We are all
destined to be on a quest. I love reading books that deal with the pursuit of something
or someone by an individual who is willing to sacrifice it all. Here are just a
couple of examples: King Arthur and his search for the Holy Grail. Robert Louis
Stevenson’s Treasure Island. I will always love the line from the Natural by
Roy Hobbs, “I always wanted to be a baseball player. To be the best there ever
was and the best that there will ever be.”
All of the above
though seem to fall short when we think of Paul’s words in Phil. 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection
and the fellowship of His suffering. To know Christ is that of the greatest
quest known to mankind. This is the reason that we want to study the book of
Luke so that we like Paul might be involved in the greatest quest, “TO KNOW
CHRIST.”
First of all who
is this guy Luke? Can we trust him to tell the truth? I think it’s fair for us
to ask especially if this deals with my eternal destiny. Can he be trusted? He
is what the Bible says about him in the following passages.
·
Col. 4:14
Our dear friend Luke the Doctor. Physicians are detailed people in their
profession. We see this is true of Luke when he not only describes the man with
the withered hand but even tells us that it was his right hand. Yet also in this
passage he is also called Dear or Beloved. Literally speaking he was a favorite
or a respected one.
·
II Tim.
4:11 Only Luke is with me. At the
end of Paul’s life he had a faithful companion in that of Luke. He stood beside
him no matter what came his way.
·
Philemon 24
Luke my fellow worker. He was not ashamed or fearful of getting his hands
dirty.
·
Lastly his
name means a light giver. Now he wants to shine forth that light as we
enter into Luke 1:1-4.
Luke 1:1 ( ESV )
1Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the
things that have been accomplished among us,
·
During this time many were speaking about Christ
but it was largely done through oral means. They wanted to fulfill the great
commission and proclaim the Gospel to all generations. Very little in the
churches infancy was written.
·
Luke felt it was necessary to get the Gospel in
an arranged order and a narrative form so it could be read and proclaimed as
well. Being led by the Holy Spirit who inspired his words Luke now wrote the
following narrative. You see oral tradition may accurately transmit the truth
but it is not as authoritative as the written word.
·
John’s purpose in writing his Gospel according
to John 20:31 was for the following reason, “That we might believe and by
believing we might have eternal life.
How can we know that the Word of God is true? Go now to
verse 2
Luke 1:2 ( ESV )
2just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and
ministers of the word have delivered them to us,
·
First of all it is backed up literally by
eyewitnesses to the events of Christ’s life. Detailed accounts about Christ
from the beginning as he talks about John the Baptist and Christ birth are put
in terms like one who was there.
·
By inspiration of the Holy Spirit. II Timothy
3:16, “All scripture is inspired…” The Holy Spirit of God helped him to put it
into order.
·
He probably went to people like Peter who were “eyewitness
of His majesty.” Christ told his disciples they would be witnesses because they
had been with Him from the beginning in Jn. 15:27. They had to speak about what
they had heard and seen. Acts 4:20
·
These were not made up stories but reliable
witnesses could testify to them. These people could be trusted because they
were servants of The Word. When we truly know Christ we want to be His servant
and declare His glory.
Luke 1:3 ( ESV )
3it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for
some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
·
Not only do we have eyewitnesses but also Luke
had a perfect or exact understanding of what had happened. He had thoroughly examined
all of what had taken place in Christ life and was detailed in his
investigation. The idea of the words used here is that he searched it out from
top to bottom. (Example: Like a newspaper reporter checking his facts over and over
again.)
Who is he writing this letter to?
A person who is entitled, “Most excellent Theophilus.”
·
Those words for most excellent means the mightiest,
the strongest, noblest they were used in addressing men of prominent rank or
office. It is used of Felix and Festus in the book of Acts.
·
Theophilus means simply, “Lover of God.” What
kind of effect did this book have on his life? We do not know but when Luke
writes the book of Acts to Theophulis he no longer calls him most excellent but
simply Theophilus. It may be that he paid a cost in following Christ and lost
his ranking in life.
Why does he write the book to Theophilus and us? Take a look
at verse 4
Luke 1:4 ( ESV )
·
So that we might know with a firmness and
without a doubt who Christ is and so that we can make our personal quest in
knowing the Christ who lived and died and rose again for us. Literally brothers
and sisters here is the ROCK on which we can stand. Like Peter in II Peter 1:16
we can say, “We have not followed
cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ but were EYEWITNESS OF HIS MAJESTY.”
Applications:
1.
We can know Christ not by merely trusting others
and what they say about Him but by our own reading and taking heed to the Word
of God.
2.
We can stand behind the Word to others because
it has eyewitness, it has been investigated, by the moral character of the
author and most importantly of all because it is inspired by the Holy Spirit of
God.
3.
Realize that by being obedient to the Word of
God it might cost us. Remember the example of Theophulis.
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