Luke 1:1-4
Luke dedicated this historical record of the life of Jesus Christ to his friend Theophilus. From the way this dedication was worded we assume Theophilus was an important person. Evidently he was a Christian and knew Luke in some capacity. Luke wrote this account of the life of Jesus Christ to help Theophilus and also provided a document which was included in the canon of the Holy Bible.
The gospel of Luke is scripture and is inspired by the Holy Spirit to help us understand the history of the Lord Jesus Christ, his life, his ministry, his death, and his resurrection. Luke also recorded the history of the early church in the book of Acts.
The gospel of Luke is different in that it records the history of how the Lord Jesus was born in a manger, the events surrounding his birth, and his early life.
Luke was included in what theologians call the synoptic gospels, which is Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Though Luke may have written this for one person it has touched millions of lives. How often do we in our Christian life think we are just helping one person, but in the end, we may find out that many lives were touched through our serving one person. We won't know until we get to heaven how many others were blessed through our helping one person.
Luke 1:5-25
Zacharias served in the temple as a priest burning incense. He was part of a large group of people who took turn serving in the temple. It was his turn and when he went in to burn the incense an angel appeared to him. This angel had a message for Zacharias. The name of the angel was Gabriel. How do we know this? The angel told Zacharias his name. Gabriel told him his name when he rebuked him. Zacharias did not believe Gabriel's message.
Gabriel's message was that Zacharias' wife would have a son who would grow up to be a prophet. His son, who became John the Baptist, would prepare the way for the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. As we learn in this chapter, these were all related to one another. Zacharias' wife, Elisabeth, was related to Mary the mother of Jesus. Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins.
Gabriel told Zacharias to name the son John and gave specific instructions on how the boy would be raised and grow up. These instructions were similar to the laws regarding a Nazarite in the Old Testament. It was also similar to instructions that an angel gave to the parents of Samson in the book of Judges.
Because Zacharias did not believe the message he was stricken dumb until John was born. He was disciplined for his unbelief by the angel. Unbelief at God's word is very dangerous. We should hear God's word's, receive God's word, and believe God's word. Walk in agreement with the truth in God's word.
When the time of his ministry was complete Zacharias returned home. Everyone knew something happened to him in the temple and that he had a vision.
Angels are real. God sends angels to intervene in the lives of people on earth. Sometimes God sends an angel to give a message to people under certain circumstances. Whatever message an angel has it should not contradict the written word of God. If it does then the angel is not from the Lord but is false. Also, an angel will never accept worship. An angel from the Lord will point you to the Lord Jesus Christ and not to its own self.
God hears our prayers. This is an example of how a man prayed for something but evidently did not have faith his prayer would be answered. Another example of this is in the book of Acts when Christians prayed for Peter to be released and when he was released they did not believe it. It is interesting to me how God answers some prayers when people do not really have faith the prayer will be answered. This fact contradicts the false doctrine of the prosperity gospel.
This chapter is filled with the supernatural. When Christians try to minimize the supernatural part of the Bible they end up with dry morality and dead religion like Zacharias. Obviously Zacharias went through the religious routines. He did not expect to hear from God or receive an answer to his prayer. We should have an attitude of expecting God to hear our prayer and answer our prayer. Let's sing the song of faith before the Red Sea is parted. Before we are delivered let us praise God for the deliverance so that we can learn more of who the Lord is and experience his presence in our lives.
