Luke is the story of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. It tells of his origin, life, teachings, ministry and miracles. It tells of his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. Consequently, Luke may be the most informative book in the Bible.
The Luke Series is a set of narrations based on the Bible’s book of Luke. Luke said that in writing his book that he investigated everything before writing Luke. His investigation included examining written materials and talking to eyewitnesses. This series is meant to imitate some of the stories Luke might have heard, as well as explore their meaning and importance. This series is true to the Bible, but fills in story lines based on history, geography, and imagination. Think of this series as being similar to a movie based on the book of Luke.
This series presumes that the author of Luke is Luke, a doctor who was a good friend and companion of Paul. That presumption sets the stage for Luke being able to correctly assess the veracity of the birth accounts of both John the Baptist and Jesus, and to understand their importance, both physically and spiritually. Don’t you imagine Luke, a doctor, was hesitant to write about miracles? But he believed in them to the point that he started his book with two miracle stories that could only be considered unlikely, if not outlandish.
Luke started his Gospel talking about the miraculous event of Jesus being born to a virgin, Mary. As a doctor, he must have been very convinced of the truth of that event or he would not have written about it. As hard as that must have been, writing about the resurrection and ascension of Jesus must have been equally as challenging. However, he must have been just as convinced of the truth of those events.
The ascension of Jesus and his future return is historically a standard part of Christian belief. Luke wrote about those two things in Luke and Acts. Without Luke’s writing, how would we know about those two things? Matthew and John do not mention them in their Gospels, and the passage in Mark that mentions the ascension is disputed, and does not mention his return. If it wasn’t for Luke’s accounts we would be left to the relevant passages in the rest of the New Testament for our knowledge of the ascension and future return of Jesus.
Where did Luke get his eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ resurrection? As he traveled with Paul, he most likely spent time with Jesus’ original apostles and disciples. Also, Luke knew that at least five hundred people had witnessed the resurrection, so he likely talked to some of them.
It is best to study all the Gospel accounts of the resurrection and post-resurrection at once, especially using a harmony/parallel account. Each Gospel has something important to add. If you do so, you will probably come away with a timeline of events similar to this: the tomb is visited by women, the stone is rolled away, the tomb is found to be empty by the women, Peter and John visit the empty tomb, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, Jesus appears to other women, soldiers report, Jesus appears to two people on road to Emmaus who report to the other believers, Jesus appears to assembled disciples, Jesus appear to the seven while fishing, Jesus appears to the eleven, Jesus makes other appearances, and Jesus ascends to heaven.
As will be found in the remaining books of the New Testament, the first Christians were absolutely convinced of the truth of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. But the marvelous revelation of Jesus’ return isn’t clearly revealed until Luke’s next book, Acts.
Luke – Troy Powell Theophilus – Michael Page Mary – Chana Keefer John the Baptist – Sam Austin Satan – Christian Heep James – Andy Axewell Matthew – James Hansen Prince Right Hand Man – Ben Hall Centurion – Werner Richmond Mary Magdalene – Trisha Zarate James the Apostle – Lynn Andrews John the Apostle – John Ferguson Pharisee – M. Serrano Martha – Monica Peña Crippled Woman – Patty Pell Gardener – Adam Cope Judas Iscariot – Grey Acuña Lazarus (The Beggar) – Jeff Swearingen Tenth Leper – Eduardo Vildasol Young Ruler – Matthew Allen Holmes Zacchaeus – Chad Cline Andrew – Oscar Seung Peter – Francis Fuselier Pilate – Matthew Roy
