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Opening Illustration
When we read the four Gospels, we notice that they contain just those little differences that prove the men to have been honest.
If you set four men to tell a story, they will all tell it differently even though each one of them speaks the truth, for each of them will look at the matter from a different standpoint.
If all four of them spoke in exactly the same words, and there were no apparent discrepancies between them, you would know that they had put their heads together and concocted the tale in order to deceive their hearers.
A judge in court would soon find them out, and he would say, “That is a trumped up story,” so none of them go an inch beyond the other for fear they should contradict one another, and so be found out.
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But the four Evangelists differ in their statements only as honest men must necessarily differ if they are independent witnesses;
And their agreement in the facts to which they testify helps to confirm their witness, and to make assurance doubly sure.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will be conducting our study in Chapter 1 and focusing on verses 1 through 4.
Our message this morning is called, “Certainty Concerning the Gospel”
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As you are finding your place in God’s Word...
I want to share that we will be discussing the background for one of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament...
But not only that...
We will have an opportunity to start digging into the text of Luke’s Gospel...
And go over his prologue to his first of two major works in the New Testament.
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Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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For brothers and sisters around the world...
For ears to hear God’s truth in His Word...
For faithfulness to present God’s truth free of man’s wisdom...
For believers to have assurance in the Gospel message of Jesus Christ...
For unbelievers to repent, believe the Good News, and surrender to our Lord...
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Background
As we are starting a new book in the Bible to study...
We need to consider the background of the Gospel of Luke.
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We need to cover who the author is...
When this book was written...
What writing format is this book written in...
Who the original audience was...
And what was the purpose of this writing.
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So, let’s start with who the author is.
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Author:
The author of the Gospel of Luke is...
Luke.
Hence the name.
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He is also the author of Acts.
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We know this by evidence of what it says in Acts when the author uses “we” to refer to himself in Paul’s company...
And based on Paul’s epistles we know who was with him during his travels and Luke is the only companion he had that makes sense as being the author of this Gospel and Acts.
Additionally, all of the early church knew Luke to be the author and his authorship was never questioned.
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He was a Gentile...
The reason we know this is due to the evidence found in one of the epistles written by the Apostle Paul…
Paul distinguishes Luke from the rest of his company.
After listing many individuals who are serving along him this is what he says in Colossians 4:11:
After this group of Jewish converts to Christianity...
He lists the Gentile converts to Christianity and just a few verses down in Colossians 4:14 he says:
So, that reality would make Luke the only Gentile, as we know, to write any of the books of Scripture...
The reason we say as we know is due to the fact that we don’t know who wrote Hebrews...
Many have different theories...
Some think Paul but stylistically is seems too different.
Some have even suggested Luke...
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However, from what we do know...
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Luke is responsible for writing the most significant portion (about 28%) of the New Testament...
He wrote both this Gospel we are studying and the book of Acts which will be our next book we study after the Gospel of Luke, Lord willing.
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Both Eusebius and Jerome from the early church identified Luke as a native of Antioch, which is in Syria...
This would make sense as many of the events recorded in the book of Acts centers on Antioch.
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Luke is also a frequent companion of the Apostle Paul and was with him right up until the time of Paul’s martyrdom...
We know this from what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy which is considered to be the last epistle Paul wrote before his death.
2 Timothy 4:11 says:
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Additionally, from Paul’s writings, when know that Luke was a physician as we saw earlier in the mention of Colossians 4:14.
Luke’s attention to Jesus’ healing ministry also makes sense given his medical background.
In Luke’s day...
In the 1st century...
Physicians did not have a unique vocabulary or technical medical terminology...
So, when Luke is recording the healings performed by Jesus and other medical issues...
He is not using different language from that of the other Gospel writers...
And that makes perfect sense.
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Next let’s look at the date of this work.
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Date:
Both the Gospel of Luke and Acts seem to have been written at the same time...
Together they make up a 2-volume work which is addressed to Theophilus.
Together this 2-volume set cover the events starting from the birth of Christ...
And going all the way to Paul’s imprisonment while he is under house arrest in Rome.
The date this Gospel was written is estimated to be in 60 or 61 AD.
This note from the MacArthur Study Bible explains how we are able to determine that date:
“The book of Acts ends with Paul still in Rome, which leads to the conclusion that Luke wrote these books from Rome during Paul’s imprisonment there [in 60–62 AD].
Luke records Jesus’ prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD but makes no mention of the fulfillment of that prophecy, either here or in Acts.
Luke made it a point to record such prophetic fulfillments, so it is extremely unlikely he wrote these books after the Roman invasion of Jerusalem.
Acts also includes no mention of the great persecution that began under Nero in 64 AD.
In addition, many scholars set the date of James’ martyrdom at 62 AD, and if that was before Luke completed his history, he certainly would have mentioned it.
So, the most likely date for this gospel is 60 or 61 AD.”
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This also shows the reliability of the New Testament accounts...
For Luke to write his Gospel and Acts during this time would mean that any contradictions in his record of history would not only come up but not allow these writings to spread for they would be easily disproven.
However the fact that Luke’s Gospel and Acts was accepted by the early church is evident in its soundness in truthful accounts...
In order to get away with writing a false account or a myth...
A minimum of 100 years must pass from the time the events took place...
Only 30 years passed from the accounts recorded in the Gospels...
And with the events in Acts Luke was writing about events that just happened at the time of his writing.
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Next, lets look at the genre of this writing.
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Format of the Writing:
The format or genre of the Gospel of Luke is of a historical narrative.
Luke’s attention to detail make this account rich with wonderful information about the ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The main areas of Luke's narrative focus on the events leading up to and after the birth of Christ...
The ministry of Jesus in with His mighty deeds and divine words...
And a focus on Jesus’ travel toward Jerusalem which covers His suffering, death, and resurrection.
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Now lets look at the original audience of this Gospel account.
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Original Audience:
Again, as we mentioned above Luke dedicated both this Gospel account and Acts to “most excellent Theophilus.”
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