautiful book ever written."
In addition to being a skillful writer,
2. LUKE WAS A MEDICAL DOCTOR
Turn to the book of Colossians, chapter 4.
In Colossians 4:10-14, Paul lists six people who send greetings to the church. After giving the names of the first three-Aristarchus, Mark, and Justus-Paul comments in verse 11 that "these are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God." Then Paul mentions Epaphras, Luke, and Demas. That leads us to believe that Luke is a Gentile, not a Jew-and a Greek physician at that! Paul refers to him in verse 14 as: "Our dear friend Luke, the doctor."
We have no way of knowing the medical training and background of Doctor Luke. But let me read from the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible: "About 300 B.C. a famous school of medicine was started in Alexandria, Egypt. The faculty had the benefit of considerable medical knowledge from Greek, Roman, Babylonian, and Indian sources. It is well for Bible students to remember this. If Luke was trained at the Alexandrian school, or by graduates of that school, his medical knowledge had considerable scientific basis."
Physicians in the first century were regarded as men of great skill and wisdom. We have doctors, nurses, and health care professionals who worship here at Shiloh. You know the discipline, training, and hard work it took you to become part of the medical field.
Not only was Luke a skillful writer and a medical doctor, but also . . .
3. LUKE WAS A BRAVE MISSIONARY
In Philemon verse 24, Paul refers to Luke as one of his fellow workers. This is evidenced in the book of Acts. Turn to Acts chapter 1 in your Bible.
In addition to writing the third gospel, Luke also wrote the book of Acts. These two books are the longest in the New Testament. Together they constitute 28% of the New Testament. That makes Doctor Luke-a Gentile-the largest contributor to the New Testament from the standpoint of length.
In Acts 1:1-2 we read, "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen."
So the book of Acts is Luke’s sequel to his gospel. In it he informs Theophilus about the spread of the gospel after the ascension of Christ. But there are three sections in Acts that are written in the first person. Luke uses the term "we," indicating that he accompanied Paul at that time. The first section is 16:10-17 during Paul’s second missionary journey. The second "we" section is 20:5-21:18 which covers the third missionary journey and Paul’s visit to Jerusalem. Chapters 27 and 28 are the last section. It tells of Paul’s trip to Rome.
As you read these sections in the book of Acts you are immediately struck by the danger Paul, Luke, and the others faced. Paul was arrested, imprisoned, beaten. Paul and Luke were even shipwrecked on their way to Rome. Luke demonstrated courage and steadfastness in evangelistic endeavors.
What do we know about Luke? He was a skillful writer, a medical doctor, and a brave missionary. But there is one other quality that Luke possessed that set him apart as a great man.
4. LUKE WAS A LOYAL FRIEND
Turn to 2 Timothy 4:11. Paul is writing to Timothy from prison in Rome. Paul had dispatched most of his traveling companions to minister in various areas. But in verse 10 he mentions that Demas had deserted him. So that left only one person who faithfully stuck by Paul’s side-Luke.
Look at verse 11. With deep feeling Paul remarks, "Only Luke is with me." Isn’t that great? Isn’t it great to have a friend who will stick with you through thick and thin to the very end?
Soon after Jack Benny died, George Burns was interviewed on TV. Burns commented, "Jack and I had a wonderful friendship for nearly 55 years. Jack never walked out on me when I sang a song, and I never walked out on him when he played the violin. We laughed together, we played together, we worked together, we ate together. I suppose that for many of those years we talked every single day."
I read the story of two friends in World War I who were inseparable. They had enlisted together, trained together, were shipped overseas together, and fought side-by-side in the trenches. During an attack, one of the men was critically wounded in a field filled with barbed wire obstacles. He was unable to crawl back to his foxhole. The entire area was under enemy crossfire, and it was suicidal to try to reach him. Yet his friend decided to do just that. The sergeant told him, "It’s too late. You can’t do him any good, and you’ll only get yourself killed." But the man went anyway. He returned a few minutes later, carrying his friend. But he himself had been mortally wounded. The sergeant was both angry and deeply moved. He blurted out, "What a waste! He’s dead and you’re dying. It just wasn’t worth it." With almost his last breath, the dying man replied, "Oh, yes it was, Sarge. When I got to him, the only thing he said was, ’I knew you’d come, Jim.’"
Dallas Seminary professor Howard Hendricks defines a close friend as someone who "knows everything about you, yet totally accepts you; will listen to your most heretical ideas without rejecting you; and knows how to criticize you in a way you’ll listen to."
CONCLUSION
Perhaps you won’t be a writer, doctor, or missionary like Luke. But everyone here can be a loyal friend. Do you have a close friend? If not, then ask God to help you find one. And you do your part by being a friendly person. Proverbs 18:24 says, "A man who has friends must himself be friendly." Start with an acquaintance. Invite that person over for a cup of coffee or out for a meal or an activity. Spend time with him or her, but don’t smother the individual or force the relationship. Let it develop naturally.
Maybe you already have a close friend. Don’t take that relationship for granted. Do something special for one of your close friends this week. Phone that person, or send him or her a card. Tell that individual that you appreciate the friendship that you share. Be a loyal friend!
Let us pray.
"Father, we commit to You our study of the gospel of Luke. We pray that You would teach us much, and that our lives would be impacted through the time we invest in Your inspired Word. Thank You for Luke, the author of this third gospel. We marvel at the skill and talent that this man possessed. May we, like him, place our unique talents at Your disposal. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen."
