Why Another Gospel: Luke 1:1-4

As we start this new year off, we turn our attention onto Luke’s gospel. Luke’s gospel is one of my favorite gospels, Luke’s gospel also happens to be the longest of the four gospels, and Luke’s gospel is written with a skeptic in mind. Unlike the other three gospels, Luke’s account of Jesus’ life appears to be written for one specific person who is deciding what to make of all that he is hearing about this person named Jesus. The first four verses of Luke’s gospel describe why he wrote this gospel, and these verses give context for not only Luke’s gospel, but also the angle Luke is writing his gospel from.

It is worth noting that some skeptics and scholars have challenged the idea that Luke’s gospel was written by an early follower named Luke. However, for the purposes of our time in this gospel, we will assume it was written by someone named Luke, whether or not it was the Luke that many people believe or don’t believe was the author.

Let’s read Luke’s opening words and unpack what we can learn about why Luke wrote this gospel, and what we can take and use as a foundation for our year focusing in on Luke’s gospel. Our passage is found at the very beginning of Luke’s gospel, which is chapter 1, and we will read from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, Luke begins by writing:

¹ Many have attempted to write about what had taken place among us. ² They received their information from those who had been eyewitnesses and servants of God’s word from the beginning, and they passed it on to us. ³ I, too, have followed everything closely from the beginning. So I thought it would be a good idea to write an orderly account for Your Excellency, Theophilus. ⁴ In this way you will know that what you’ve been told is true.

In these four verses, there is a lot of information that is useful for us to focus in on, but one question many people ask that doesn’t have a great answer is who was Theophilus? Many theories are present, but as I did a quick bit of research, none seemed to stand out more significantly in my mind.

The name Theophilus means “friend of God” or “beloved by God” which I thought was interesting, and this meaning has prompted one theory that Theophilus wasn’t a specific person but a generic term Luke used to direct his gospel at all friends of God.

Other theories include that Theophilus was a Jew from Alexandria, that he was a Roman official, that he was Paul’s lawyer while Paul was in Rome, or even that he was a Jewish priest. While we don’t know definitively who Theophilus was or was not, Luke writes his gospel with skill and clarity to help people on the fence decide that Jesus is worth paying attention to and to clear up confusion regarding what people were hearing Jesus did verses what He did not do.

Verse 4 draws our attention to this detail when Luke tells Theophilus that “in this way you will know that what you’ve been told is true”.

However, before going too far forward with this assumption, we might want to ask ourselves if we can trust Luke?

In Luke’s gospel, we have a number of unique challenges, and while this question isn’t one that is pleasant to ask, it is one we should at least tackle briefly.

When I read this introduction, it is worth noting that Luke is not actually building a case for believing in Jesus. Instead, Luke frames this gospel as being more like a second witness in a case rather than the first. Following Matthew and Mark, as well as some other accounts that were lost in history, Luke steps in as an additional witness to confirm who Jesus was. Repeating verse 4, Luke writes, “in this way you will know that what you’ve been told is true”.

Luke writes his gospel to help confirm the truth about Jesus in the minds of people who were uncertain whether they should believe all they were hearing about Jesus, especially when much of what was being shared seemed hard to believe.

Another question for Luke is where he is coming from when he is writing this gospel, or in other words, what angle is Luke writing from? Is Luke an insider or an outsider when he is writing this gospel, as well as the book of Acts?

While answering this question might take more time than we have left for this episode, Luke steps into the story of the early church in the book of Acts and he is mentioned by Paul in several of Paul’s letters. There are several sections of Acts where the writer switches to using first person narration, while the bulk of Acts is written in the third person.

Some people believe Luke was a Greek convert to Christianity, while other people believe Luke was a Hellenistic Jew, which simply means that Luke was a Jew that had blended aspects of Greek culture and philosophy into his Jewish faith prior to becoming a Christ follower.

However, is Luke writing from the inside perspective, or from an outside perspective for this gospel?

The end of verse 1, Luke gives us a clue. Verse 1 says, “Many have attempted to write about what had taken place among us.” Luke uses the phrase among us, which tells me that Luke is writing this account as someone who is part of the early church. Luke then quantifies who he means when describing the group he is a part of in verse 2 by saying, “They received their information from those who had been eyewitnesses and servants of God’s word from the beginning, and they passed it on to us.”

While Luke is primarily describing the authors of other gospels focusing on Jesus, he also is subtly framing his own gospel about Jesus as he describes all gospel writers receiving information from eyewitnesses and servants of God’s word. However, instead of describing his gospel as being a several steps removed and being based on other author’s work, Luke describes his gospel as being a passion of his that he had followed early on. The first part of verse 3 describes this when Luke says, “I, too, have followed everything closely from the beginning.”

From this framing of Luke’s gospel, we see that Luke is interested in writing a parallel gospel to what was already written as a way of confirming the witness of the other writers. As we will see while moving through Luke’s gospel, many of the events Luke includes parallel the events in Matthew and Mark, but Luke often includes different subtle details, leading me to believe that Luke did his own research on the same events.

As we dive into Luke’s gospel, expect to be impacted by how Luke frames Jesus’ life and expect to be challenged along with me as we focus in on what Luke confirms happened during Jesus’ life and ministry in the first century!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Like I always challenge you to do, intentionally and purposefully seek God first in your life and open your heart and mind to what He wants to teach you through Jesus and through what the gospels describe Jesus to be. Jesus came not only to give His life as a sacrifice, but Jesus also came to show us what God is like. Luke helps confirm for us if we have doubts whether or not we should place our faith in Jesus.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself. Don’t let a pastor, podcaster, author, or speaker determine the truth for you. Instead, use the multiple witnesses included in the Bible to make up your own mind. God has preserved and emphasized the four gospels as His record of Jesus’ life, and as we move through Luke’s gospel in our podcast episodes for this year, open your mind to what God wants to teach you through this amazing gospel.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!