Luke 1.1- 4:30 Commentary

Luke 1.1- 4:30 Commentary

Introduction: Luke 1.1-4

Luke begins his gospel with an introduction that sets up his whole gospel (English Standard Version, Luke 1.1-4). The reason Luke puts this introduction into his gospel is that it helps to set up and give a clear purpose to why Luke is writing and what he is attempting to do with his gospel. Luke also gives his credentials for writing this gospel (Lk 1.3). It is important that we know the reason that Luke is writing and his credentials if we want to understand his flow and if we want to believe him. The introduction also gives us the person whom Luke is writing to, Theophilus, and why Luke is writing to this person (Lk 1.3-4). This gives us the method that Luke uses in composing his gospel. It is to be an “orderly account” (Lk 1.3) this is important because it shows us how Luke is going to be laid out.

John the Baptizer birth foretold: Luke 1.5-25

            After Luke’s introduction he tells the story of the announcement to Zechariah of John the Baptizers birth. In this story an angel comes to announce to Zechariah that he will have a son from his barren wife (Lk 1.13-17). This story is similar to the story of Abraham and Sara in Genesis. In the Abraham story men from God (could be angles) appear and tell Abraham that he will have a child with Sarah even though they are old and Sarah is barren (Gen 18.9-12). This is the only other story other than Jesus where angels or emissaries foretell the birth of a child from God. This story shows how important this child is. Luke is emphasizing that there is going to be a change in the system. Isaac brought about the covenant and John is going to prepare the way for the one who fulfills the entire covenant.

            Luke places this story first because he is writing his story in a chronological order (Lk 1.3). Because John came first therefore Luke places his birth announcement first to emphasize the fact that he came first in the order.

Jesus’ birth announcement: Luke 1.26-38 

            Luke then moves on to the account of Gabriel coming to Mary and announcing Jesus’ birth. Once again there are parallels here to the story of Abraham and Sarah. As Isaac was the beginning of a new system for the people on earth so Jesus would begin a new system for the people of earth. 

            In this section we see several important details about Jesus’ birth:

1)    He will be born of a virgin (Lk 1.34-35)

2)    He will be called the son of God (Lk 1.32)

3)    There will be no end to his Kingdom (Lk 1.33)

These three details are things that point to Jesus’ being the messiah for the Jewish people. These details bring out the awesomeness of who Jesus is to be and the weight of what God is asking Mary to do. 

The reason that Luke places this story after John the Baptizer’s birth announcement is that it happened this way and for Luke getting the events in the proper order is important.      

Mary visit’s Elizabeth: Luke 1.39-45

      Mary’s visit to here relative Elizabeth is important because of what occurs in Elizabeth’s womb. The baby, John the Baptizer, leaps for joy when he heard the Mary’s voice. This puts forth further proof that these were special children. That there was more to these children then just close relatives.  The fact that John leaped in the womb shows that he knew who was inside of Mary.

Mary’s Song: Luke 1.46-56

            Up to this point we don’t know much about Mary’s character or temperament. I think that by placing this song of hers in the text Luke is trying to give her a little bit of depth. In her song she is giving praise to God for his mercy and faithfulness. We see a girl who is in a tough position as a women and she turns to praising God as the outlet for her fear (Lk 1.46-47).  This shows Mary’s character that she turns toward God in her time of need. 

John the Baptizer born: Luke 1.57-66

            After the song Luke tells the account of John the Baptizer’s birth. Once again these two items are placed next to each other to show the painstaking trouble that Luke went through to order his gospel chronologically.

            In this section Luke tells the story of John the Baptizers birth and the loosing of Zechariah’s tongue.  What this section does is it shows that people were taking note of these happenings and talking about them (Lk. 1.66). Showing that people where talking about John’s birth helps people to realize that he was a prophet sent from God. All of the miracles around his birth help to point people in that direction. As the one who prepares the way it is important that people understand that you speak as a prophet.

Zechariah’s Prophecy: Luke 1.67-80

            Zechariah’s prophecy is logically placed here next to the birth of his son. It comes after his tongue has been loosed and sets forth the idea that there is a messiah coming and that John will be the one to prepare the way for that messiah (Lk 1.76).

            This section ends with John heading out into the desert, strong in the spirit to prepare for his public ministry.

Jesus Born: Luke 2.7

            After the story of John the Baptizer’s birth we hear about Jesus’ birth. This is still in line with the pattern that Luke has set up as a chronological gospel.

            The birth of Jesus presented by Luke is short and shows how lowly Jesus came into the world. Jesus is born into a manger in a stable where there were other animals, not a clean and nice place to have a child. This elevates the humanity of Jesus and shows us the depths to which God is willing to go to save us.

Announcement of Jesus to shepherds: Luke 2.8-14

            In order to continue to drive the point home Luke tells the story of angels coming to the shepherds. If being born in a stable helps us to identify with Jesus as a human the angelic chorus that announces his birth to the shepherd’s beings forth his God side. Who else other then the birth of God has gotten such a grand welcome into the world? With the birth of Elijah or Moses there was no fan fare as great as a chorus of angels praising God. But for his son Jesus God made it unmistakably easy to see that this was no ordinary birth and as such that this was going to be a child to watch.

Shepherds visit Jesus: Luke 2.15-21

            In this section the shepherds are told by the angels to go and visit the child that was born in the town. The reason I think that Luke put this in his gospel is so that we can see the kind of people that he is coming to. His birth was announced to the lowly, smelly, and unnoticed shepherds.

            This also is a foreshadowing of what Jesus will present himself as, a shepherd, and we are his lost sheep. It is only fitting that shepherds visit him on the night of his birth.

Jesus taken to the temple: Luke 2.22-40

            After eight days Jesus is taken to the temple for circumcision while there two people, Simeon and Anna, bless him. This is in preparation for his ministry he is circumcised and Simone, who was told he would see the savoir, blessed him.

                This is all in preparation for Jesus’ ministry. Luke is showing how now the steps that Jesus went through to be prepared for his public ministry. Circumcision is the first step in that process. Jesus came to the Jews in order to see them saved so he needed to be a Jew to fulfill the law and be the sacrifice for our sins.

            As the new family heads home to Nazareth in verse 40 we see that Jesus grew in wisdom and God’s favor was on him. This shows the preparation for his ministry as he grows to be a wise person and one with whom God has favor on.

            This still is following the logically form of Luke’s gospel.

Jesus left in Jerusalem: Luke 2.41-52

            In this section we see that Jesus is taken to the temple for fests by his parents and left there. It is during this time that he enters the temple and spends time learning about his father. After being found by his parents the text talks about him continuing to grow in wisdom and favor with God (Lk 2.52). This is further preparation for his ministry. His experience in the temple was a teaching experience. It taught him practically about God and his ways through the rabbis at the temple and it taught him about maturity. While staying behind at the temple was not a bad thing it was not necessarily a mature thing for Jesus to do.

John the Baptizer’s Ministry: Luke 3.1-20

            With this whole section of Luke being the birth and preparation of Jesus for his public ministry it is necessary to show the preparation of the peoples hearts fro Jesus’ ministry. John the Baptizer preaches repentance and a better way of life. He is calling his people back to their faith so that when Jesus starts his ministry they are ready for it.

            John is not telling people to become Christians, he is not changing their belief system he is telling them to be better Jews.

            We also see that John knows who the Christ is (Lk 3.16-17) this is in response to people asking of John is the Christ. His response is to point people toward the one who is coming who will save their souls.

Jesus Baptized: Luke 3.21-22

            Here Luke is showing the continual preparation of Jesus. Jesus when baptized the heavens opened up and God blessed his son. This goes to show further preparation for ministry that Jesus was going through.

Genealogy: Luke 3.23-38

            The genealogy of Jesus is placed here to show that Jesus really is a Son of God and comes from the line of David. Luke puts it here because we have just seen God tell him that he is well pleased and we wonder a little bit more about where he comes from so Luke tells us.

            Unlike the genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew, Luke’s goes from Jesus to Son of God. In my opinion this difference is due to Luke being a gentile and not so concerned about how the genealogy works but just that it shows the line from God to Jesus.

 Jesus and the Devil: Luke 4.1-13

            After the genealogy Luke pivots back to the story of Jesus’ preparation for ministry. He tells the account of Jesus and the devil in the desert. This account shows that Jesus was tempted to give up the things of the kingdom but yet he held fast.

            This account shows us that when temptation comes along it is scripture that will get us through. It is through scripture that Jesus was able to refute the devil and stand in his convictions. This shows us that we should know our scriptures, as they are a weapon when it comes to dealing with temptation.

            The three tests that Jesus is given, bread, worship, and power, these test are about whether Jesus is going to complete the plan that God has placed before him or whether he will short circuit it.   

          

            Bread: This test shows that it is not hunger that is important, but rather what to you live for and do you live by the power that proceeds from Christ to sustain you? 

            Worship: This test is about following God’s plan for your life. Jesus was tempted to end it all right there and not go through with his crucifixion. So will we trust God and follow his planes or will we try it on our own?

            Power: This test is about worldly power. The devil was trying to get Jesus to trade in his glory and kingdom power for a cheep imitation. That is the question that we have to ask our selves, do we want to stick close to God and have his power or are we going to be lured away by the cheep imitation that the devil provides?

Jesus launches his ministry: Luke 4.14-30

            This is the culmination of the previous chapters stories. Jesus’ birth has been announced, he has been taught and he has grown in wisdom, and he has resisted the devil. Now it is time to begin the public ministry. Luke records that after the desert he taught in synagogues around the area but the first recorded teaching is in his hometown of Nazareth.

            Once again we see Luke’s attention to detail he could not jump from saying that Jesus was in the desert and then went home with out stating that he taught in other synagogues first (Lk 4.14-15). This continues to reinforce the effort Luke has taken to tell this story as accurately and chronologically as possible.

            In his synagogue we see Jesus giving the proclamation as to why he is here and what he is going to do (Lk. 4.17-21). This is what I see happening in the book of Luke it is to those who are broken and oppressed. Jesus does not go to the rich an influential he goes to the lowly and downtrodden. This is the method that Jesus will take for his whole ministry; spurning the leaders and loving the hurting and lowly.

            We also see his town reject his teaching and authority because they know who Jesus is. This is a warning to us to not take people at face value but to look deeper. If the people of Nazareth had been looking deeper into what Jesus was saying and attempted to understand instead of just seeing Jesus, Joseph’s son, they would not have reacted the way they did. We as humans need to use discernment and not allow familiarity to get in the way of what God does for he uses the most unlikely of people. That is what Jesus looked like a lowly carpenter from a nothing backwoods town who happened to be the Son of God.   

Conclusion of Luke 1.1-4.30

            This whole section of scripture shows how Jesus was prepared for ministry and how he announced himself to the world. From it we can glean principals for how we should live and we can reveal in the awesomeness of God and his plan for saving the world.