Accomplished and Delivered
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
This morning, we begin a new series on the Gospel According to Luke. You will usually hear me saying Gospel According to Luke (or Matthew, Mark, or John). I don’t say, The Gospel of Luke. I know it’s a bit silly and splitting hairs, but these gospel accounts are not about the authors, but about Jesus. And to say The Gospel of Luke can make it sound like it is the gospel about Luke and I don’t want that to be the case. I have for decades said it this way, and I will probably for decades continue. You may roll your eyes if you would like. If I were in the pews, I probably would be doing it to if I heard someone make such a mountain out of a molehill.
That being said, in my 21 years of preaching, I have never preached through Luke and have rarely preached out of Luke. The Christmas story and the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and son are about it as far as sermons coming out of Luke. And there is a reason: Luke is hard! Luke is unique.
You may have heard of the Synoptic Gospels before. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are the Synoptic Gospels. They are giving a synopsis of Jesus’ life and they are relatively the same. So they could be compiled together, which is often what people do, and see the same account from three different views. John is not part of the Synoptic Gospels because John is very different than the rest. Hardly any of John goes with the other three. But if Luke is part of the Synoptic Gospels which are so similar to Matthew and Mark, then why do I say it’s hard—that it is unique? It is because of Luke’s perspective, or rather then angle at which he narrates events and sayings.
One of the goals that Pastor Matt and I have in this series is to let Luke speak for himself. In other words, we are going to do our very best not to be influenced by Matthew, Mark, or when the occasional reference comes, by John. Luke has an agenda and we want that agenda to come through. So prepare yourselves now. Often when reading a gospel passage, we filter whatever we’re reading through the lens of Matthew. Whether we’re reading in Mark or Luke, we read it with our Matthew glasses on, and distort the agenda of the author. Pastor Matt and I are going to try not to let that happen as we preach through this gospel account.
This morning, I have the privilege to introduce to you the Gospel According to Luke. And in so doing, I want us to see four acknowledgments in this introduction that Luke wrote. He first acknowledges his appreciation for those who have come before. He then acknowledges his aim in writing this particular gospel account. Thirdly, Luke acknowledges his audience. And then, closely related to aim, but altogether different, Luke acknowledges his angle as he wrote this gospel account.
appreciation
aim
audience
angle
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us,
it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
Appreciation
Appreciation
The first acknowledgement that Luke makes in this gospel account is his appreciation to those who have already gone before him and written their own narratives as to the life of Jesus.
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us,
Do not think that Luke is finding fault in their writings. He appreciates all their hard work. Now,we aren’t sure exactly who Luke is referring to here, but we can be fairly confident that he means at least Matthew and Mark. There had to have been others who wrote down their narratives as well; we just don’t have them. Not everyone who wrote of Jesus was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Those who were had their writings preserved and so we have the four gospel accounts along with the rest of the Old and New Testaments.
Traditionally speaking, Luke was the third person to have written a gospel account as Scripture. You can probably guess that in tradition, Matthew was the first, Mark was the second, Luke was the third, and John was the last to write a gospel account. Today, many scholars believe that Mark wrote his first, but tradition tells us that he was second.
Now, you’ll notice that Luke states that these people compiled a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us and that they were delivered to us. That is not only the title of today’s message, but the title of the entire series. Because while Luke may be talking about other gospel accounts, the point is that these things actually happened—they were accomplished. And those accomplishments did not stay silent, but were delivered for us to know and believe. How could someone not be appreciative of these faithful men writing, compiling, and making available—to anyone who could read or hear someone else read—the life of Jesus, his works, and his sayings?
And Luke makes a distinction here. These men were eye witnesses and ministers of the word. While Luke could certainly be considered a minister of the word, he was not an eye-witness. It is very possible that Luke garnered much of his information from these gospel accounts, but he certainly garnered them from faithful men who were eye-witnesses and ministers—preachers of the word.
It is often believed that in order for a biblical author to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, he couldn’t have done any research or gathered data from outside himself. The stuff he didn’t know was supernaturally revealed to him. That is usually not the case. Most biblical authors who were carried along by the Holy Spirit did the hard work of research. When Luke wrote that Mary pondered these things in her heart, it isn’t because the Spirit revealed it to him, but more likely that he talked with Mary herself and she told him.
So Luke, was indebted and appreciative to those who had done much of the leg work. And he was indebted to those who shared with him their experiences and memories of Jesus.
Aim
Aim
But it is not only that Luke acknowledged his appreciation for those who compiled and delivered the gospel narratives before him, but he also acknowledged his aim in writing his own gospel narrative. That being said, this type of narrative is called a bios. It isn’t a biography; it’s bios. Dr. Jonathan Pennington distinguishes bios from modern biography in four areas:
Bios mixes chronology and topics.
Bios writers often wrote mainly controversial subjects.
Bios writers write their subject as someone to be emulated.
Bios writers did not write for information sake, but transformation sake.
So taking the first one (Bios mixes chronology and topics), we find that the gospel accounts are often out of order chronologically. If you read Matthew, Mark, and Luke together, you’ll find that though they often talk about the same subject, they are surrounded by different events. This often makes “fact-checkers” claim that that the Bible contradicts itself because Matthew says such and such happened before this or that, but then Mark says it happened before such and such. Bios writers are more interested in lumping ideas and topics together than presenting a chronological construct of a person’s life.
The second (Bios writers often wrote mainly controversial subjects) isn’t hard to see, is it? Jesus is constantly being confronted by the Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers about all types of controversial issues: marriage and divorce, working on the sabbath, who is my neighbor, etc.
The third (Bios writers write their subject as someone to be emulated) is easy to see as well. But it’s not just that they present the good qualities and not the bad. Jesus, of course, had no bad qualities. But this is why half of the gospel accounts don’t start with Jesus’s birth. You can’t emulate a virgin birth. We have very little about Jesus’s childhood. What we do have is found in Luke! Again, there’s a reason that Luke puts it in there; but it’s only one scene of Jesus’s childhood. The main thing is Jesus’s work and words that the gospel writers want us to emulate.
The fourth (Bios writers did not write for information sake, but transformation sake), is certainly understandable as well. It is not only that we should try and emulate the subject of the bios, but be transformed by him. Life should be completely different because of this man.
And these are Luke’s aims. Look at verse 3 once again.
it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
Luke wanted to write an orderly account for Theophilus. Now, Luke deviates a little from what the norm of bios is. Notice that little clause, “To write an orderly account” there. Luke was not just saying that he wanted to to make sure that all his Ts were crossed and Is dotted. He wasn’t just saying he wanted to make sure all the papers were straight and neat when it was delivered to his audience. Those to words, “orderly account” really mean sequential account. Luke deviates from the norm of putting topics together, and writes things in chronological order. This means that the Gospel According to Luke is most likely the most chronological of all the gospel accounts. This was his aim—to set out a chronological and historical compilation of who Jesus was, what Jesus said, and what Jesus did so that whoever read this account would be transformed by it and start to emulate Jesus.
That’s why Luke wrote in verse 4
that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
Luke wanted his readers to know for sure—know fully—be certain of who Jesus was so that they could be confident in what he was doing in their own lives, transformed and conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
This Jesus who lived the life that you were required to live. This Jesus who died the death you deserved to die. This Jesus who rose after three days defeating sin and death so you could too and who ascended into heaven and is praying for you. This Jesus who made holy in God’s sight and is making holy in reality. This is the Jesus that transforms lives.
Audience
Audience
Which leads us to the third acknowledgement that Luke makes. The first is his appreciation, the second his aim, and now, we see that he acknowledged his audience. In Luke 1:3, we see Paul mentioned Theophilus. Now the great debate over Theophilus is whether or not he was a real person or was Luke using a euphemism for believers in general. The name Theophilus comes from two Greek words: Theos (God) and Philos (Lover/Friend), thus he is writing to someone whose name means “Lover of God” or “Friend of God.” It could actually mean, “Loved by God.” Or he could be writing in general to those who are lovers/friends of God—those loved by God; namely Christians.
Most likely, Theophilus was a real person. He seems to have been somewhat wealthy. We can assume that because Luke gives him the title “most excellent.” This could be simply a courtesy (as he drops the title in Acts 1:1), but typically, Luke uses this to indicate someone in a high position.
But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.
Some think that Theophilus paid for Luke to do this research and writing. There’s nothing to really indicate that in the text, but it would make sense as to why Luke is writing two huge volumes to Theophilus. He was paid to do it. Incidentally, most people think Paul wrote most of the New Testament. Paul wrote most books of the New Testament, but in terms of content, Luke wrote most of the New Testament.
While Theophilus, was most likely a real person who was Luke’s audience, God preserved this gospel account for all lovers of God.
Angle
Angle
So we’ve dealt with Luke’s acknowledgments of his appreciation, his aim, and his audience, and now we turn to his angle. Remember, Luke stated that while the others have compiled and delivered things things, he felt compelled to make an account of his own. It wasn’t that they did an inadequate job, but that there was an angle that had not been taken. And I bring these angles up, not so much because it is in this text (though some are), but because we need to see from here on out, what Luke wants us to be paying attention to. I see four angles that we need to watch.
Fact. Luke seeks to write factually. These are historical events. In the late 19th and into the 20th centuries, critical scholars sought to disprove Luke’s accounts (as they did for the rest of Scripture). But historians today—historians, not just theologians—see the Gospel According to Luke as one of the most factual histories of all time. According to Philip Ryken, William Ramsay—a famous archaeologist—wrote, “Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy; he is possessed of the true historic sense; he seizes the important and critical and shows their true nature at greater length, while he touches lightly or omits entirely much that was valueless for his purpose. In short, this author should be place along with the very greatest of historians.”
Fiction. While Luke took the angle of presenting fact; he also took the angle of presenting fiction. By that I mean Luke’s Gospel Account contains a number of parables. Now parables don’t have to be fiction, but they usually are. Some parables are fact: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. There’s no story being told, just a simile being given. But Luke contains some unique parables and some of the most beloved: the Good Samaritan, the Lost Sheep, Coin, and Son, etc. Parables are typically fictitious stories that serve to prove a point. Luke has lots of them.
Fringe. Luke is also taking the angle of the fringe, the marginalized of society. And this is pervasive. It is throughout his account. Luke talks more about the poor, the unclean, the sinners, women, and children than any other gospel account. These were the people who were ignored, judged, or avoided. Notice in
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Not poor in spirit. Just. . .poor. Only in Luke do we read about the rich man and Lazarus. Luke brings up that it is the rich that Jesus has sent away. Or in
He entered Jericho and was passing through.
And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
While Zacchaeus was wealthy, everyone hated him because he was a tax collector. But Jesus went into his home and ate with him. And look at the response:
And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
Luke wanted to show those who lived on the fringes of society and how Jesus loved them and received them and ate with them, and how they loved him for it. There are some here who feel like you’re on the fringe. You feel unwelcomed. You feel avoided and ignored. Beloved, Jesus does none of those things to you. Though, we his followers may act in these ways, we have a Savior of whom Luke wrote that we could be transformed by him so as to emulate him in his welcoming those who are unwelcomed, love those who are unloved or “unlovable,” pay attention to the ignored and go to those people avoid.
Do you see people in this building who sit alone? Do you see those who stand by themselves? Do you see anyone just waiting for someone to talk to? Sure, it could be that they like it that way. Or it could be that they feel like their on the fringe. It could be that they feel marginalized, unwanted or unwelcome. Are we able to see the loneliness? The longing? The opportunities to emulate our Savior?
Forgiveness. While Matthew and Mark both deal with forgiveness, Luke does so in a unique way. He links salvation and faith like no other gospel writer. He is the only gospel writer to speak of Jesus’s famous words from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Over and again, Luke uses the word “forgive.” Why? Because his aim was to make sure Theophilus was certain about the things he had been taught. He wanted him to have the assurance of forgiveness in Christ.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we conclude with this introduction of Luke, we have seen his acknowledgments of his appreciation to those who compiled and delivered all that Christ accomplished, his aim to help his readers be certain of who Jesus was so that they could be confident in what he was doing in their own lives, transformed and conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, his audience—a man by the name of Theophilus, and his angle—to deal with facts, fictions, the fringe of society, and forgiveness. May we resolve that if this is Luke’s purpose in writing it, may it be our purpose in studying it. May our purpose be to solidify our faith. May we come to this book with fresh eyes and look at it and study it with the lens of Luke rather than of Matthew or Mark.
As we begin these two and a half years of studying Luke, I pray that it will impact us more than ever before. May our seeing Jesus week in and week out impact who we are and how we act. And I pray that if you’ve never put your trust in Jesus’s work, that studying Luke, you will not only come to faith but will be so impacted by his words that you know for certain your salvation is true.