Luke1-2001
Notice
that the book of Luke starts out by addressing the same man as does the book of
Acts, someone with the Greek name of Theophilus, who
was likely some sort of governor. This gives us a good reason to believe that
the person who wrote Acts also wrote Luke (and about the same time), ‘the
beloved Physician,’ Luke. Who was Luke?
The
Bible doesn’t tell us much about him, other than he was a regular traveling
companion of Paul. Notice that throughout the book of Acts he says that ‘we’
did this or that. So, Luke was likely someone who was also assigned to preach
to Gentiles. And although he may have witnessed some of the events of the Life
of Jesus, there is no record of it. However, that wasn’t true of the book of
Acts, because the account shows that he lived most of it, especially the
journeys of Paul.
Luke was
quite a chronicler, since both of his books were compilations of things he was
told (he probably relied on many sources). And, because he ended Acts with the
imprisonment of Paul in
If you
look at writing styles, you can see that Luke likely wrote some of the epistles
that are attributed to Paul. Not that they weren’t dictated by Paul, but that
Luke may on occasion have served as Paul’s secretary. Luke’s writing style is
flowery and educated, and his greetings can go on for paragraphs.
Something
that only a translator would notice is that much of Luke’s Gospel account is
borrowed from Matthew. There is nothing wrong with that, because it was
admittedly a compiled account, and Matthew’s writing was just one of his
sources.
The
reason why Luke prepared both writings (Luke and Acts) was apparently to set
things straight in the hodge-podge of things people were saying by then, and in
the stories that they were telling. That’s why he started out his Gospel
account with the words (Luke 1:1-3), ‘Since many others have already taken on
the job of putting together a statement of the facts of the things we believe
as they were given to us by those who were eyewitnesses from long ago, and by
caretakers of the message, it seemed good for me to trace everything accurately
from the start, then write them to you in the order they happened, mighty Theophilus, so you can feel confident about the things
you’ve been taught by word of mouth.’
There
are several important places where Luke’s Gospel disagrees with Matthew’s
Gospel. However, that is simply to be expected when several people tell the
same story from different points of view. An example of this is: Luke said that
Jesus didn’t cleanse God’s
Also,
many of the things that Jesus said and did didn’t follow the same order as in
Matthew. This could be, because Jesus said and did similar things on other
occasions, or simply because someone remembered them as happening on other
occasions.
Is
Luke’s Gospel more accurate than Matthew’s Gospel? Well, he did have a second
look at what Matthew wrote, which always provides an edge when it comes to
accuracy. However, his Gospel was likely written almost twenty-five years
later, so Matthew’s Gospel was written much closer to when the events actually
happened.
Use your
browser BACK button to return to the text you were reading
Hypocrite
is a Greek word that is just spelled a little differently than it is in English
(hypocritai). However, we give the English
word a nuance that isn’t implied in Greek. The first part of the Greek word, hypo,
means under, and the second part, critai,
means judge (it’s what we get critical and criticize
from). So, in the Bible a hypocrite is a ‘lesser judge,’ or one who is very
judgmental of the actions or conduct and others. This differs from the meaning
in English, which is, someone who doesn’t follow his own advice.
The
Scribes and Pharisees were referred to as Hypocrites in the Bible, because they
condemned the actions of others. And like anyone who tends to be critical of
others, they likely failed in the same ways that they condemned others, which
would make them also fit the English definition. However, the Bible meaning is
‘judgmental.’
Being
too judgmental is a very serious flaw, which is common to those who think they
are very righteous. It is reported that the Pharisees especially thought of
themselves as more righteous than others, and it was their opinion that they
would be the only ones to be found righteous and worthy of a resurrection by
God. Notice what Jesus said would happen to those who are judgmental (Matthew
7:1): ‘Don’t judge [others], so you won’t be judged. For, the [rules]
that you use to judge others, are the rules that will be used to judge you, and
the standards you are setting for them, are the standards that they’ll set for
you.’
Use your
browser BACK button to return to the text you were reading
Or Click on 20.htm