Luke 1:1 ¶ Forasmuch as
many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things
which are most surely believed among us, 2
Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were
eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3
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, 4 That thou mightest know
the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
Who was Luke? He was
the physician who accompanied Paul.
Colossians 4:14 Luke, the beloved physician, and
Demas, greet you.
Luke and Lucas are the
same person, being two different forms of the same name as Timotheus and
Timothy.
Philemon 1:24 Marcus, Aristarchus,
Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.
Luke wrote in an
educated style and did the work of an historian. When someone says they have
studied, for instance, the American Civil War or the history of the Federal
Reserve Board in our time they usually mean they’ve read other people’s
opinions and accepted those opinions if they agree with them, rejecting those
they don’t. But an historian regards eyewitness accounts, testimonies and
writings as paramount to getting at the truth, not just someone else’s opinion.
He or she collects many
testimonies and sorts through them, considering what has been confirmed by
other eyewitnesses. We believe that this was all done under the direction and
guidance of the Holy Spirit, the wisdom given to Luke by God, to give us what
God wants us to have.
The twin doctrines of
inspiration and preservation are very important to our faith and are usually
discounted by those who do not believe.
2Timothy 3:16 All scripture
is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect [for
perfect as complete see 2Chronicles 8:16; Colossians 4:12; & James 1:4], throughly furnished unto all good works.
Psalm 12:6 The words of the
LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of
earth, purified seven times.7 Thou shalt
keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
First, God gave wisdom
and understanding to the men who wrote our Bible and then to the churches that
preserved those writings down through the centuries, filtering, eliminating,
and consolidating what was written. Preservation means that the action of God
was not limited to the original autographs like fundamentalists and
evangelicals like to believe. In fact, God did not elevate the original
autographs. When the king destroyed the originals of what Jeremiah wrote we
have this;
Jeremiah 36:32 Then took
Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who
wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which
Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.
So, no one knows what
those originals said and it’s really not important. What we have is what’s
important.
First, the Bible is
given by inspiration and just what is that? It is not word-for-word dictation.
Job 32:8 But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth
them understanding.
What is understanding?
Words linked by and are typically
synonyms.
1Kings 4:29 And God gave
Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and
largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
And so, inspiration is
also wisdom.
2Peter 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved
brother Paul also according to
the wisdom given unto him hath
written unto you;
Often these words were
written down by a third party, an amanuensis, as the giver of the words spoke
them, moved by the Holy Ghost, the very mind of God.
2Peter 1:21 For the
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Now that Luke feels his
understanding is perfect or complete (see Colossians 4:12 for a definition of
perfect as complete) on the entire matter of what happened he writes to an
acquaintance or friend named Theophilus. Luke’s writing doesn’t end with his
gospel. He wrote the Acts of the Apostles as well.
Acts 1:1 The former
treatise have I made, O Theophilus,
of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
Theophilus is a name that means, “lover of God.”
While Luke was writing, perhaps, to a Roman official who was a Christian by the
use of the epithet most excellent the
Holy Spirit was writing to all believers. This account is for you.
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