Luke 1:1-4 "Introduction & Prologue"

Let’s Pray!

Good Morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Family… it’s been a hard week.

Forever both 9/10 & 9/11 will now be remembered for attacks on our freedoms… and our way of life… on our biblical values… on founding principles of our country.

We live in a time and in a country where we DO NOT expect physical persecution…

But, those days cannot be taken for granted anymore.

Things changed this past Wed, Sept 10th when Charlie Kirk was assassinated for boldly speaking truth… to a society who’s mind is blinded by the god of this age.

Most of us have never witnessed an assassination… especially not of a key figure for our faith and liberty.

We assume our freedoms are secure… but this evil has rocked us to the core… seeing a fellow believer and Patriot… Charlie… a bold voice for faith… become a modern martyr.

Charlie walked worthy of his calling… and, I pray many awaken. I pray those who have been sitting idly by would stand… and walk in the center of God’s will for the calling He placed on their lives.

Right now… there are two celebrations happening… many unbelievers… to whom the gospel is veiled… are disgustingly rejoicing that Charlie voice seemingly has been silenced.

Though I am fully convinced… God… like He does… will use what was meant for evil to bring about good… and save many people alive.

Charlie’s voice will continue to be played through social media…

His death will increase the awareness of who he was… what he fought for… and being that he has probably answered about every debatable question that could ever have been asked…

There will be those who watch and consider… and repent.

AND in his absence… God will stir the hearts of many… God will raise up another and another and another… to continue speaking boldly in the face of evil.

Charlie’s wife, Erika, has already promised so with fierce determination.

AND, they are already seeing results… Aaron, here at church, texted me this morning that he’s been at a Turning Point USA Conference… and they announced that in the past few days they have received over 18,000 requests for new Turning Point chapters.

18,000! That’s encouraging! Many are stepping up.

The other celebration happening now is heavenly… for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord…

And Charlie ran his race with endurance and to obtain the prize.

He fought the good fight of faith… he lay hold of eternal life…

He like Paul could say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:7)

And, NO DOUBT, upon closing his eyes the last and opening them… there he was… in the presence of Jesus Christ our Lord…

Hearing the words, of Matthew 25:21 “‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”

Can we clap now?… feel free to shout… in celebration… in rejoicing of the life and faithfulness of our brother… Charlie Kirk.

In an interview, Charlie was asked How he wanted to be remembered, and Charlie responded he wanted to be remembered ‘for courage for his faith… the most important thing to him was his faith.’ Amen to that.

After Jesus ascended, He “gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God...” (Eph 4:11-13).

God gave us these gifts… the roles… to allow the church to function in it’s fullest… and Charlie Kirk… functioned… in that list… as an evangelist.

Through debate… a platform opened for him to preach the Gospel to the lost at college campuses.

In heated moments, he was gifted to turn the conversation from a topic… to his testimony of hope and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Charlie once said, “Before I go onto a college campus, my prayer is very simple, “God, use me for your will.”

And, Charlie was faithful to walk in God’s will for his life.

And we need to be faithful to be in the center of God’s will and calling for our lives too.

Maybe you’re called to do what Charlie did… I know God is already stirring hearts in this church to be bold like Charlie…

One young man even applied to begin a Turning Point high school chapter here in town.

I’ll happily fan the flame of that calling…

And, I’ll be faithful to follow God’s lead for us… and to be faithful to my calling… that of a Pastor/ Teacher…

… which is to guide, nurture and feed the flock… through long-standing relationships… by getting deep into the details of life… with all it’s messy-ness… and by teaching the meat of the word of God.

Charlie planted… I and Pastor/Teachers like me… we water… and any increase and all glory goes to God.

Both are important… one must plant… one must water… otherwise… the seed never gets planted… or once planted it will not grow.

The body of Christ… all of you… we all have roles… to serve our Lord… and walk in the will of God.

This is how we honor those who have died for faith… yes Charlie Kirk, but even more Jesus Christ… who lived perfectly and died for our sins.

From Wednesday on… I’ve been pretty drained… I’ve had trouble focusing… and I’m feeling all kinds of emotions… probably just like you…

On Wednesday… which was the worst… I managed to find these words to post on social media…

I wrote, “We honor Charlie by carrying the torch that should fuel the fire of every believer… Speaking truth in love and that of Jesus Christ, as Charlie did.”

So… we’re going to do that now. We’re not going to stop teaching the word of God… I know Jesus would not want that… and I’m sure Charlie wouldn’t want that either.

So, let’s now faithfully open our Bibles… to the Gospel of Luke.

If you’re new to Calvary Chapel… and feel led by the Spirit to make this church your home… then you’ve picked a good week to join us…

… because today we begin a new book… The Gospel of Luke. Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 1. Luke 1:1-4 today.

Last week we finished Romans… 16 chapters… a 44 week journey… just shy of a year.

I hope you love Gospels… because we’ll be camping out in the 24 Chapters of Luke for some time… I estimate around 19 months in Luke…

We journeyed through the 28 chapters of Matthew in 21 months.

And, we journeyed through the 16 chapters of Mark in 15 months…

… so based on that pace… 19 months more or less in Luke… we’ll see… maybe we’ll be raptured before then.

I’m excited to begin Luke… I enjoy his style… his details… the events unique to his Gospel.

It’s going to be a nice change of pace from Romans… the epistle we just finished.

But, I’m partial to narratives… so, of course, I think it will be nice.

And that’s what the gospels are… theological narratives… or narrative biographies about Jesus Christ to inspire faith.

Gospels share the accounts of Jesus’ birth… life… teachings… miracles… fulfilled prophecies… death… resurrection… ascension.

They capture the real accounts of Jesus’ early life and three-year ministry… and are written either thematically or chronologically by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

… and are intended for a broad audience.

Very different from epistles… which are letters… written in letter format with an opening, body and conclusion…

The epistles were written by early church leaders (mostly Paul)… and written to specific churches or individuals with the purpose of providing instruction, encouragement, correction… or theological guidance.

Epistles aim to take the teachings of Christ… to instruct and guide believers in faith… to apply the message of Jesus Christ to Christian life.

And, we’ve been blessed… over the past year… to be on that journey in Romans.

But, now… we enter back into the Gospels… specifically to the third Gospel listed in our Bibles… the Gospel of Luke.

And, to lay the foundation for this book we will be studying for the next year and a half… as I like to do with any new book we enter…

Today, will be a broad introduction to this book… and we will look at Luke’s introduction to this Gospel… in a message titled “Introduction & Prologue.”

And, in reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read our passage.

Luke 1:1–4 “Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

Before we look at Luke specifically… I want to touch on the Gospels in general…

One quick point… and you may know this, but I don’t like to assume because people often tell me about a new thing they learned… something I almost skipped…

But the first three Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are called the Synoptic Gospels… while they are different… they share a common view of Jesus’ Galilean Ministry.

The word “Synoptic”… is a compound word…

Gk “sun” meaning “together” and opsis meaning “view”… so Lit. it means “together view.”

John’s Gospel stands on it’s own… he wrote much later and looks back on Jesus’ ministry from a different vantage point.

So we have Four Gospels… and perhaps you’ve never considered this, but “Why Four Gospels?”

Was it necessary for the Holy Spirit to inspire Matthew, Mark, Luke and John each… individually to write a Gospel account?

For us… we’re ‘Merican… we like efficiency. Couldn’t God just have consolidated the account of Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension into one account??

He could have, but in wisdom He did not…

His will and His purpose… for the telling… of His Son’s story… the account of our Messiah… was not sufficient in the hands of one man alone. God required four.

But, why four?

One reason… and there are several… was to establish the witness of Jesus Christ.

Four writers. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John testify of the Gospel… the “Good News” of Jesus Christ.

Two or three witnesses established a matter in the Jewish legal system (Deut 19:15)…

And, here stands Four witnesses who bear testimony of Jesus Christ.

Plus, post resurrection… there were over 500 eye witnesses of Jesus Christ according to 1 Cor 15:6… thus the testimony of Jesus Christ is firmly established.

And these four Gospel writers… as they share the account of Christ… they do so in a complementary fashion… not contradictory in any way.

Four men… four minds… four perspectives… adding shades of depth… brushstrokes of insights…

Which was needed in this first century, because the Church was coming together, but was strongly diverse.

The church consisted of Jews, Romans, Greeks… and how they thought… how they perceived the world… and God…

… plus their background with Scripture or lack thereof…

… it was vastly different.

So in wisdom… God inspired four Gospel writers to write to these different audiences… and in writing styles that would resonate with their unique background.

And, this demonstrate God‘s love for people. He desires to reach different people groups… so He inspires four men to communicate in such a ways as to reach their hearts.

The Holy Spirit does the same with people today… drawing them to Jesus… convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

And, then guiding the believer in all truth.

And, these four separate accounts… portray various facets of Jesus…

When four people look at a diamond in all it’s brilliance… they may come away with different impressions… because when it reflects and interacts with light… you see various colors and sparkle.

In the fire of the diamond… one focuses on red… another orange… yellow, green, blue… violet…

And the facets of Jesus… seem portrayed as one examines the faces of the Cherub in Ezekiel 1:10 “…the face of a man…the face of a lion…the face of an ox…and the face of an eagle…”

Each of these faces capture a characteristic of Jesus Christ that is emphasized repeatedly in each Gospel.

And, our Gospel writers see and portray Jesus in four different angles or views… each connecting deeply with their intended audience.

Matthew… a Jewish Tax Collector… wrote to the Jews… and portrays Jesus as their King (the Lion in Ezekiel 1… king of all animals)… and as their Messiah (the Lion of the Tribe of Judah) who fulfilled many OT prophecies.... as seen in a key word Matthew uses… “fulfilled.”

The genealogy in Matthew… goes back to king David to prove to the Jews that Jesus is of Royal lineage…

He is the Son of David… fulfilling the Davidic covenant of 2 Sam 7:12-13… and fulfilling prophecy that Messiah would come from David’s line.

Mark… John Mark… John was his Hebrew name… and Mark was his Roman name…

He wrote his Gospel to the Romans. In the Roman world… slaves were common. And, Mark portrays Jesus as the suffering servant (the Ox in Ezekiel 1… the beast of burden).

There is NO genealogy in Mark’s Gospel… as a slave had no genealogy.

Luke… wrote to a Greek audience.

He emphasizes Jesus’ humanity… portraying Jesus as God incarnate, thus the Man in Ezk 1.

Jesus’ genealogy in Luke goes all the way back to the first man, Adam… again emphasizing His humanity.

And John… he wrote a highly evangelical Gospel written for those who had not yet believed in Jesus Christ.

John uses the word “believe” 101x in his Gospel. The other three Gospels combined only use the word “believe” 38x total.

And, John portrays Jesus as God… the Eagle in Ezk 1… symbolizing the majestic and divine, soaring and transcendent.

And Jesus’ genealogy in John’s Gospel goes beyond humanity and enters into eternity.

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John takes us back to the heavenly and then forward to God’s incarnation.

So this is “Why Four Gospels?”

Four writers… four witnesses… who uniquely speak to the hearts of Four Audiences… and portray Four facets of the Christ (He is King, Servant, Human, and God).

This was the will of God.

Ok… let’s now shift… and begin to focus specifically on the Gospel of Luke… and I like to approach any new Book we enter asking investigative questions.

There are what journalists, researchers, and investigators call “the Five W’s and How.”

Who, what, where, when, why and how? And these are good questions to ask when looking at a new book of the Bible to ground yourself in understand the person, audience, location, time, and purpose of the writing.

So, Who wrote the Gospel of Luke?

We open our Bibles… we turn to Luke 1… we look above verse 1… and what does it say?

Most Bibles simply read “Luke.” King James and NASB state, “The Gospel According to Luke.” The Complete Jewish Bible reads, “The Good News of Yeshua the Messiah, as Reported by LUKE.”

But that was a statement added years later after the original writing. It speaks to a general consensus that scholars agree that Luke is the author.

But, when you read through the first four verses of Luke… what’s notably absent is the name “Luke.”

In fact, you read through the whole Gospel… and not once do you find his name.

Only 3x in the entire Bible is Luke mentioned and always in Paul’s epistles.

So… are the scholars trying to bamboozle us? Is this trickery?

Absolutely not.

The key to finding the who… lies in the evidence. And, you might ask, “What evidence?”

Great question… and now I’m required to tell you more than you want to know. But, fear not… I won’t nerd out too long.

But this is interesting… and you have to be very intentional to think about these things which we don’t often do.

So, starting a new book gives us that opportunity to pause and consider what we are about to read.

With that… when Bible Scholars seek to determine information like “who” wrote a book of the Bible… they look at internal and eternal evidence.

Evidence found without the writing of scriptures… is external evidence… clues found in the world… such as archeological evidence… and writings from early church fathers and secular historians like Josephus.

Supporting Luke’s authorship… there are manuscripts from the 2nd century testifying Luke was the author…

And writings of early church fathers (Irenaeus, Clement, Tertullian, and others)… confirm Luke’s authorship through oral tradition.

Evidence found within the writings of scripture… is internal evidence… like when an author clearly identifies himself as the author.

Several OT prophets write, “The word of the Lord came to...” and then they write their name. Paul, James, Peter, Jude, John… name themselves in their writings.

That’s clear internal evidence of authorship… but when the name is absent… like in the case of Luke… you have to look at unity of the Bible…

And… there are several clues that support whoever wrote Luke… also wrote Acts… the Acts of the Apostles.

Now… I’m not going to get too deep here… because you can venture far down the rabbit hole.

But, the author of these two NT writings have a very similar style… with over 400 shared words and phrases not commonly found elsewhere in the NT.

Which is called “Stylistic and Linguistic Unity.”

There is also “Thematic and Narrative Continuity”… such as themes of including Gentiles in God’s plan… fulfilled prophecy… and… of great significance…

Luke’s Gospel ends with Jesus’ ascension… and Acts begins with the same event.

So, Luke is like part 1… and Acts part 2… from the same author… Acts picking up where Luke leaves off.

Add to this that both Luke and Acts are written to someone named “Theophilus.”

That name only appears twice in scripture… Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1.

In Acts 1:1 we read, “The former account I [I is the author] made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach...”

And, Luke 1:3 states, “… it seemed good to me [the author] also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus…”

So… it’s accepted that Luke is the “I” and the “me”… the author writing to Theophilus, but, how do we know?

The key is found in the the “We” passages in Acts. The writer of Acts… beginning in Acts 16 begins to write himself into the book.

Here’s three of those key “We” passages…

Acts 16:10 “Now after he [Paul] had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia...”

So it’s evident that the author was a travel companion to Paul.

Acts 20:5-6 “These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas. 6 But we sailed away from Philippi...”

Acts 27:1 “And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion...”

You get the picture… the author travelled with Paul on his missionary journeys.

And Luke is mentioned as a travel companion with Paul in Col 4:14, 2 Tim 4:11, and Philemon 24.

So scholars have taken much time to examine Paul’s known travel companions… and rule out those who were known to be NOT with Paul during these “we” mentions…

… and through process of elimination… scholars have determined Luke remains the only viable option.

So… Who wrote the Gospel of Luke? Luke did. The evidence is strong.

And, if I were to ask you… WHO is the premier… the majority writer of the New Testament?

Who would you choose? Many would lean towards Paul…

… because he wrote half… 13 of the 26 New Testament books.

And, while Paul wrote more books than Luke… Luke may have written more words than Paul.

If Paul wrote Hebrews (whose Author is unknown)… then Paul is the major New Testament writer… at 2337 verses.

But, if Paul didn’t write Hebrews, then he wrote 2034 verses… and Luke wrote 2158 verses… making Luke the majority writer of the New Testament.

I know this matters to you.

The number of verses is definitely a question on the test later… so I hope you took good notes.

And, I don’t want to see any peeking at your neighbor.

Even if you’re married. Ladies you have my permission to elbow your husband if he’s cheating.

So… one of those two, Paul or Luke, wrote most of the New Testament… of course as inspired by the Holy Spirit… and what a blessing their work is for us today.

So… we’ve established the Luke wrote Luke… but WHO was Luke?

He is mentioned by name three times in Scripture… all by Paul

In Col 4:14 Luke is called “the beloved physician.”

In Philemon 24, Luke is listed with others as Paul’s “fellow laborers.”

Laboring for the Lord… as Paul’s ministry partner.

Luke has even been titled, “Luke the evangelist.”

And, in Paul’s final letter ever to be written… in 2 Tim 4:11 Paul writes, “Only Luke is with me.”

Which just strikes me… because this was just prior to Paul’s martyrdom around 66 A.D.

Only Luke was with Paul during his final imprisonment in the dark, damp and cramped Roman Mamertine prison… a really bad subterranean dungeon.

And, Luke was faithful to assist Paul… to the end.

And, they didn’t let their circumstances stop them…

They pressed forward… completed writing 2 Timothy… not in the flesh, but as through the Spirit.

The same Spirit in-dwelling believers.

So, no matter your circumstances… keep doing the work of the Lord… like Paul… like Luke…

… and like Erika Kirk who has vowed… with fire in her heart… to continue fighting the good fight.

Luke was NOT one of the Twelve Apostles, nor was Mark, so half the Gospels were written by non-apostles.

And, Luke was a Gentile… How do we know?

The name “Luke” Gk Loukas… is a common Greco-Roman name, more typical of Gentiles.

Early church tradition… and early writings from Church Fathers identify Luke as a Gentile.

And, Paul… In Col 4:7-15… makes a distinction between his only fellow workers “who are of the circumcision” (meaning Jews)… then Paul lists his other companions (Gentiles)… and Luke is listed with the Gentiles.

And, so… this makes Luke the only Gentile or non-Jewish writer of the New Testament.…

And how fitting… that the Holy Spirit would inspire a Gentile to write the Gospel record specifically written for a Gentile audience.

As mentioned Luke was “the beloved physician.”

Paul certainly had “very dear” feelings towards Luke… because Paul had some medical issues.

It’s thought eye issues… and what a blessing to have a trusted physician as a companion.

In the 2 1/2 years we were in the Philippines, my family had 7 hospitalizations… and it was a blessing to have access to Doctors… when we fell ill.

How much more for Paul… where medical hospitals… and medical technology was not as readily available.

Paul said Luke was a “beloved physician.” I definitely appreciate physicians… I’ve not grown so close to one to say they are very dear to me.

I’ve had a Dr. help me quite a bit in recent years… and I’m grateful… especially when they are a good physician.

Some of us have seen quack physicians… I had a Dentist once give me the shortest cleaning ever and said, “Ok, you’re done!” I replied, “Really? Usually hygienists work longer with cleanings.” … “Well [he said]… it’s not really great for your enamel to scrape them… and besides… your insurance company doesn’t really pay me except for major procedures.”

First and last time I saw that quack… don’t worry… no one in this state.

Luke was not like that… we can assume he worked “heartily as unto the Lord.” (Col 3:23)

As should we… in our career or calling… we should work with enthusiasm and from the heart to God… not to people.

Let the work of our hands testify of our love for God. Let people see that our work reflects a higher call than simply receiving a paycheck.

In first century context… medical practitioners ranged from…

… “public physicians” paid by the city to serve the citizens…

… to free physicians who practiced medicine as a trade or profession…

… to slave physicians who served one wealthy household.

Probably many of the “free” physicians in the U.S. today… feel like “slaves” to the healthcare system or the hospital they work for.

Maybe they’d trade it all in to work for just one family without the headaches of malpractice insurance and HMO’s.

Interesting, Luke writes in his gospel and Acts to Theophilus…

One thought… a theory on who Theophilus was, and I think it’s a good thought…

Is being he is address in V3 as “most excellent Theophilus”… “Most Excellent” being a title for high ranking government or military officials…

… that Luke served in Theophilus’ household… perhaps even once as his slave.

But, Theophilus recognizes Paul’s great need for a physician… and recognizes the higher calling for Luke’s life… higher than simply being the family physician…

… and he becomes the patron… the financial supporter for Luke in ministry.

And, then… just as missionaries write newsletters and send ministry updates to their sending churches…

Luke writes the Gospel and Acts both to Theophilus.

And this would be probably the highest thank you one could receive!

In a day when there was no written New Testament… imagine being the fist to receive “The Gospel According to Luke”… then later “The Book of Acts.”

To be Theophilus reading the divinely inspired words… of the eye witness accounts documenting the life of Christ and His ministry… and then the work of the Holy Spirit in the early church.

What impact that would have on the first reader’s heart!

How could Theophilus but weep reading the eternal words of God?

To experience how these writings impacted his own heart… and then to see how these writings ministered to his family and friends.

And then to know that his support of Paul… as a patron… would have such a ripple effect through time… and many copies were made and distributed to the people of that day.

How people would change their mind about Jesus and believe in Him?

If Luke was his household Physician… right he was to release Luke… to the high calling of ministry to Jesus Christ… and then to financially support that calling.

And this would have been a sacrifice. Whether the theory is right or not…

We have so many examples of people who gave much for the cause of Christ in scripture and throughout history…

Willingness to sacrifice Isaac…

Leaving Egyptian royalty…

Leaving one’s home stating… “Where you go, I will go.”

Putting one’s life on the line… “If I perish, I perish.”

Staring at the fiery furnace and still denouncing idolatry…

Fishermen dropped their nets…

A widow giving her two mites…

Breaking the alabaster flask…

We could go on and on…

But, the ultimate sacrifice… giving up divine privileges to come from heaven to earth… entering creation… to die on a cross for redemption.

There is a cost to follow Jesus Christ.

King David was instructed to acquire the threshing floor of Ornan and build an altar there, and when Ornan was willing to give it for free…

Wise was the reply of king David in 1 Chronicles 21:24 “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.”

An sacrifice to the Lord is costly… especially a burnt offering… which is total consecration…

… but there is no better sacrifice… no better cross to bear… no better way to store up treasures in heaven…

Offering our very bodies as a living sacrifice is our reasonable service to God.

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s martyrdom… verses like Romans 12:1 feel different… deeper and more real than ever before.

But, the believer never dies… we just enter into our true citizenship in heaven.

The cost to follow Christ is worth it.

And for Theophilus… to give up Luke… and to be his patron… if that was the case…

Costly, but worthy.

So… we know that Luke was a Dr. … Did you know that church tradition… especially Eastern Orthodox… holds that Luke was also an artist.

There’s a few paintings out there that are attributed to him in legend. He’s even considered “the patron saint of artists and Doctors.”

Interesting legend.

For me… I like my surgeons to think more like a Dr. than an artist.

I think… at least how I perceive Dr’s and artists.

I don’t want to look like a Picasso or a a Dali painting post-surgery.

Just put me back together right.

Use more right than left brain thinking.

There’s a lot more that could be said about Luke… he was detailed in his way of interviewing people… and chronicling the Gospel account, but we’ll come back to that.

But, let move from Who… to our second observation as a point of introduction to this book, “What is the Gospel of Luke about?”

One purpose… as we read in vv3-4 was for Luke to write an ‘orderly account to Theophilus… to demonstrate that his faith in Jesus Christ… rested on historical fact.

A second purpose was to present Jesus as the Son of Man… who had been rejected by Israel… and preached to the Gentiles… so they too would know they could attain salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

This Gospel also serves to put Jesus’ humanity on display…

His prayer life, for ex., is more on display in Luke than the other Gospels.

Luke gospel has been called “the missionary Gospel”…

Since in it the Gospel goes out to the Gentiles.

Some have called it a “discipleship manual”… as Jesus trains His followers.

For example of the 37 parables that Jesus shares in the Gospels.

25 are found in Luke… 23 in Matthew… 9 in Mark… No parables in John.

12 parables are unique to Luke. And, often parables were concealed to the unbelievers, but revealed to His disciples for teaching moments.

So we’ll see these moments in the months ahead… and we’ll be discipled by them.

Luke’s Style in writing: He was a Chronologer.

Luke observed and recorded great details… many details not found in the other gospels. Often details only a Dr. would observe.

Matthew’s style was more of a lecturer… Mark a photographer… and John’s style was discourse.

But, Luke chronicled events… he was an interviewer… as a companion of Paul, he rubbed shoulders with some of the original Apostles… James, the brother of Jesus.… most likely Mary… the mother of Jesus.

Luke’s first recorded miracle: Demons are cast out.- Lk 4:33-36

His Key Phrase: “It came to pass” 10x

Key Verse: Luke 19:10 “…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.””

Luke’s conclusion: the Promise of the Spirit

Matthew concludes with the resurrection; Mark with the Ascension; John with the Promised return.

But Luke with the Promise of the Spirit… and he picks up in Acts 1:5 with Jesus promising the Baptism with the Spirit and then Pentecost in Act 2.

And the disciples were never the same after that.

There is a power to be a witness to Jesus Christ… promised in Acts 1:8 when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

Luke writes about the Holy Spirit more than any other NT writer. In Luke and Acts… 54x Luke writes about the Holy Spirit. (12x in Luke and 42x in Acts).

Acts is the premier writing on the Holy Spirit’s movement in the church age.

Paul writes about the Holy Spirit 17x; Matthew 6x; John 5x; Mark 4x; Peter 2x.

So… we look to Luke’s writings for the Acts of the Holy Spirit.

And, can I say… if your Christian walk if fueled by human effort… and not the Holy Spirit.

It’s a sad Christian walk. Israel wandered in the desert for forty years… a whole generation never entered the promised land.

People say to my wife and I that they don’t know how we do it.

It’s the Holy Spirt. We’re going to read in Luke 1 soon how Mary asks Gabriel how she will conceive being she is a virgin.

And, Gabriel responds Luke 1:35 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you...”

The mighty works of God come about by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Be being filled… continuously with the Holy Spirit.

Third and fourth observations in our introduction… “Where and when was this Gospel written?”

Luke gives us NO Clues as to where he wrote this Gospel… somewhere in the Roman Empire…

It’s been suggested Rome, Caesarea, Antioch, Greece… we don’t know.

Regarding the dating of this Gospel… knowing that Acts was written after Luke…

We get some clues from Acts to give us a date.

The Temple in Jerusalem is still mentioned as standing late in the book of Acts (Acts 24:18; 25:8)… and the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., so prior to 70.

Acts closed with Paul alive and in a Roman prison…

Which seems to take place prior to Nero’s persecution in A.D. 64… so prior to 64.

And, again… Luke was written before Acts…

So a dating of 58-60 A.D. seems to align best with when Luke was written.

Our Fifth observation is Why? Why is the Gospel of Luke so important?

It’s a gospel uniquely written to present Jesus Christ as the perfect and sinless Man.

And, emphasized the Holy Spirit.

Written in a way that would reach Gentiles.

Emphasizing Jesus’ humanity… emphasizing times Jesus was in prayer.

Emphasizing the historical timeline of Jesus… and the universal message of the Gospel.

That Jesus’ saving work was for all humankind.

Luke gave more attention to the poor and outcasts of society… the Gospel was for them too.

So… this is a unique work. Each gospel is unique and important to share a facet of Jesus… and to reach a specific audience.

Sixth and final observation is How? How is the Book of Acts divided?

If you read commentaries, you will see various outlines that are more or less detailed.

I encourage you to take a look at several to get a feel for what lies ahead.

In general… we are going to see Jesus birth… preparation for ministry…

His three years of ministry… where He grows in popularity and then faces opposition.

This culminates at God’s appointed time at Passover… for Jesus to face His passion, the Cross and death…

Literally becoming the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

We’ll see the resurrection and conclude with the Ascension.

Lot’s of unique teachings… and accounts lie ahead.

It’s going to be rich.

So, that’s our introduction to the Gospel of Luke… let’s now take a quick look at the first 4 verses…

… and what Luke has to say in his prologue… which explains his purpose of writing and his method.

Luke begins in V1 “Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us,...”

Verses 1-4… if you notice are all one sentence. It’s a long and complex sentence.

We might not be so brave to write a sentence this long.

It’s been accused of being a run-on sentence. I asked AI “is this a run on sentence?”

And AI said, “No.” So there you go.

This is a carefully constructed opening sentence typical of formal Greek writings… a customary Greek opening to explain and justify the work.

Further supporting that Luke wrote to Greeks or Gentiles.

And, Luke says many before him had already written an account of the things fulfilled or accomplished among us… speaking about Jesus’ life and ministry…

V2 “… just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us,...”

And these others who also wrote about Jesus’ life and ministry…

Heard the accounts of Jesus directly from eye witnesses and ministers (or servants) of the word.

V3 “… it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus,...”

And, now… Luke decided to also write his own orderly or accurate account.

And Luke assure Theophilus that this account comes by “perfect understanding” which testifies of Luke’s method…

Luke was contemporary with many Apostles who were eyewitnesses and ministers (or servants) of the word.

Luke’s method was to do reliable research and meticulously interview these eyewitnesses…

And, he used their key testimonies for this Gospel.

Luke is writing all of this to Theophilus to ensure him that this account is valid.

And, Theophilus is a Gk. compound word… “Theos” meaning “God” and “Philos” meaning “friend.”

Some think Theophilus was not a person, but just a generic term for the “Friends of God”… that Luke was writing to Christians.

But, Luke gives him the title “most excellent”…

… which we discussed earlier was applied to high ranking government or military officials.

Interesting… in Acts 1:1 this title was dropped.

… which leads some to believe that Theophilus came to faith after the Gospel of Luke… and now formalities are not needed as they are now brothers-in-Christ.

Wrapping up… V4 shares Paul’s hope for Theophilus… and for all of us today…

V4 “… that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.”

The Bible is truth that is certain. It’s the inspired word of God.

It’s not fables… not mere stories…

It was assembled by one divine author and over 40 divinely inspired human authors… over 1500 years… and on 2 continents…

With one consistent message: God’s loving pursuit of humanity for reconciliation through faith in Jesus Christ.

And, Luke’s desire for Theophilus is whatever he had heard about Jesus to date… that in reading the words of this Gospel…

That he would know (meaning “to know exactly” and “acknowledge”)… that this account is reliable… and there is a truthful foundation for faith.

This is the Gospel we will be reading in the months ahead… Lord willing.

Read ahead.

Let’s Pray!

With the week we’ve had… with the feelings we’ve felt… please come up and pray.

Pray for your personal needs… pray for our nation… for lost family members… for salvation if you’ve never put your trust in Him… for the Kirk family… come and pray.

And, may our God of comfort go before you this week… to be courageous in faith… to open doors for conversation…

And, may He give you His wisdom as we navigate the seas of this world.

God bless you in this week ahead.