The Gospel According To Luke: Jesus The Perfect, Righteous Man Part 1

Lu 23:47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous man.”

V1:1-4 This letter was written to Theophilus, a man of some distinction (most excellent), to assure him that what he had been instructed about Jesus Christ was true.

·       The Holy Spirit gave Luke perfect understanding of all things from the very first (V3a). Could Luke have believed the scripture as did the wise men from the east? I wonder if Luke was looking for the virgin birth of the Messiah or witnessed other events. Or, had Luke been one looking for John the Baptist?

·       Luke: 2Ti 4:11, Col 4:14. Luke, a physician, traveled with Paul and probably cared for him while in prison and after being whipped and robbed. He would have been more highly educated than the twelve apostles.

V1 The many: Included the apostles and the 70 (Luke 10:1, 17) sent out speaking and working as the ambassadors for Jesus Christ (V16:16). These men likely recorded where they went, the miracles done through them, the reaction of those they ministered. They would have recorded all they heard Jesus speak and all He did. There must have been others also who declared what they had witnessed.

Vs1, 2 the “Us”; Matthew, Mark, Luke.

·       Believed what the “many” declared in their writings because they also were eyewitnesses from the beginning. (Mark 1:1)

·       Luke 1:1; 1Pet 5:1; 2Pe 1:16; 1John 1:1

·       The writings of the” many” were delivered to the “Us” who were not only eyewitnesses but also ministers of the word.

·       Acts 6:4 not only preaching and teaching but also preserving.

·       I believe the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew, Mark, Luke to condense the writings of the many into the four books we call the gospels. This was the word spoken of in Acts 6:4 along with the Old Testament scripture.   

The Holy Spirit used Luke, a highly educated, respected, physician, to give credibility to eyewitness accounts recorded by many (V1) others. His letter would have been more respected than those written by the common, less educated men. Theophilus must have needed a more credible witness than who had instructed him before.   

V3b “to write unto thee in order” the way a legal document is written or evidence in a trial is given. The Gospel According to Luke may have been the Holy Spirit’s legal document the proving Jesus Christ is both man and God.

Putting in Order:

·        Psalms 50:21 God will set in order the sins of the wicked before their eyes.

·       40:5 David God’s works are too many for him to set in order

·        Luke substantiated or made clear the truth of Jesus Christ in the eyes of Theophilus.

·       The Gospel According to Luke is the Holy Spirit’s orderly declaration of those things which were witnessed and surely believed among the disciples of Jesus.

·       Letting Theophilus know what he had been told was true.

My Thoughts, what I believe: Theophilus may have been a government official or lawyer who came to believe in Christ through the writings of the “many” and the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to first write to him to assure him of the fact of his salvation. Then secondly the book of Acts of the Apostles because he was representing imprisoned Christians and needed information from a credible source. The testimony of a doctor would be much more respected than a fisherman or a tax collector.

·       Theophilus means friend of God. Could he have been speaking on the behalf Jesus Christ, proving His Resurrection?                         

V4 with John 20:30-31: the reason for the “Gospels’: that we may know for sure who Jesus Christ is and be assured of our salvation through His death, burial and resurrection.

·       The books of the “Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John” were written to prove the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of man, the Son of God.

·       1John 5:13 your belief in Christ is not in vain.