EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/11/2026
6:45 PM
My
Worship Time “Focus: PT-2 “Luke the Physician and Historian”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
1:1-3a
Message of the verses: “1 ¶
Inasmuch 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,”
(ESV)
In last evening’s SD I had to quote many things from
John MacArthur’s commentary on the book of Luke, and as I begin looking at
these first sections from the book of Luke there will probably be more of the
same in order to set the stage for best understanding this longest of the four
gospel books.
Now as we look at the very outset of
this gospel we see that Luke states that there were many others who had undertaken
to compile an account of the life of Jesus. Now I really can’t say how many
people who wrote about the life of Jesus that are not included in the Word of
God, but I can say with certain that the four gospel records that are in the
Word of God are exactly the ones that the Holy Spirit of God wanted to be in
there, for after all He used human authors to write what He led them to write,
and so the other ones are not legitimate.
We can rest assured that the ones that were not works of the Holy Spirit
are not around anymore. I have to
believe that Luke certainly may have consulted with are those who wrote the
other gospels. John MacArthur writes
that “Whether or not Luke saw their gospels, he had personal contact with both
Mark and Matthew, since Mark and Luke both traveled with Paul (cf. Philem. 24),
and Luke could have visited Matthew in Jerusalem during Paul’s two-year imprisonment
at Caesarea (Acts 24:27)”
(cf. Philem. 24)
“24 and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke,
my fellow workers.”
(Acts 24:27)
“27 When two years had elapsed, Felix was
succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left
Paul in prison.”
“During
the same period, Luke could have interviewed those in the Jerusalem church who
had known the Lord, including the apostles and His mother, Mary. In addition, Luke had access to many other
who had followed Jesus during His lifetime (such as the seventy [Luke 10:1-12],
the women who ministered to Him [cf. Matt. 27:55; Mark 15:40-41; Luke 8:1-3;
23:49, 55], the 120 believers who gathered in Jerusalem following Christ
ascension [Acts 1:15], and the 500 who gathered in Galilee [1 Cor. 15:6]). They would have vividly remembered the things
that Jesus did and said, and Luke could have interviewed them, or possibly read
their writings.”
[Luke 10:1-12]
“1 ¶ After this the Lord appointed seventy-two
others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place
where he himself was about to go. 2 And
he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into
his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am
sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals,
and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever
house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace
will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and
drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house
to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town
and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The
kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not
receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ’Even the dust of your town that clings to our
feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God
has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will
be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”
[cf. Matt. 27:55; Mark 15:40-41; Luke
8:1-3; 23:49, 55]
“55 There were also many women there, looking on
from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him,”
“40 There were also women looking on from a
distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the
younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and
ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to
Jerusalem.”
“1 ¶ Soon afterward he went on through cities and
villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the
twelve were with him, 2 and also some
women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called
Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s
household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of
their means.”
“49 And all his acquaintances and the women who
had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.”
“55 The women who had come with him from Galilee
followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and
ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”
It really was not Luke’s goal to
produce just another biography of Jesus, though that would have been a noble
end in itself. But far more than that,
Luke understood that the gospel is the story of what God accomplishes through
Jesus Christ that happens in the lives of sinners. The verb translated accomplished (peplerophoremenon)
(according to MacArthur), “is an intensive compound word that indicates the
complete fulfillment of something, in this case the redemptive plan of
God. Luke’s gospel, like the other three
canonical gospels, emphasizes the theme of divine accomplishment. It chronicles how God accomplished salvation for His people (cf. Matt.
1:21 Luke 19:10) through the redemptive work of His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. The gospels do not relate the
story of a misunderstood ethical teacher, a failed social revolutionary, a model
of selfless humility, or even a heroic martyr; they reveal the Savior who is
God incarnate, the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’
(John 1:29).
(cf. Matt. 1:21 Luke 19:10)
“21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his
name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’”
“10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save
the lost.’”
Now it is important to note that
Luke was not critical of those who had undertaken which is a term that
is often used in connection with literary endeavors, in order to compile an
account, (which is a phrase often used to refer to historical writing) of
Jesus’ life and ministry. Luke did not
pen his gospel as a corrective of those accounts, however it became God
prompted him to write a comprehensive narrative of the life of Christ and also
the spread of His salvation gospel, and there is little more important that
that.
2/11/2026
7:25 PM
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