LUKE - ch1. - Study.

Hey guys!

I’ve recently been doing a personal Bible Study on the book of Luke – I finished the book of Luke a couple of days ago, and I must admit, I felt abit sad that it had ended. I love His writings, the depth he goes into and his detailed accounts are so amazing. I plan to go from chapter 1 right through to the end into the book of Luke, and His account of the life of Jesus, The Gospel and The Good News of His Kingdom.  This is not a commentary on EVERY SINGLE verse in the book of Luke , I just feel that there were some verses in each chapter that the LORD used to speak to me about various characteristics of Jesus and myself in my own journey of self-improvement in becoming more like my Saviour – Jesus !! 

CHAP. 1

Luke starts by letting us know that He is writing to ‘Most honorable Theophilius’ . Best guessing in this is that Theophilus is a good friend that Luke does not get to see very often. Now Luke was practicing doctor before being Called. And this greatly explains his way of accounting events. “3‘Having carefully investigated all of these accounts from the beginning, I have decided to write a careful summary for you, “4 to reassure you of all the truth you were taught,’

One of the first things that are brought to my attention starting from verse 5: ‘It all beings with a Jewish priest, Zechariah …His wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron.’ This tells me so much about the Character of God. He cares about families. He cares about groups of people who all-purpose to follow Him. We see individuals like Moses and Aaron who were brothers, and listened to the voice of God. And God continued His promise to them more than 35 generations .The scripture says in Psalms 105. God never forgets His promises- “8. And you can trust that in your relationship with Him, He will do just that. I read a lot in the Psalms on how God keeps His promois from generation to generation- Psalm 145”13 . I am so blessed to have an absolutely amazing mum who has raised me in the ways of God and it’s so special when she prays for me and my continual course of salvation. It makes me feel like I’m a part of something bigger than myself. And in a world that is not getting any better in the fact that sin is becoming exceedingly sinful, I believe that no matter what age you are, when you come to the understanding of the importance of salvation, you can continue your line of salvation by praying for the generations after your own. Even though they may be years into the future- remember there is no time with God. He loves families.

Verse 6 of Luke ch.1 says ‘Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the LORDS commandments and regulations. ‘Now one thing we should pick up here is that the couple were righteous in GOD’S EYES. – It doesn’t say in the eyes of men, or in the eyes of the world – or compared to others. And I believe as Christians, we care to much about the opinions of men rather than what God thinks of us. We should be more concerned that in the quietness of our hearts and at home when no one is around that God is pleased with us. From this scripture, we know that Elizabeth and Zachariah were not like the stereotypical (most part) Pharisees, they were not hypocrites. Now the second part of that verse says they were ‘careful to obey all of the LORDS commands’ for me what was highlighted here was not the fact that they obeyed all of LORDS commands, but the fact they were careful to. In other words, they yearned and longed to obey God. In this last movement of the ‘grace message’ one can get easily confused with the part we are supposed to play in our pursuit of righteousness. And that’s what righteousness should be, it should be our pursuit. Not just an added bonus of being a Christian. In in pursuing God we must OBEY the instructions of the HOLY SPIRIT .Whenever He speaks to us – and trust me , He does, the question is whether you have cleared your way to hear Him or not.

In verse 9, Luke says: ‘… he (Zachariah) was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary and burn incense in the LORD’S presence ‘Now I don’t know about you, but I find it quite strange when these profound moments like someone going into the temple is chosen by Lot, the Scripture says that ‘His ways are bigger than our ways’ – You must also realise what a big deal it was for someone to go and speak to God. *I heard that a rope had to be tied to the leg of someone who went into the temple, because the Glory of the Lord was so prominent that the person (Priest) could fall over and die.*

And you know what, it STILL IS a big deal when we speak to God, His presence is still prominent – in fact even more so, the scripture says: In the last days, there will be an outpouring of the presence of God. And what’s more , when Jesus died, the veil between God and man was torn from bottom to top- and it’s the reason we can cry out to God today without making long journeys to Holy places to ‘visit God’. – We must not take this for granted.  ** Familiarity breeds content. The human race is exposed and given up to the Spirit of Christ more than ever before – and we don’t even know it. Think of it like this: Someone is listening to a beautiful Mozart composition, and the first sound of it makes them cry at the beaut and richness of the sounds. But after a while of the music playing, a couple of hours pass by, they don’t even realise its playing. The music remains the same, but they’ve gotten used to it, even though at first it made them cry. The word of God is truth, and it says that God is the same yesterday today and forever, don’t fall into contempt. Treat Jesus with the honour He deserves, Jesus says in Revelation: Return to your first love. Remember when you first became a Christian, and worship felt like heaven on earth to you. Don’t lose that spark.

“13 – ‘But the angel said, don’t be afraid, Zachariah!’ – If I’m not mistaken it is 365 times Jesus in the Bible says don’t be afraid. Why – so we can get the point. This is easier said than done, but we must pray to God for a brave spirit. And not a courageous one of our own strength. But completely confidant in our Saviour- for He has ‘overcome the world’! And so this is the first Supernatural encounter in the New Testament according to Luke. There has been limited contact with God more *** years. And the first thing that is said by this amazing Angel is ‘Do not be afraid’. That definitely is saying something. The funniest thing is, as many of us would do … Zechariahs first response isn’t – Yes Lord … or how wonderful! – Or even some form of happiness when (I’m sure) a massive glowing Angel is standing in front of Him. Instead He questions. In this moment alone, we can definitely fall into the conclusion that Zechariah is a sceptic. But so many of us are: ‘But how can I know this will happen’ – in other words, Can this be sure.

This experienced is juxtaposed to Mary being told the same Good News. Angel Gabriel comes to Mary, - a descendant of DAVID – 2Samuel 7”12-16

And lets her know that she has been chosen to be the Mother of the Messiah. And in perspective, both Zacharias and Mary had very similar reactions Mary said ‘But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin’ – some might say she doubted. But you must look at Zechariah and Mary as two completely different people: Zachariah was much older than Mary (“18) He had been a Priest for probably longer than Mary had been alive. He had studied the Scriptures, and in theory and on paper, should have not reacted the way he did. Mary on the other hand was a teenager, with limited experience in the Scriptures and had probably never even been INSIDE a temples inner courts. On paper, her encounter with an angel should have been worse. But she took it very well. She was favoured by the Lord “

Let’s face it, ‘to whom much is given much is required’- Luke 12”48 and Zechariah was made dumb because much was expected of him, but he didn’t seem to think so!