Luke 1:1-4

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Each of the four gospels has its own spin - not as in politics in the putting a rosy glow on things but rather it’s own angle, their personal perspective on the events they witnessed. This comes out in writing style and in the events from Jesus’ life that they choose to include. I’ve read things that even tell you which personality type is most likely to appreciate which gospel most! (what a sentence!)
Luke is writing as the person he is (doctor, accompanied Paul on missionary journeys) and is writing to someone in particular, Theophilus. We get a very clear starting point with Luke, an explanation of why he is writing and to an extent where he is coming from. He tells us in these verses that he has “fully investigated everything from the beginning”. Although he says “the things that have been fulfilled among us”, he has gone and done his research. He talks of those who were “eye witnesses from the first”. And that is his starting point for information gathering. We don’t know who he has spoken to or how long he has taken to write his gospel precisely but we know that his intention has been to give as full an account as possible. Luke indicates the factual nature of his character/writing style throughout the book - I can’t remember the precise number but there are something like 200 medical terms found throughout Luke showing his desire for the factual and accurate. And now that he’s got his facts, he doesn’t want to keep them to himself but to share them with Theophilus and through him, many others.
We don’t know exactly who Theophilus was - a Roman, probably an official, probably a convert of Luke’s from one of the missionary journeys with Paul. I imagine Theophilus to be at the kind of post-Alpha stage - he’s become a Christian, he’s got a good starting point but he still needs to put the meat on the bones of his faith. And that is where Luke has come in, writing first his gospel and then the book of Acts to help Theophilus understand.
I had a letter from a friend this morning and it was a good letter. I was very pleased to receive it and it contained lots of information about how they are and also just some chit chat that made me feel a little less like I was thousands of miles away from them. I was so excited to receive this letter that I actually saved it up for a while. I did some jobs, tidied up a bit, made lunch and a cup of tea and got all sorted and settled before I opened the letter. Imagine receiving a gospel! Luke’s gospel was probably in the format of a book rather than a letter but still! Can you imagine how exciting it would be to receive this gospel and read it for the first time? Do we get that excited about hearing from God? I do get excited but sometimes I struggle with the intangibility of it… This letter was in my hands and I could read the words and know something of my friend from it. But we don’t always hear from God in so concrete a way. But God is just as capable of speaking to us through Luke’s gospel as he was of speaking to Theophilus. So I’m gearing up for some major hearing-from-God-ness through reading this gospel. And I’m planning on being excited about it - even if perhaps Luke was not so excitable himself, with his “orderly account” (v3)!

First Post - An Explanation

This blog is for me. I’m not sure whether anyone else will want to read it or if they do whether they will gain anything from it. I want to use it to give some direction to my bible study, to give an aim to aid me in my study. Yes, I will miss speaking this year while I’m in a temporary setting (I don’t expect anyone to trust me enough on first meeting to let me speak to their church!) and that is part of it but there is more to it than that. I am still entirely unsure where I am headed in life (though had an interesting bible study the other week with new house group about vision and direction and the general census seemed to be that actually we couldn’t cope with too much vision and God just gives us bite sized chunks. This seems to be a lesson that I keep learning! Or rather, failing to learn…) and one of my purposes of this year is to spend a lot more time with God and get involved in a church while I’m not working too much. (I’m looking at working 1-3 days a week on average I reckon. Sadly it is more at the mo.) A lot of the spending time with God part will be private but I know I’m better able to really knuckle in to study if there is a fixed goal - yes, I’m an exam girl rather than a coursework girl and I think that applies to my spiritual life too.
So my first goal that I’m setting myself for this “public” study is Luke. I bit ambitious length-wise I fear but I suddenly realised that I haven't ever REALLY studied a Gospel, I'm always going for New Testament letters or Old Testament Prophets. I will spend time with the Bible and with other resources (currently rather lacking there due to having left all my books at home boo hiss but will see what the internet and library can do for me) and have some thoughts and put them up here.
So that should explain it for anyone who knows me but a quick bit of history for anyone who doesn’t know me who has stumbled across this page… I have recently moved to New Zealand from the UK for a year. At home, I was in the privileged position of being allowed to speak at my home church. I am not a vicar, I am not a lay reader, I have had no formal training just some experience of spending time with God, listening to what he has to say and sharing it with other people. I have been brought up in a Christian family and have been a Christian most of my life (there have, of course been ups and downs) and am on the lookout for new ways to express my love of God and to expand my knowledge of Him and relationship with Him. So…let’s see how it goes!