T
he Gospel of Luke, 1:1-24, Dedication to Theophilus. Luke, the author of this Gospel intended its reading to be followed by The Book of Acts, which is part 2 of his series of two volumes taken together is the Gospel that is Jesus Himself, in His actual person and life. Acts is the Gospel of Jesus proclaimed and lived by Him through the action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of followers in the Church; showing both the works that Jesus is the Christian Gospel, both as a unique event and a pattern of life. The way of Christ in the Gospel is seen to be the way of the Christian in Acts. Lordship and discipleship are inseparable themes in both. It is believed he was to write a 3rd, but never did, or it went among the missing. I would suggest we read Acts next in deference to good Luke’s intentions. Antiquity, 2200 years ago makes much of history difficult to completely recover, but in praising God then we can be ever so thankful for this Gospel’s recording, and its full recovery. Let’s begin, “1 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.” Umm, first of all, we really do not know who this fellow Theophilus is, but scholars seem to think he was a person in Rome, and who may have been a Governor, for “excellent/excellency”, was a term applied to such station. It is believed this Gospel was written about 75-85 AD in Corinth by the Gentile physician, Luke, a Syrian from Antioch, a bachelor, who died in Boeotia in central Greece at about the age of 85. Because of his vocation, this Gospel is considered most accurate and authentic, 1) because, he drew much from Mark (the first Gospel writer) also from Peter, John, James, Paul as well as other Apostolic contemporaries, 2) he did extensive research possibly even having interviewed many others, laymen, alive then who were eyewitnesses to the life and times of Jesus, and 3) as a constant companion to super Apostle, Paul (Luke teamed up with Paul about 51 AD at Troas where he may have ministered to Paul in his sickness which was during his initial mission into Greece, and as far as Philippi, in Macedonia, but there is some consideration given that he may have been with Paul in Galatia before coming to Troas.), he learned much during their missionary travels up until Paul’s martyrdom in Rome, and lastly, 4) possibly even Mary, His mom, who could have been still alive around the age of 85 or so. We actually do not know when she died, given that, this dating and the dating provided here, its writing may be earlier still and that would make Mary younger still. The Gospel was not something said about Jesus, no, it was something said by Jesus to mankind through the Church. How this was done remained a mystery, but the first Christians saw it as the action of the Holy Spirit (sound familiar? Bud always said our Breakfast operated under the direction of the Holy Spirit) prompting them, in worship and in life, to discover the present reality of Christ. Paul was most insistent that his preaching was not his, but rather the Lord Christ himself who was proclaiming the Gospel in His own manner through His Christians. This means that while the Gospel is “about” Him in this way, it allows Him to speak for Himself. It was necessarily preaching rather than teaching just as James later said Christians did not go from education to faith, but from faith to education, to works of faith. They heard the Gospel, then they wanted to be taught more about it. John’s Birth Announced to Zacharias “5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea (This guy is Herod the Great” whose grandfather had been governor of Edom, just south of Judea. His dad, Antipater, was made a governor of Judea by Julius Caesar and was later succeeded by Herod, following being named “King of the Jews by the Roman Senate), a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah (King David formed 24 divisions after the crowning of Solomon who were descendants of Aaron, priests, who were to assigned to perform temple duties at major feasts [Passover, Pentecost & Tabernacles], and the division of Abijay was the “eighth’ [1Chronicles 24:10] of those 24.) His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth (Herb’s, double-portion). 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.” These 2 were very good Jews, law-abiding and upright in their community. Zacharias, “8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell (a sort of flip of a coin, the outcome of which, God was recognized to have decided upon) to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord (the Holy of Holies). 10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 18 And Zacharias said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.’ 19 And the angel answered and said to him, ‘I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. 20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.’” Okay, so, yeah, it went like this: he went in, met an angel, Gabriel, who told him they’d have a child and that Zacharias is to name him, John (traditionally, the father granted the name), but he questioned that, so Gabriel muted him till the day of John’s birth. Within this are revealing observations to be noted: 1) Zacharias was given an awesome responsibility at the temple that day; it was his turn to enter and it was the “hour of incense”, the burning of which were the prayers of the multitude out-of-doors being sent up to God, the incense sweetened them to His pleasure. 2) God gave the name for the child to be called, John. This is an instance of reporting the name to all of us was God’s will that Luke was inspired to repeat here which is continued recognition that Scripture is inspired by God, not men; we simply write what we hear God saying—i.e., what He feels necessary to be repeated to others. 3) Wine. John would not partake in any wine or other alcoholic beverages. Why? In the day, their day, and in the Old Testament, wine was a prophetic protest against a sophisticated civilization that had forgotten God. Some people in the OT (Nazirites, Rechabites) saw the vine (its product wine) as a symbol of Israel’s desertion of God. You see, in the desert where there was no vine or pomegranate (Jer. 12:2) and she had been loyal to God, but in Canaan, the land of vines and olives (Deut. 8:8), Israel became unfaithful to God. There was a great deal of sexual sin, and idolatry in Canaan, and cultic prostitution was important in encouraging their gods to mate so that the land would be fertile and rain would come. Israel was unfaithful to God in Canaan by following other gods and breaking the Commandments. This day, God wanted to ensure that Israel, and other Gentiles, would know John’s faithfulness, the sign of which, he “15 … shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.” unlike his countrymen who did so in Canaan. 4) John was granted “the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb”. At that time, God granted His Spirit selectively till Pentecost when He was given freely to all peoples for the asking. 5) Gabriel, the angel. Angels are a tangible visible way to present a religious experience, God knows that, and when He sends one, it then is important; us humans who might receive such a visit, the impact of which would be profoundly significant, sufficiently so, that we would be greatly encouraged to make it known and why, to others. Examples of this were, of course, the spirit “in bodily form” at the baptism of Jesus, and too, on the Mt of Olives when one arrives to provide our Lord strength to endure the forthcoming horrors of crucifixion. We will see them figuring prominently in Acts. The ancient world believed in the existence of invisible forces, good and evil forces that seemingly became apparent following their exile, 586 BC, picturing such that surrounded the throne of God helped to fix their minds on the Glory of God, something that is beyond our human understanding. So, angels are messengers sent by God, genderless except for the sake of appearance. Gabriel is an archangel, along with Michael, and according to the Book of Enoch (Enoch was mostly excluded from Christian biblical canons, and is now regarded as Scripture only by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.), there are 5 more, Raphael (in the Catholic Apocrypha), Uriel, Saraqael, Raguel, and Remiel. Notice all are men? A brief sidebar on that subject; Jophiel/Dina was described as an angel of the seventh heaven, a Cabalistic (relating to or associated with mystical interpretation or esoteric doctrine) guardian of the Torah (and wisdom itself), who taught 70 languages to souls at the dawn of creation. Most references to angels in religious texts (those texts do not necessarily mean the Bible, explicitly, or implicitly, but Biblically, when found, are masculine) describe them as men, but sometimes they're women. People who have seen angels report meeting both sexes. Sometimes the same angel (such as Archangel Gabriel) shows up in some situations as a man, in others, as women. There is nothing in the Bible making mention of such a thing. Shall we continue then? Okay, so, “21And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple (it did not sound much like a long conversation, but perhaps the usual process was quick and easy with the incense). 22 But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple (yup, right-on brothers), for he beckoned to them and remained speechless.” God told him what He was going to do. To reinforce that, his speechlessness, and too, later the birth of John rendered God’s will, very powerful, worth a listen and to heed. If God could take away your speech, answer your prayers for a child following years of bareness, at an old age, then I would think I would start listening to Him. We should also be convinced. “23 So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. 24 Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, 25 ‘Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.’” To be barren in the day, even today, all women wish for the opportunity to bare a child, to choose, rather than being mandated, no. It was looked upon as a curse of sorts, embarrassing, stressful, reproached of by the community, uncomfortable. God provided Elizabeth deliverance from such scorn, and certainly, their days following were filled with much joy and gladness, just as God had promised. Jesus was actually raised from the dead, and the reason this was such a tremendous truth was the fact that if He could be raised from the dead, others would also be raised. Thus heaven is real, we are all pilgrims and strangers, but one day we shall be at home, and what joy and peace, what gladness of heart, singing and praising God from the throne that day will certainly be! God is real: the spiritual world is real! The message clearly points out the fact that the law of Moses is not fulfilled when kept by the letter (it's reading). You are just to obey the law from the heart. Amen. |