CERTAINTY

I have put the actual text of Luke into the body of this blog…some folks have requested I do this so they do not have to toggle between two screens or books…especially if they are doing this on a mobile device…if you like to have the Bible open in front of you, just skip past the italicized text. I am using the English Standard Version translation.

LUKE’S GOSPEL BEGINS

In as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, ² just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, ³ it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

LET’S PAUSE RIGHT HERE…I know that this probably sounds like a standard introduction, but there is some real richness in these four verses. Note his goal: to compile a narrative…so he is collecting information…and not just any information…information from eye witnesses. And this is not a recent hobby…he has been following and evaluating (as doctors do) all that has been said...Not only that…he asserts he is writing an orderly account…WHY…so that Theophilus will have CERTAINTY.

A little GREEK…if you read “you have been taught” in the Greek you would see something looking a lot like “catechesis.” We use that word to mean formal instruction.

But even more to the point…the word for “certainty” is placed at the end of the sentence for emphasis. Students of Luke frequently praise his Gospel, its structure, and its Greek…their point…this is not a random four verses…Luke wants a full, correct, well arranged Gospel in which we can be CERTAIN.

I will come back to this idea and question of certainty, but let’s press on.

⁵ In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

⁸ Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,⁹ according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,¹⁵ for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹ And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. ²² And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute.²³ And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴ After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ²⁵ “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

CERTAINTY…not something Zechariah “was feeling” after his encounter with the angel. It is not just Zechariah. One of my friends was more than a bit skeptical about this idea of certainty. His quote, “It sounds like a fairy tale!” He is right, it does. The predictions, the supernatural, being set in the East amid the Jewish religion…it is something very different from the Greek Pagan society of the day…and it is something very different from our world—and that is the point.

This moment is exotic in the strict sense of the word; it is outside the normal experience of the reader—and of our world. The style serves a purpose—something from outside this world has indeed come. Some say, but there are Jewish trappings by a Gentile writer (Luke). Of course…the story of Jesus is rooted in Judaism and Luke takes us into this world. To do so required that he, in his research, had to take himself there. To remove any of it: the supernaturalism, the Jewishness, the angels, and the predictions is to take away that which is intrinsic in the Gospel. We will get more of this style tomorrow. Today sit back and appreciate you really are reading a master writer…whose goal is…that brings me back to the word/idea…CERTAINTY.

Do you think anything in life is certain? I think most of us are conditioned to think not. I worked in a world of science where after we calculated “with certainty” some property (the thickness of a piece of metal, etc.)…we multiply by a “safety factor” because of our uncertainty. I seem to remember the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge multiplying his calculations by a factor of six because he expected poor quality materials to be slipped in.

So can Theophilus be certain? Can you know with certainty? Today is not the day to answer that question. We need to read the Gospel. We need to see if it has a ring of truth to it. Let me just observe…where is it you “know certainty?” Is it in your mind? Your heart? Both? We will delve into that another day. Today we must immerse ourselves in the story, and when we emerge from it…then let’s ask ourselves what we know.