Thoughts on Luke 1:1-4

A few thoughts that stuck me:

Many people undertook to compile a narrative of Jesus and what He accomplished in His lifetime.  Some of these eyewitnesses wrote books of the Bible.  Others wrote about Jesus in other historical documentation.  Bottom line—Jesus made a lot of waves and impacted a lot of people in His lifetime (and obviously beyond His lifetime).  Maybe it is more significant to me to see Jesus’ impact on his contemporaries, as these are people who walked with Him, heard with their own ears His profound teaching, witnessed the miracles He performed, and watched His brave and stunning non-conformity to the legalistic teaching of the day. 

Luke 1:1-24

Introduction from Luke, the author of this book of the Bible:

"1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 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, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught."

The story of John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin who is called to prepare the way for Jesus:

“ In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been 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 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's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will 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 for the Lord a people prepared.”

18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

Jesus

People are intrigued by Him.  People ignore Him.  People love Him.  People hate Him.  People worship Him.  People mock Him.  People do unimaginable things in His name--both beautiful things and horrific things.  People disagree about who He is and what He stands for.  People make Him who they want Him to be.  People pick and choose from His life and teachings as it suits them.  People talk about Him without ever consulting the Bible. 

With this new blog, I want to study the Jesus of the Bible.  I want to simply look at the Scriptural accounts of Jesus and learn from them, as opposed to relying on what my own preconceived ideas, emotions, desires, and culture tell me about who Jesus is. 

I want to do this by taking short passages from the gospel accounts of Jesus' life and journalling through them.  I am going to start with the book of Luke. 

I am a Christian--a follower of Jesus.  My reason for doing this is that I love Jesus and want to know Him more.  However, regardless of your beliefs and whether or not your interest is intellectual, practical, devotional, curiousity, or a combination of these things, you are welcome to join me on this journey. 

If you'd like ,you can start reading the book of Luke here: http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=luke