Luke 1:1-4
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning, were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightiest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed," Luke 1:1-4. We learned a lot about Luke from the introduction last time, and one of the things we learned was that Luke was not an eyewitness to the life, death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This means that he was not an apostle appointed by Jesus Christ. The last man to be appointed an apostle by Jesus Christ was Saul of Tarsus, known as the apostle Paul (Acts 9). Luke never claimed to be an apostle. One of the things we learned about Luke is that he wasn't looking for popularity. Luke humbly served Jesus Christ. Luke was a Christian, a missionary, a physician, and a historian. As he wrote this gospel and the book of Acts, he was on a mission. His mission was to accurately record the life of Christ, and the actions of the apostles and the early church, and the actions of the apostle Paul.
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us," Luke 1:1. Apparently many people had attempted to write about Jesus Christ. "Have taken in hand" means to undertake, attempt. Whatever had been written at that time was not orderly. More importantly, whatever was written at that time was not inspired by God. God has given us four books about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We know them as the four Gospels. This term is a little misleading in that there is only one true Gospel. What we have are the four written accounts of the Gospel. All four accounts were given to us by God. None of them contradict each other. There have been multitudes of books written that claim to be gospels, but it is obvious fairly quickly that these other books contradict what God has given to us in the four gospel accounts. Sometimes the are called "the lost" gospels. Just to name a few: the gospel of Peter, Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Judas, James, and Andew. To give an example of how bizarre these other books are, here are some examples of what was written from the gospel of Peter: "And in the night in which the Lord's day was drawing on, as the soldiers kept guard two by two in a watch, there was a great voice in the heaven; and they saw the heavens opened, and two men descend from thence with great light and approach the tomb. And that stone which was put at the door rolled of itself and made way in part; and the tomb was opened, and both the young men entered in. When therefore those soldiers saw it, they awakened the centurion and the elders, for they too were hard by keeping guard; and, as they declared what things they had seen, again they see three men coming forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one, and a cross following them. And of the two the head reached unto the heaven, but the head of him that was led by them overpassed the heavens. And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, Hast thou preached to them that sleep? And a response was heard from the cross, Yea."
These events do not line up with the true gospel books. It is as if they were trying to fill in the gaps, and in doing so they have destroyed the life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. The true church has always rejected these books and labeled them as heretical. They are truly a working of the enemies of Christ; therefore, they are anti-Christ. The writings of these heretical books also have much later dates attributed to them. They were not written in the first century, nor were they written by the people whose names they bear.
Luke did not just throw something together and stick his name on it. First, Luke was writing the inspired Word. He was writing Scripture. Second, he was getting his information from first hand accounts. Notice in verse one, "to set forth in order." This means to place in one's proper category. To set in order, to arrange. There may have been small events of the life of Christ here and there, but Luke was gathering info to make one complete gospel. This declaration is what was fully established as true among the early church. It was written as recited by eye witnesses. Those who were there accurately communicated the life of Christ to Luke.
"Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word," Luke 1:2. These were there from the beginning. "From the beginning" is different from "In the beginning." "In the beginning" speaks of the eternal existence of Christ. He has always been the Eternal Son of God. There has never been a time when He was not. We believe this by faith (Hebrews 6:18; 11:1). "From the beginning" speaks of the time and events surrounding the life of Christ. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full," I John 1:1-4.
Luke is speaking with those who were there from the beginning, and he continues to write to the end of Paul's life at the end of the book of Acts. Luke spoke with different people, who were there at different times. Luke did not get to speak with John the Baptist, or John the Baptist's parents, but he did get to spend time with Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was also the cousin to Elisabeth, which is John the Baptist's mother. Luke would be able to accurately record those things Mary recited to him, and what others recited to him. "From the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word." The ministers of the word would be the apostles and the disciples of Christ that were with Christ after He started His earthly ministry.
"It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus," Luke 1:3. Luke took the information given to him, from different people, at different times, and put them in order, which defined means consecutively. Luke did this for the benefit of Theophilus, and for the benefit of the world. "Theophilus" means friend of God. "Most excellent" speaks of dignity, noble. Whether Theophilus was an actual person or not we cannot be dogmatic, but what we do know is why Luke wrote this Gospel.
"That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed," Luke 1:4. "Certainty" means security:- safety. This Gospel was written so that the reader would be grounded by being rightly informed of the life of Christ. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the true Gospels. They point to Jesus as the only Saviour. They give us assurance of Who Jesus is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He is going to do. Have you trusted the Jesus Christ of the Gospels; the Jesus Christ of Scripture? Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
