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Introduction
Before we begin with the details of this work, let's ask
some important general questions.
The author does not identify himself; the title was added much later.
The author also wrote Acts as a 2-volume work for "Theophilus" (see also
Acts 1:1). In Acts, the "we" sections identify him as a companion of
Paul who was with him during his Jerusalem and Roman imprisonments.
By process of elimination (the author mentions most of Paul's imprisonment
companions in the third person), the best candidate is Luke the physician
(Colossians 4:14) and only Gentile author in the New Testament. Additional
corroboration:
Early church writings are unanimous that Luke authored these two
books. Irenaeus (around 180 AD) says,
" . . . Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a
book the gospel preached by his teacher . . . "[1]
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The author's description of physical conditions is more detailed than
the other gospel authors, and uses medical terminology that was current
among first-century physicians (EXAMPLE: "great fever" in Luke. 4:38.
"fever" in Mark 1:30)
Since Acts ends with Paul imprisoned in Rome about 60 AD, it was
probably written then, which would make Luke a little earlier.
Luke wrote his account to "most excellent Theophilus." "Theophilus"
means "lover of God" and is a fairly common name. "Most excellent"
indicates that Theophilus is a man of official rank in the Roman world.
Some speculate that he was Paul's defense attorney, and that Luke was
helping him prepare his defense brief for Paul's trial as an
insurrectionist. Or he may have been a wealthy Christian convert who
served as Luke's patron, subsidizing the research, writing and copying of
his work. It was common for an author to dedicate such a work to his
literary patron.
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He says in Luke 1:3-4 it was to write a carefully researched life of Jesus
so that Theophilus (and probably other Gentile/Greek Christians and
seekers) could be assured of the historical accuracy of what he (they) had
been taught.
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Luke is aware of the oral instruction of the apostles (Luke 1: 2) and of
certain written accounts of Jesus' life (Luke 1: 1), and evidently
incorporated some of them into his own work. Of the 1149 verses in Luke,
350 verses come from MARK and 235 verses seem to come from a source that
MATTHEW also used ("Q;" Logia).
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He also did his own investigation (Luke 1: 3), which accounts for the 564
verses of unique material. Much of this information seems to have come
from eye-witnesses (MARY:
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Luke 2:19, 2:51; ELIZABETH; etc.).
- This raises an important issue: the relationship between spirituality
and history.
Most people today see little or no connection between these
two things—history is dry academia, totally separate from spiritual truth
and experience. But Luke thinks it is very important that what Theophilus
believes about spiritual things (Jesus in this case) is connected to
historical events that actually happened. Why is this so important?
- Because God bestows spiritual blessing through historical
events. The goal of other religions is to escape from or get beyond
history, but the God of the Bible acts in history to save his people. He
acted through Moses to deliver his people from Egypt, and he acted
through Jesus to deliver us from the guilt of our sins. This is one of
his beefs with Israel for worshipping the other gods of Canaan—they
don't actually do anything in history. Likewise, the Greek and Roman
gods were not involved in history, as is the case with Eastern
religions. Something similar is popular today in the NEW AGE/POSTMODERN
notion that our beliefs create reality.
According to the Bible, spiritual blessings are tied to and flow
from what God did in history through Jesus. If it didn't happen in
history, there are no benefits to be had!! Faith in Christ is only as
good as what Jesus has actually done in history.
Imagine going to the bank and trying to draw $50,000 from your
account when you have only deposited $500. When you insist that you
should be allowed to draw $50,000, the teller asks you to document
your deposits of that much money. How would the bank officer respond
if you said it doesn't really matter whether you actually deposited
it or not, as long as you believe you have?
A counselor (or liberal theologian) may say, ‘"What does it matter
whether Jesus actually rose from the dead? If believing in him gives
you relief from your guilt feelings, then Christianity works for
you."
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Compare this to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14-19 (read). Do you
see his point? Unless Jesus was actually resurrected in
history, God's forgiveness for our sins is not available and our
faith is useless. In other words, our faith doesn't create spiritual
blessing; it can only appropriate spiritual blessing that God has
granted through historical events. This is why Old Covenant
believers didn't go to heaven (Luke 16:22; 1 Peter 4:6) or have the
Holy Spirit (John 7:39).
Because historical accuracy provides a rational basis for belief
in Christianity's spiritual truth claims. "Jesus loves me, this I
know—for the Bible tells me so." But why should trust what the Bible
says? Biblical faith is not choosing to believe in spite of the evidence
(gullibility); it is choosing to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior
because of the evidence. And the main kind of evidence is historical.
There are two such kinds of historical evidence.
Luke interweaves his claims about Jesus with references to people,
places, times and events that we can verify or falsify from historical
study.
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- For example, he tells us in Luke 3:1-2 when John the Baptist began
his ministry (read). This is a statement that can be tested. If we
find that these people held different offices and/or never ruled
concurrently, how confident can we be about Luke's claims about
Jesus? But it turns out that he is correct, after all. Every one of
these people (except for Zacharias) are mentioned in extra-biblical
sources, and their terms of office harmonize to date this at 26-29
AD.
During the late 1800's, a renowned archeologist—Sir William
Ramsay—was convinced that Luke was fundamentally untrustworthy
because of (among other things) his assertion that Sergius Paulus
had been proconsul of Cyprus (Acts 13:7). He excavated the Roman
government building and discovered Sergius Paulus' name on the
cornerstone! This discovery began a systematic archeological
investigation of Luke's historical references. Here was his verdict
at the end of his research: "Luke's historicity is unsurpassed in
respect of its trustworthiness . . . Luke is a historian of the
first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy . . .
this author should be placed along with the very greatest of
historians."[2]
Ramsay didn't stop there—he became a Christian as a result of
this research. Why? Because if Luke was accurate in things
he could be tested on, he can probably be trusted in the things he
can't be tested on.
Biblical prophecy provides even greater evidence for the validity
of its spiritual truth-claims. These are historical predictions of key
people and events, with sufficient detail and time between the
prediction and its fulfillment to test. The point is obvious: if this
book can predict the future with this kind of accuracy, this evidence
of its divine authorship provides an adequate basis for us to trust
what it says about God, Jesus Christ, salvation, etc.
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It is a striking and well-concealed fact that the other so-called
"scriptures" are completely lacking in this area. They either don't
deal with history at all (EASTERN RELIGIONS), or they are clearly
falsifiable, [3] or their
predictions are false or hopelessly vague.
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Because historical evaluation exposes many counterfeit versions of
Christianity. Jesus himself predicted that falsehood about him would
abound between his first and second comings. Luke 1:4 hints at the presence
of bogus information about Jesus even during this early time. And even
today, books like the so-called "Gospel of Thomas" present a NEW
AGE-type Jesus that many say is the truth about him. How can we know the
difference between authentic and perverted accounts of Jesus' life and
mission?
Many of these works were composed much later and are obviously
legendary in their "historical" material.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas dates from the middle
of the third century. It records various alleged incidents in Jesus'
early childhood. For example, Jesus molds clay pigeons on the
Sabbath. When people object to this, he claps his hands and the
pigeons fly away. When another child disperses a pool of water Jesus
made, Jesus calls him an insolent, godless dunderhead and paralyzes
him. When another child bumps into his shoulder, Jesus becomes
exasperated and kills the child by cursing him. When his parents
complain about this to Joseph, Jesus smites them
blind.Introduction
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We are going to begin a study of the third book in
the New Testament—the gospel of Luke. Before beginning his
narrative, the author gives us a prologue. Let's read it and
answer some general questions this week that will help us get the
most out of this wonderful book. Read Luke 1:1-4, (KJB); Luke 1:1-4, (NIV).
- What kind of writing is this book? It is obviously
a historical narrative—an account of certain noteworthy events
(Luke 1:1). In fact, though it's not apparent from Luke 1:1-4, this book
is the first half of a 2-part work composed by this author for the
same person (read Acts 1:1). The first half (Luke) is about
the life and ministry of Jesus ("all that Jesus began to do and
teach"); the second half (Acts) is about the beginning of the early
Christian movement—how the resurrected Jesus continued to work
through his followers to spread the message.
In fact, when you read these 2 accounts together, it becomes
clear how carefully the author has crafted them. Luke begins
with the birth of Jesus in the context of Roman rule. He then
follows Jesus as he travels from Galilee through Samaria to Judea
and finally Jerusalem—where the decisive events of Jesus' death and
resurrection are recorded. Acts begins in Jerusalem with
Jesus' resurrection and ascension, and then traces the growth of the
early Christian movement outward from Jerusalem through Judea and
Samaria, and throughout the Gentile world—ending with Paul
proclaiming Jesus in Rome.
- Who wrote this book? The author does not identify
himself, which was not unusual for ancient historians. But we
can be almost positive that the title in your Bibles correct—that
the author of this 2-part history is Luke, who was a physician and
co-worker with the apostle Paul. The writings of very early
Christian leaders are unanimous in this regard. This statement from
Irenaeus (around 180 AD) is typical: "...Luke, the follower of Paul,
set down in a book the gospel preached by his teacher..."
In addition to this unanimous external
evidence, there is also internal evidence corroborating Luke as the
author ("we" sections in Acts; more technical about medical
conditions).
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Luke is up front
that he was not one of the original followers of Jesus, but he wants
to assure us that his information is accurate. The substance
of his account comes from eye-witnesses (Luke 1:2)—the very best source
of information about historical events—especially when many of these
eye-witnesses suffered persecution and even death for their
testimony. Luke also implies that he drew from other written
accounts (Luke 1:1). This becomes clear when you study Luke
carefully and compare it to Matthew and Mark. Of the 1149
verses in Luke, 350 verses come from MARK and 235 verses seem to
come from a source that MATTHEW also used ("Q;"
Logia). The remaining 564 verses contain material
unique to Luke's gospel (e.g., birth account; parables)—the result
of his own additional research and interviews with other eye-witness
(e.g., Mary & Elizabeth?). The result is a work that is
full of historical references (historical figures; chronological
references; places; references to other historical events) that have
been scrutinized by skeptical scholars and verified as reliable
history.
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Although Luke's work
is a masterpiece of historical research, he was not writing as a
detached scholar. Rather, he wrote as committed follower of
Jesus to help another person become an informed follower of
Jesus. "Theophilus" means literally "lover of God," and "most
excellent" probably means that he was a Roman official. Luke 1:4
also says that Theophilus had already received some oral instruction
about Jesus. The best guess is that Theophilus was a Roman
seeker or new Christian who served as Luke's literary patron,
financing this work so that he and many others could have a reliable
written account of Jesus' life and the rapidly growing movement of
his followers. Even then (as today) there were inaccurate
versions of Jesus being circulated (EXAMPLES)—and this is why Luke
and the other three gospels are so important. They provide a
first-century, eye-witness account of the real Jesus—unlike the
other so-called "gospels" of Thomas, Judas, etc. (2nd-4th century
forgeries).
Now that we know why Luke can be trusted in his account of Jesus,
what kind of portrait of Jesus does he draw? Like the other three
gospel authors, Luke selected his material to highlight different
aspects of the same Jesus (e.g., Matthew – Israel's predicted Messiah;
Mark – the Suffering Servant; John – God-Incarnate). Luke focuses
on Jesus as the true Savior of all humanity. As a Roman official,
Theophilus would have been taught that Caesar Augustus was the savior of
the world—but Luke tells him that Jesus, not Caesar, is the true Savior
of humanity.
"Savior" is Luke's distinctive title for Jesus. The Greek
words for "savior" and "save" and "salvation" occur 8 times in Luke
and 9 times in Acts—compared to none for the synoptic gospels.
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The angel Gabriel tells Mary to name her son "Jesus," which means
"God's salvation" (Luke 1:31). Mary responds by "exulting in God my
Savior" (Luke 1:47). Zacharias prophesies that he will "give his
people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God" (Luke 1:77,78). The angel
announces to the shepherds: "Today in the city of David a Savior has
been born to you; he is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). When Simeon
holds the baby Jesus, he prays: "My eyes have seen your salvation" (Luke 2:30).
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(Luke 2:30).
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Luke 19:10 arguably provides a one-verse summary of this entire work:
"The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost."
Luke insists that Jesus is not merely a prophet who speaks God's
message, nor merely a moral model for us to imitate. And he is
certainly not a guru who shows us how to discover the divinity within
us! Saviors rescue dying people, and Jesus is God's one and only
Savior—the One sent to rescue a humanity that is so lost, broken and
guilty that it is doomed without him. God loves us so much that
he initiated the ultimate rescue operation. He entered the human
race through Jesus and solved the core problem by dying on the cross
for our sins. The key question, according to Luke, is: Are you
willing to humble yourself to admit that you need a Savior, or will
you in your pride reject the Savior who loves
you?
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- Everyone is familiar with the phrase "Good Samaritan"—and many know
that it refers to Jesus' parable that is recorded only in
Luke 10:23-37. What most people don't know is that by making the
Samaritan the good-neighbor hero of his story, he was saying that
Samaritans who follow him in serving the needy were more godly than
Jewish priest who didn't. This was super radical and
subversive—like making an African-American the hero to a KKK
audience.
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- Or how about the fact that only Luke records Jesus' healing of ten
lepers (Luke 17:11-19), in which only one of the ten (a Samaritan) turned
back to thank Jesus, while the other nine (presumably Jews) went their
ways?
- Luke records Jesus' love for men, but he emphasizes Jesus' for
women in many ways.
- The birth of Jesus is told from the perspectives of Elizabeth and
Mary. Luke focuses on the great honor and privilege these two
women had by bearing John and Jesus, he highlights their heroic faith
and the joy they experienced in being agents of God's redemptive
plan.
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- He emphasizes the essential equality of women with men in God's
kingdom by reporting the prophetess Anna along with her male counterpart
Simeon as they greet the baby Jesus (Luke 2:25-38), and by narrating how
Jesus healed both a man and a woman of their crippling diseases on
different Sabbaths (Luke 13:10-17; 14:1-6).
- Only Luke tells us that Jesus' ministry was funded in-part by several
wealthy women who also traveled with him as disciples (Luke 8:1-3).
- Against the cultural norms of his day, Luke reports that Jesus
defends his welcome of a harlot who thanked him for forgiving her
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(Luke 7:36-50), and that he defends Mary's right to seat at his feet as a
student/disciple instead of "taking her place in the kitchen"
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(Luke 10:38-42).
- Luke records Jesus' love for the rich (e.g., Zaccheus), but he
emphasizes Jesus' love for the poor.
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- Only Luke records Jesus' claim in Nazareth that he is the Messiah who
has "come to preach the gospel to the poor" (Luke 4:18).
- Only Luke records the parables in that emphasize God's special
concern for the sick and dispossessed who are unable to help themselves
or return favors done to them (Luke 14:7-24).
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- The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) shows God's outrageous
welcome of repentant people who have violated major religious norms
(parental disrespect; sexual immorality; swine-herding)—while hinting
that loyal, "good" are often far from God's heart.
- Luke highlights Jesus' love for tax-collectors—even though Romans
called them "wild beasts in human form" and Jewish rabbis taught that it
was impossible for them to repent or that if they did, the proof would
be that that drooped dead on the spot! But Luke reports Jesus
going to their parties, accepting their dinner-invitations, and
welcoming them as they come out in droves to hear him teach. He
also makes the heroes of two of his unique stories
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Luke's point is that no one is a lost cause to Jesus. No matter
how hated or rejected or sinful or irreligious you have been, Jesus
loves you, he is willing to forgive you, and he can give you a
significant life in his service. He welcomes the "nobodies" of
this world just as much as the "somebodies"—and he calls on his
followers to have the same attitude. If you follow Jesus, he will
expose your prejudices and lead you to initiate involvement with people
that you would never have associated with! That's what he's doing
with this church—thrusting us out from our middle-class suburban
backgrounds to share Jesus' love with people from very different racial
and socio-economic and religious and moral backgrounds. Are you
willing to share Jesus' love with those who are different than you?
• Key
NOTE: If your reference search placed you here it is indication that there are no Outline References for your search on this page. To return . . . click the link on the Key above ~ Or
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- Luke 1:1.
The studies placed here or for yours and mine own edification and are
compiled with no changes other than to link to Bible References, etc.
Some of the outlines and sermons are of my own, most from other ministers
and teachers of Scripture. I wish to thank each one and will give credit
where and if it is available at time of publication.
A special thanks to Marke Copeland. You may scroll down to find Outlines and Sermons on Mark Copeland's Web Site. I have placed these here for convenience and references to my own personal Bible Study series. We owe a great debt of gratitude. Just as Grace is free to the believer, Mark has offered these free on-line. Thank you ever so much Mark!
Occasionally I will place other outlines of verses and chapters as appropriate. I shall endeavour to see that the distinction will be made.--
The outlines, in
either HTML or PDF, provided the links point to outlines stored on either one
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