Christmas 2008 - Luke 1

Luke may not have had a first row seat in the opening seen of the drama that brought Jesus Christ to our attention, but no other gospel character had as much exposure to the declaration of His coming, His life on earth, and His ascension into heaven. Paul was a learned man, physician by training, and close follower of Christ through personal dedication. Luke traveled extensively with Paul and watched first hand the church planting process as it progressed. He was able to discuss the events in the life of Christ with many different witnesses that had been with Him. Luke literally gave his life that you and I might know the ultimate truth about the Son of God; the Savior of the world, from His birth, all the way to eternity.

I do not know about the other members of our class, but one statement early in Luke intrigues me greatly. “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us—I too made up my mind to carry out a careful investigation of all things from the beginning and to write to you an orderly account of them, so that you might have a full and reliable account of the things in which you have been instructed.” He was telling his friend, Theophilus, and all of us who read his account that we can be sure that Christ Jesus is the Son of God, born of a Virgin girl that submitted her life to the will of the Holy Spirit.

Because Luke was a learned man, the biblical historians that have produced some of the best commentaries available agree that his writings are the best bit of Greek used by the writers of the New Testament. It seems significant to me that Luke was not satisfied with the other Gospels that had been written—and he had to write one of his own. Think about it; salvation is like that—it is a personal thing between you and Christ and no matter what anyone else has experienced—our own personal experience is the one that is important. Luke proclaims an inspired scripture. God’s inspiration comes when the seeking mind of man joins the revealing Spirit of God. His word is given freely—but only to those who seek for it. “Seek and you shall find Mat. 7:7—knock and the door will open.

Luke 1:5-25, a priest by the name of Zacharias is the central character in this scene. He was a descendant of Aaron and there by was automatically a priest. He was married to Elizabeth who was also a descendant of Aaron. They were old and had no children and that was a real problem in the Jewish culture. On the day when Zacharias was in charge of the Temple—he went in to the Holy of Holies and did not return as was the custom. His delay caused the people to believe that something special was happening—and then he returned with out the ability to speak. God had promised him a son and told him that he would remain speechless until the day he should declare the name of his son to be John. And so it was.

Chapter 1:26-38, when John the Baptist was six months old (still in the womb) the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to Mary [a maiden] who was betrothed to a man called Joseph. He explained how the Holy Spirit would come upon her and that she would bear a child that would be the Son of God. For some reason, I have always been able to accept the fact that Christ is the son of God, and that he was born to Mary, who had never been with a man. However, there are several passages of scripture that have made me wonder just how this all took place.

I wonder why the genealogies listed in Luke 3:23-38; and in Matthew 1:1-17 both trace the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph, which seems strange if Joseph was not the earthly father. In Luke 2:48, Jesus’ parents had lost him and returned to the temple to find him. Mary and Joseph are together and as they approached Jesus, his mother said “Your father and I have been looking for you.” It appears that she is saying that Joseph—your father—and I have been looking for you. In Matt. 13:55 and John 6:42, Jesus is referred to as Joseph’s son. And then I wonder why the rest of the New Testament does not mention the Virgin birth. In Galatians 4:4, Paul speaks about Jesus as one “born of a woman” but this would be a natural birth for any child.

It is necessary for us to know the meanings of the two words, betrothed and married which are similar but not the same. Jewish law required that a man and woman be betrothed for one year prior to marriage. It was a time for getting acquainted and was not consummated until after the marriage took place a year later. However, a betrothal could be dissolved only by the granting of a divorce which charged infidelity. If the man dies, according to Jewish law, he leaves “a virgin who is a widow.” So, we see that being betrothed to Joseph meant something more than just being engaged. Mary understood the law regarding abstinence during betrothal and was willing to face the consequences in order to do the will of God. We can understand the Godly nature of Joseph, who did not know the whole truth—but was willing to find a way to solve the problem without hurting Mary. Later God spoke to him—and he too believed.

Luke 1: 39-45, explains how a paradox can happen. A paradox is a statement that seems contrary to common sense but turns out to be true. There is no explanation as to why Mary went to Judah to visit Elisabeth and Zacharias. My guess is that she knew that if she stayed home, the gossip line would soon be open. She probably knew of the blessing that had come to Elizabeth in her old age and somewhat unbelievable to the normal mind. She felt that Elizabeth would understand and even believe her when she explained that she was with child but had never known a man. I can imagine how relieved they both were when Elizabeth recognized the presence of the Christ Child even as Mary spoke.

I had always thought that John The Baptist was the first man to recognize Christ as the Son of God that takes away the sin of the world at the time when Jesus approached him at the river for baptism. I see here in this passage that John was the first to recognize Him—but it was about thirty years before the Jordan River scene. John is a six-month old fetus, and has never heard Mary’s voice before—but as she greeted Elizabeth—John recognized Christ’s presence, and kicked his mother hard enough to get her attention and let her know that he was aware of the presence of Christ in the room.

Not only did John leap with joy in her womb, but Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit which caused her to pronounce a blessing on Mary among women and a blessing on the fruit of her womb—the embryonic Lord. This is perhaps the greatest example of the paradox of blessedness found anywhere in literature or life. Undoubtedly we will never know the joy and happiness of this woman when she learned from God that she was to be the mother of Christ. Maybe somewhat doubtful or just dumbfounded at first, but by this time she must fully realize that she is a virgin with child. What a great privilege it was for her to be chosen to be the mother of Christ. No greater blessing has ever been bestowed upon any person. And then from this greatest of all blessings—comes the arrow that pierced her heart! It meant that her life would never be normal again and that with in thirty-three years she would observe Him falsely accused, beaten and spit upon, and nailed to that old Rugged Cross.

Paul’s life was also a paradox. He was chosen by God, received crowns of joy and happiness in many ways but at the same time he had to continually bear his cross. The disciples where all chosen by Christ and from this call they felt happy and blessed but they were told that they would have to take up their cross in order to follow Him. Most of them were martyred. Do you know how they looked at the paradox? Paul answered this question when he said “to die for Christ is gain.”

God has no need for an unfruitful man—he may be saved but as by fire. The truth is that God has never called a man to him to wear a crown and rest and wait. He chooses a man in order to use him in his kingdom work. We must realize that when God chooses us it means at one and the same time that we will enjoy the crown of life but we may suffer our cross of sorrow, pain and rejection from our friends and the world.

Just for a change in the ending of this lesson I have read again the entire chapter and will try to summarize it in one paragraph.

Luke, a physician, and historian, not an apostle, but an avid follower of Christ tells us the story of how the angels announced the birth of both John The Baptist and Jesus Christ. He shows the hand of God at work in the temple and at the home of Zechariah. He enforces the truth of the virgin birth of Christ and leaves no doubt that it happened as told. He includes the prophecy of Zechariah regarding the work of his son John and of the Christ. And finally he emphasizes the blessedness placed on Mary as the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. I also see a great emphasis on the fact that God can use ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary task—Elizabeth was too old and Mary was too young neither of the families appear to be the kind of people that would have been chosen for such an important job.