Luke: The Story

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Introduction
How many of us remember sitting around and hearing stories from our parents/grandparents?
Perhaps some times unbelievable and usually unverifiable by us
But what if some one else who was there told the story
An aunt, uncle, grandparent or a friend of your parent
I remember as a kid sitting around my grandparents and listening to my dad and uncles remember stories
Stories give us insight and understanding
We can see why someone does what they do or how they have changed
If we listen carefully
In a sense, it’s the same with Scripture
If we listen/read carefully, looking for clues we can learn and be challenged by it’s truth
The gospels are the stories of Jesus for us to consider
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I. Fulfilled

Long ago before this moment of Luke’s account, God’s story began
Beginning at the fall God promised one who would deliver humanity from the serpent and death
Genesis 3:15 CSB
I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
Through the generations this promise continued
Eventually God promised to bless the world through Abraham and his descendants
Genesis 12:1–3 CSB
The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
As Israel becomes a nation it ends up unfaithful to God and their covenant with Him
They find themselves conquered and exiled and yet the echoes of the promises of God get louder and point to one descendant who would fulfill all those promises and God’s eternal plan
The messiah - savior and king
Who would this be, when would he come and how would they know?
For Luke, the answers to these questions and to the promises had been “fulfilled” in that day
Many have looked to compile a narrative, including Matthew, Mark and John
This was a common practice in Eastern cultures and for Scripture
All with different emphases but all recounting the narrative of Jesus
For Luke he says he is looking to create an “orderly” account
What did Luke mean by this has been somewhat debated, is it chronological or something else, but we do know that Luke had a plan and purpose for his writing, compilation of accounts
Luke wants to tell the narrative of Jesus and all that transpired through, to and around Jesus for the sake of the faith of Theophilus
So perhaps orderly really simply means to show the reality of Jesus as fulfillment
So question to ask is why is this story here, in this part of the story?

II. Investigated

Luke was written anywhere from 60-80 AD
Anywhere from 30-50 yrs after Jesus
It was also not written in Jerusalem but rather in Rome or another Roman/Greek city
Added to that, Luke was a Gentile Dr.; who we see as part of Paul’s mission team in the book of Acts, which is the second writing of Luke to Theophilus.
So Luke was quite removed from the days of Jesus
But he reminds us that narrative of Jesus was passed on through eye witnesses and servants of the word
Luke says he also thoroughly investigated these narrative accounts
Luke became an investigative reporter, digging into the veracity of these things
Oral/written traditions were/are a huge part of Eastern cultures
That’s why Yahweh said to Moses
Exodus 34:27 ESV
And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
These passed down stories encapsulated a person, family or nations faith and traditions
This was extremely important way of teaching each other and the generations to follow. Especially as there weren’t written records for a long time and many if not most within Israel could not read.
Yahweh wanted the story passed on and particularly the story of who He is and what he had promised.
We do this to some degree, although, I don’t know if we always equate meaning to them
Our stories are often just to entertain, but not always
We do this with larger national or international events
Remembrance Day, 9/11
We commonly look at those who sacrificed in the midst of these
These have been “investigated” and recorded
And so for Luke not only had these been passed down but he had investigated these stories and claims carefully and in detail.
It was not that he was there, but worked through all accounts to see how they added up
And the implication is that he found this narrative to be true and worthy to be passed on to Theophilus and to us.
So Luke’s story, Jesus’ story, is a story of fulfillment and truth and...

III. Certainty

Luke’s ultimate purpose is to bring certainty to Theophilus in what he had already been instructed
This is very Greek or western
We want to know for certain in order to believe
For us, Law/truth is based on not only testimony but also evidence
In Israel it was primarily by testimony - 2 or 3 witnesses
We today tend not to just trust someone’s word, even with witnesses, we must see evidence
So we like, with faith as well, to want to know for certain
Apologetics, archaeology, biblical transcripts etc.
So Luke’s thorough investigation should bring us comfort
Because we were not there
And so, in a sense, we have to trust Luke and the other authors
But even more so we have to hear the story of Jesus and allow it to speak to our very reality and life
Does Jesus fulfill what was promised?
Does Jesus’ story speak to our lives?
Why do we need a Messiah?
And what does it mean that the Messiah has come?
This morning is our invitation to come and listen to the story of Jesus, a true story of life and purpose, so that we might believe.
Conclusion
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