Luke and Acts should be considered as one two-volume work-with the Gospel being the first installment. Luke is written to a Christian with little education in the life of Christ, making this book a terrific starting point for believers interested in studying His life today. Luke investigated the events of Jesus’ life by speaking with eyewitnesses (Lk 1:2), giving Theophilus (and us) a thorough record of the things Jesus did and said. Luke states his purpose right away: this book is meant to give believers an accurate, chronological understanding of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Lk 19:10) Why Luke was written This isn’t surprising-after all, Luke spent a great deal of time with the apostle Paul, who shared the good news with both Jewish and Gentile audiences. Whereas Matthew traces Jesus’ ancestry to Abraham (Mt 1:1), Luke charts His lineage all the way back to Adam (Lk 3:38). In Luke, Jesus is indeed the long-awaited Messiah He is also the savior of the nations (Lk 2:30–32). Luke’s Gospel is written in ways that Jewish and non-Jewish people can understand and appreciate. We see how He lived, how He died, and how He rose again. We learn all about the God-man in whom we’ve placed our faith. Luke understands the events of Jesus’ last days in Jerusalem to be the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, but, as is usually the case in Luke-Acts, the author does not specify which Old Testament prophets he has in mind cf. The book of Luke shows us Jesus, who came to seek and save the lost (Lk 19:10). And Luke’s attention to detail shows: not only is his the longest of the four gospels, but it’s also the the longest book of the New Testament. The writer is a thorough historian who researched everything (Lk 1:3). Luke records miracles, sermons, conversations, and personal feelings (Lk 2:19). Luke tells Jesus’ story in extensive detail, more so than any other Gospel. In some ways, that makes it easier to approach the Bible: we can read it in. That’s because the Bible is a collection of writings from different authors writing at different times. Luke is the third Gospel (an account of Jesus’ life and ministry) in the New Testament. News flash: the Bible is huge: about 611,000 words long, all divvied up across 66 smaller documents called the books of the Bible. Luke is the story of Jesus Christ-exactly as it happened.
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