Luke 1 - 2

I Must Be About My Father's Business

NOTE: Today we begin the third book of the New Testament and we begin the eleventh week of reading.  I will do double postings on Monday and Tuesday because I will not be able to post on Thursday and Friday. I will resume with Luke 13-14 on Saturday. 

Luke's Gospel is the longest and most complete Gospel covering the time period from before Jesus' and John the Baptist's births to His ascension.  Luke also wrote Acts and as such is the most prolific writer in the New Testament.  Luke presents Jesus as a man who is Divine.  Remember that Matthew presented Him as a King, Mark presents Him as a Servant, and now Luke presents Him as a man who is God and directs his Gospel to a man named Theophilus (possibly a patron or financial supporter). Theophilus means "One who loves God" and thus is representative of all Christians. While technically not a history, Luke's Gospel is based on eyewitness accounts (1:1-4) and dates Jesus' ministry with references to the rulers of His day (see chapter 3).

A harmonic reading of Luke with the other Gospels shows that he omits some details: the angel's appearance to Joseph and the visit from the Magi. Also missing is the account of the death of the children. However, Luke's Gospel contains other incidents that are not recorded in the other Gospels, such as the details of John the Baptist's birth, the shepherd's visit to the new born child, the events in the temple when Jesus is presented on the eight day and the prophecies of Anna and Simeon.  These all help establish the historical accuracy of Luke's account and provided those in the early church with a way to verify the events with those who were actually present at the events.

In Luke 2, he records a curious event that takes place when Joseph and Mary travel with a large party of people to Jerusalem for Passover. Verse 42 states that Jesus was 12 years old - one year shy of entering into His covenant responsibilities as a Jewish male.  After observing Passover, the party leaves and Mary and Joseph assume that Jesus is with the crowd of people with whom they are traveling (v. 44). That evening they discover Jesus is not with them.  In verse 44 the Bible states, "they started looking for him among their relatives and friends." Now this is fine, but Jesus will always be found where you left Him. 

Frantically, they search for Jesus for three days (v.46) finally locating Him in the Temple (where they left Him). He was teaching the religious leaders who were amazed at His understanding of the Scriptures (v. 47). The comments by Mary in verse 48 provoke an amazing response from Jesus.  Mary states, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere."  Jesus  replies, "Don't you know I must be in my Father's house?" (v. 49).  Mary in essence denied Jesus' divine birth by referring to Joseph as His father.  But Jesus corrects the error by identifying His Father as Jehovah.

May God bless you and bless the reading of His Word.