Luke 1:1-4

This gospel is clearly written by Luke, who was referred to as a doctor in Col 4:14 by Paul. He was also deemed as one of the more faithful companions of Paul, and accomanied him on a few of his missionary journeys. Luke gives an account here of Jesus' life and later continues to write the Acts of the Apostles with the same methodical and clear style, perhaps because of his training as a physician for documenting medical information. (Note, one should look up medical practices during the time of Luke: 0-100 AD. Also note that Hippocrates was alive around 450 BC, ample time for modern medical approaches to have been developed by the time of Jesus and Luke).

Here in 1:1-4, Luke begins with a clear statement of his purpose for writing this gospel account. He was primarily writing to Theophilus, of whom the only description we are given in the entire Bible is that he was most excellent (Lk 1:3). The goal of his writing to Theophilus was to show him the "certainty the things in which (he) was instructed" (1:4b). From here, we know that Theophilus had undergone a fair amount of exposure and learning in the early Christian faith. This consisted, briefly, of believing that Christ was the Son of God who died on the Cross, in fulfillment of Scripture, for the sin of the world, and the salvation of man. Yet, despite having learned all these (and so far we have good reason to assume that Theophilus was a diligent disciple of Christ), Luke felt it necessary to buttress his current knowledge with more certainty. Thus, perhaps in our own faith, we must be careful to recognize the need to be clear of the facts, so that we will have the same amount of certainty, and not just take matters of faith at just face value. Faith does not mean we become ignorant of truth, rather, we endeavor to uncover it.

What better way to be certain of the facts about Christ, than to have a well-organized record, from the many eye-witness accounts and Luke's "perfect understanding". Just as a well written, and objectively researched work is much more valuable than anecdotal accounts, so Luke here seeks to seal the many accounts of Jesus, that must have been going around at that time, into one easy to read narrative of the Savior.