Luke: The Gospel of Amazement

Michael Card

• Publisher: IVP
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN:
  9780830868353
• Print ISBN:
  9780830838356
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Luke is the story of how God came to earth in the form of a man, and how that arrival turned the world upside down. Filled with the lyric melodies and thoughtful text you've come to expect from Michael Card, this new album explores the mystery ofincarnation as it was revealed to a historian, doctor and slave named Luke.

Luke 1

A Self-Conscious Writer

1:1-4 Formal prologue.

Parallel Pre-Birth Stories

1:5-25 Details of the birth of John the Baptist. Focus on Zechariah’s disbelief and request for a sign.

1:26-38 Details of the foretelling of the birth of Jesus.
Focus on Mary’s willingness to believe.

Mary Sings

1:39-45 Mary visits Elizabeth.

1:46-56 Mary responds with a song (compare to the song of Hannah in 1 Sam 2).

Zechariah Sings

1:57-66 Birth of John.

1:67-79 Zechariah’s tongue loosed.
He responds with a song.

1:80 Single-verse summary of the growing up of John (compare to Lk 2:40).

A SELF-CONSCIOUS WRITER

1Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us. 3It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, 4so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.

Luke sits down with his pen and parchment and writes his opening statement in perfect Greek. It is an educated man who writes. Over seven hundred words appear in Luke’s writing that can be found nowhere else in the New Testament. This opening paragraph is one single perfectly balanced and constructed sentence!

He acknowledges that many others have already accomplished what he is only beginning to do. Other accounts of the life of Jesus have already been written and apparently circulated. If Luke has the sort of mind we believe him to have, we can be sure he has read them all and fully digested their content. Moreover, Luke has collected eyewitness accounts; one of the most interesting exercises as you read his Gospel is to try to determine who his source might have been.

When we read the nativity accounts, we see that Luke knows what Mary was thinking and feeling. He knows about the secret things she treasured and pondered in her heart. He has eyewitness detail about the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple—especially the exasperation of his parents who, after having been entrusted with the raising of the Messiah, have lost him for three days. Who would have been able to tell Luke all of that information?

Then Luke mentions an “orderly” account. But certainly this means more than the fact that he has simply gotten his chronological details straight. Indeed, he has “ordered” the story of Jesus. He has collected stories and grouped them together in meaningful ways. And so Theoph­ilus is entrusted with one of the greatest pieces of literature on the planet, all for the purpose of being sure of his original catechism.

Don’t believe anyone who claims that they know the true identity of Luke’s patron. I will outline the choices, and, armed with these facts, you can make as valid a choice for yourself as anyone. Just don’t be dogmatic about what the Bible is not dogmatic about!

First, Theophilus could be nobody—a made-up person who represents all those who are “lovers of God.” That is what his name means.

Lately there has been an attempt to identify him with a high priest by the same name who served between a.d. 37-41. Josephus mentions him in his Antiquities of the Jews. This would place the writing of Luke within four to eight years of Jesus’ death. And Luke does tell us that many of the priests had come to believe in Jesus (Acts 6:7). The problem is this seems too early a date for the writing of the book. And if Luke was written for a Jewish high priest, how do we explain the emphasis on Gentiles? How do we explain the fact that he never even uses the word rabbi?

One final theory—and one, it seems to me, that is fairly believable—is that Theophilus was a Roman official who was involved in Paul’s trial. This accounts for his official title “most honorable,” which was used to designate those who belonged to the upper-middle or equestrian class in Rome. It also explains the focus on the innocence of Jesus in the closing chapters.

So, finally, we can never be sure of the identity of the mysterious Theophilus. But that is not, strictly speaking, true either. He is you. He is me. For we have received some initial instruction on Jesus’ life and ministry. We need to know with more certainty the truth of what we have heard. And you would not be holding Luke’s book in your hands if you weren’t in some sense a “lover of God,” or at least someone who longed to become one.

Parallel Pre-Birth Stories

5In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest of Abijah’s division named Zechariah. His wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6Both were righteous in God’s sight, living without blame according to all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. 7But they had no children because Elizabeth could not conceive, and both of them were well along in years.

8When his division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9it happened that he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10At the hour of incense the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and overcome with fear. 13But the angel said to him:

Do not be afraid, Zechariah,

because your prayer has been heard.

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,

and you will name him John.

14There will be joy and delight for you,

and many will rejoice at his birth.

15For he will be great in the sight of the Lord

and will never drink wine or beer.

He will be filled with the Holy Spirit

while still in his mother’s womb.

16He will turn many of the sons of Israel

to the Lord their God.

17And he will go before Him

in the spirit and power of Elijah,

to turn the hearts of fathers

to their children,

and the disobedient

to the understanding of the righteous,

to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.

18“How can I know this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

19The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I w...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Major Themes
• Luke 1
• Luke 2
• Luke 3
• Luke 4
• Luke 5
• Luke 6
• Luke 7
• Luke 8
• Luke 9
• Luke 10
• Luke 11
• Luke 12
• Luke 13
• Luke 14
• Luke 15
• Luke 16
• Luke 17
• Luke 18
• Luke 19
• Luke 20
• Luke 21
• Luke 22
• Luke 23
• Luke 24
• Appendix
• Notes
• Resources
• About the Author