\u201cInasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.\u201d Luke 1:1-4<\/p>\n\n\n\n
St. Luke wants his patron, Theophilus, to have certainty. It\u2019s an amazing statement that proves how the gospel writer wants his readers and hearers to receive his work. It shows how he wants his writings are to be rightly used and understood. He doesn\u2019t want halfhearted wishes that his gospel \u2018could\u2019 be true. He\u2019s not interested in weaving together myths and fables like Homer or Virgil. Though great works of literature might warm the heart with sentiment or impart gems of wisdom, they\u2019re insufficient for the foundation that St. Luke is laying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Apostle wants his hearers to have the unwavering conviction that the Gospel is historically, not just spiritually, true. He knows Christians need more than some half-felt abstract truth underneath an otherwise concocted story. Such things are poor substitutes against the old foes of flesh, world, and devil. What makes a difference against that anti-trinity and its cult of death is hearing that the stories actually happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luke tells Theophilus that he\u2019s well positioned to help. He both knows the eyewitnesses and has recorded their stories. From the books of Acts and Colossians, we know he was Paul\u2019s companion and would have had chances to meet Mary, Peter, John, and the rest of the Apostles. He knows both Matthew and Mark\u2019s records of Jesus\u2019 preaching and life. Though they\u2019ve done good work in compiling those events into gospels, They\u2019re not in strict chronological order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthew and Mark\u2019s gospels are more concerned about highlighting events and teachings in the order most conducive for instruction and faith. For that reason, their gospels are more analogous to catechisms than log books that mark the exact time someone shows up and leaves. But to keep the simple minded from taking offense at the same story being set down in different places in either Matthew and Mark, Luke wants to \u201cwrite an orderly account\u201d that helps to make sense of what happened and when. He\u2019s not trying to displace his colleagues work. He\u2019s making what they\u2019ve done even more valuable by confirming what\u2019s come before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps you think that Luke\u2019s being too ambitious for us scientifically minded moderns who have been trained in the high arts of cynicism and doubt. Withholding judgment, we\u2019ve been taught, is a virtue. It comes with education and experience. We\u2019ve discovered that unbelief is price we pay to keep from being taken for a chump by some charlatan or huckster. Better to be surprised than to be caught gullible and wrong, right? But maybe these sentiments have more to do with our generation\u2019s distaste for authority, any authority, than with true wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After St. Luke\u2019s dedicatory comments, he introduces us to one such \u201cthough minded\u201d individual named Zechariah. He\u2019s a decent fellow, righteous by all appearances in fact. He was a priest and had the double honor of having married the daughter of a priest. His whole life revolved serving God, quite practically, by faithfully serving in the temple whenever his turn came up. Though they were blameless, they were also barren and advanced in years, bearing the stigma that would have justified divorce according to some of the Rabbis at the time. But they feared God rather than men. They remained faithful both to each other and in prayer without giving themselves over to the temptations of bitterness and anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When his turn came to serve in the temple with his priestly cohort, Zechariah received the honor of ministering the third and highest office of the day, the hour of incense. Everyone was there. The crowd pressed as Zechariah stepped with trepidation into the holy place. Offering the sacrifice symbolizing and the prayers of the people, something happens. An angel of the Lord appears to the right side of the altar of incense. It would be like coming to church when no one else is here, walking into the sanctuary and seeing the glory of the holy angles still in their prayerful vigil. Of course, Zechariah was terrified. Of all the things to expect in the divine service, he never saw this one coming. Then the angel preached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call him John .And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother\u2019s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.\u201d Luke 1:13-17<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sermon, full of prophetic fulfillment about the Messiah and his forerunner, falls on tough, incredulous ears. Though the words are angelic promises of joy from heaven, Zechariah says, \u201cHow shall I know this?\u201d This isn\u2019t like Mary asking, \u201cHow can this be?\u201d Mary\u2019s heart trusted the promise but that doesn\u2019t mean that her mind fathomed how it was going to happen. However, Zechariah\u2019s question came from fear and doubt. If his mind couldn\u2019t grasp it, he thought, then it was beyond knowledge, beyond certainty. The question spoken in the weakness of the flesh rejected the truth of God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord is a \u201cGod merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness\u201d (Ex. 34:6). Though our flesh is faithless, full of incredulity and cynicism, incapable of judging God\u2019s actions beyond the limits of our reason, the Lord will not forsake his promise. Our sins can\u2019t keep the Gospel from being fulfilled. Because, for this very reason was the Messiah coming, \u201cto seek and save the lost\u201d (Luke 19:10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zechariah\u2019s sin didn\u2019t cause the angel to take back one syllable of what he had just promised. Why? The Sun of Righteousness was rising with healing in His wings, healing for sinners, doubters, and skeptics like Zechariah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the Lord has spoken, nothing is more solid, nothing is more real. Eyes see nothing but shadows and smoke compared to what God\u2019s Word reveals. Zechariah\u2019s eyes couldn\u2019t predict his and his wife\u2019s future child, only God\u2019s Word could both promise and bring it to be. Reason can\u2019t discern what will happen in five minutes let alone in five years. But when God speaks, he speaks as one who holds both beginning and end in his hand. No amount of unbelief can keep it from happening. To those who confirm themselves in unbelief, the Word\u2019s inevitability is full of God\u2019s wrath and judgment. But to those who want to escape our frail hearts, it\u2019s full of redemption and hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a mercy that the Lord\u2019s chastisement for Zechariah was losing his voice. It taught him, just as it teaches us, that God\u2019s Word will always win the argument against unbelief. The promise cannot be revoked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God\u2019s promises are beyond all human knowledge and comprehension. Reason dies at the foot of God\u2019s Word. Only faith survives in His presence. This is what St. Paul desires; faith that\u2019s certain. Leave wishful thinking to the unbelievers and skeptics. Thanks be to God that even though such certain faith is impossible for us to work in ourselves, God gives it to us by grace (Eph. 2:8).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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