Luke 1:1-10 The Gospel Letter
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: June 7, 2018 Luke 1:1-10
Note 1: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Note 2: This is not really a devotion. It is a Bible study with bits of narrative elements thrown in. I had a lot of time and interest in studying on this day, so I did some research. This research eventually became a sermon. If you want to see a video of a presentation based on this research, go to the dropdown menu of the section called Articles/Videos and choose Videos. Choose the video entitled The Sanctuary–Zachariah’s Prayer.
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.
(Understanding the Text) There are several dates given for the gospel of Luke, but I am inclined to go with the before A.D. 60-65 date (F. F. Bruce p. 1182). The reasoning is that Acts stops while Paul is still alive, so it had to be written about A.D. 60-65. (The SDA commentary says A.D. 63 on page 664.) Since Luke was written before Acts, then Luke’s gospel had to be written before that date. Other supporting evidence is that the gospel of Luke does not seem to have been influenced by any of the Pauline letters. Since Luke was a close associate of Paul, this indicates that his gospel was written before a lot of the letters or it would have had more influence from Paul’s ideas. However, it was written after Mark as it is obvious that Mark’s gospel is one of Luke’s sources.
What should I know about Luke’s gospel in general? In F. F. Bruce’s commentary, there are six characteristics unique to the gospel of Luke. First, it is a universal gospel that focuses on both the Jew and the Gentile. Second, it is the gospel of rejoicing. Luke talks a lot about people’s joy at God’s involvement with them. Third, it is the gospel for the “down and out.” In other words, Luke focuses on Jesus’ interactions with the outcasts of society. Fourth, it is “the woman’s gospel.” Luke tells more about women believers in more positive ways than the other gospel writers. Fifth, it “is the gospel of the supernatural.” Luke focuses on miracles and physical healings. He also frequently uses medical terminology when describing the physical problems of those who come to Jesus for healing. Finally, it is “the gospel of prayer.” Luke really focuses on Jesus’ communication with His Father more than any other gospel writer. (pp. 1183-1184) The SDA commentary says “Luke brings Jesus into close contact with human needs, emphasizing the human side of His nature, and presents Him as the Friend of humanity.” In referring to the uniqueness of Luke, the SDA commentary says that “43 out of some 179 sections of the synoptic narrative appear only in” Luke, and “Only Luke records five of the six events mentioned in the Gospels prior to the birth of Jesus” (p. 669). Luke is the most chronologically focused of the four synoptic gospels, so I should give priority to his chronology of events. I can’t remember if I got this information from F. F. Bruce or the SDA commentary’s introduction to Luke. However, after further research, the SDA commentary says on page 192 that John is the most chronological and that after John, Mark is the most chronological, so I will just have to think about this some more.
Who was Luke? From Acts and some of Paul’s letters, we know that he was a close traveling companion of Paul’s. The SDA commentary cites Eusebius as saying that Luke was from Antioch. One of the commentaries suggested that the gospel may have been written while Luke was in Achaia. Luke is also associated with Philippi, but I have not yet figured out in what way. Both Paul and Eusebius say that Luke was a doctor. Luke was a Gentile who was highly literate in the Greek language and an excellent author whose work is considered some of the best literary quality of the New Testament (F. F. Bruce). The themes of his gospel tell me that he was a person who cared deeply about other people and was probably very empathetic to others. He was highly intelligent and loved deeply.
Luke says that many people had tried to put together the story of Jesus’ life based on what the eyewitnesses had told them. I think that many is more than three other people, so I think there were other collections of stories written down by witnesses and being passed around. However, they must not have been considered inspired or they were simply not written well enough or they were incomplete in their telling. Luke himself would probably not judge his own words as inspired, yet they were. Luke here gives the two criterion he used for his gospel. First, he is using eyewitness accounts. Second, his account will be orderly. His purpose is so that Theophilus will have certainty that the things that he had been taught orally by non-witnesses were true. Thus, Luke felt an obligation to be accurate and reputable because he wanted this man to have certainty about things that he had already been taught. This implies that Theophilus was a little skeptical about his lessons, which he might have received from those who were not eyewitnesses. Luke also gives his own references here by saying that he had been closely following the accounts of Jesus for a long time with the implication that he had great knowledge even participating with witnesses.
The first four verses are written in a traditional Greek style while the rest of the book has a strong Semitic influence that shines through the Greek Koine language that the gospel is written in according to F. F. Bruce. This shows that all of Luke’s sources were Jewish/Semitic. The first four verses were patterned after a Greek literary model that was common at the time. Luke calls Theophilus “most excellent.” This is actually a formal Greek address for high government officials. Thus, Theophilus was a Christian convert who was a high official in the Roman government. The SDA commentary says that some people think that Theophilus might have been one of Luke’s converts while others think that Luke was writing his gospel to Theophilus to counteract false teachings that were circulating. I have heard others say that Luke was writing his books as a defense of Paul, especially Acts. I don’t think this makes sense when the words of greeting are taken into consideration with the time of the writing of the books.
Luke does not start with Jesus’ family background. Instead, he starts with John the Baptist’s father. One reason that Luke has background accounts of the miraculous birth of John and Jesus, as well as Jesus in the temple, may be because these were stories that were floating around that Theophilus was skeptical about. Who did Luke interview about Zechariah? Zechariah and Elizabeth were old when John the Baptist was born, so they would not have been alive at the time that Luke wrote his gospel. On the other hand, there would have been younger priests who were there in the temple that day and got the story directly from Zechariah. Since Zechariah could not talk for a while, there may have even been his own written account of what happened in the temple. It would have been something that should have been investigated by the others serving there, so there were probably written records around.
The setting is during the time that Herod the Great was king of Judea. It takes place inside the outer court of the temple and the holy place of the temple where incense was burned. As Zechariah was doing his duty, there were multitudes of people outside worshipping. Thus, there would have been a lot of witnesses that something had happened. Contrast this with the announcement of Jesus’ conception which only Mary, and later Joseph and Elizabeth, knew about. I’m sure Elizabeth told Zechariah and John the Baptist that Mary’s son was the Messiah. The characters are Zechariah and Elizabeth at this point. We are told that they are both from priestly families and that Elizabeth could trace her lineage back to Aaron himself. They were childless and too old to have children. They loved God and served Him with all their hearts in every way that they know how.
Zechariah belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and it was their turn to serve in the temple. The divisions of the priests were first done by David in 1 Chronicles 24. “With the help of Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service” (1Ch 24:3). “the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,” (1Ch 24:10). The SDA commentary says that “Only four of the courses were represented by the priests who returned from Babylon after the Captivity, and Abijah was not among these (see on Ezra 2:36). But those who did return were nevertheless divided into 21 or 22 courses (expanded to 24 in NT times), and were assigned the names of the original courses (see on Neh. 12:1).” Thus, Elizabeth may have had even greater lineage than Zechariah because she is said to be descended directly from Aaron. However, maybe I am inferring too much into the text. F. F. Bruce’s commentary says “Each division did duty in the Temple in rotation twice a year, each period of duty lasting one week.” The SDA commentary says that according to Josephus that the week was from Sabbath to Sabbath and that all courses were expected to serve during the Feast of Tabernacles.
The other priests and Zechariah drew lots to see who would go into the holy place itself and burn incense to the Lord. Zechariah was chosen, and he went in to do his duty to God. Was this the first time that he had burned incense in the holy place? Yes, according to F. F. Bruce’s commentary, a priest would only be chosen to burn incense once in his lifetime. (The SDA commentary agrees and adds that some priests may have never had the opportunity in their lives.) Thus, the group who were to cast lots for this service must have only included those priests who had never before burned incense.
The SDA commentary gives a detailed description of the casting of lots. “According to Jewish tradition, the priests stood in a semicircle and each held up one or more fingers to be counted. Naming some number, such as 70, the ‘president’ began counting and continued till the number selected indicated who was chosen. The first lot determined who should cleanse the altar of burnt offering and prepare the sacrifice, and the second, who was to offer the sacrifice and cleanse the candlestick and the altar of incense. The third lot, which determined who was to offer incense, was most important. The fourth lot determined who was to burn the pieces of the sacrifice on the altar and perform the concluding part of the service. Lots cast in the morning applied also to the evening service, except that the lot was cast anew for the burning of the incense.”
The SDA commentary also talks about the process of burning incense. “The priest chosen by lot to offer the incense–in this case Zacharias–selected two of his fellow priests to assist him, one to remove the old coals from the alter and the other to lay upon it new coals taken from the altar of burnt offering. These two priests retired from the holy place after their assignments were completed, and the priest chosen by lot arranged the incense upon the coals, and as he did so made intercession for Israel. As the cloud of incense arose, it filled the holy place and even passed above the veil into the most holy place. The altar of incense was immediately before the veil, and although actually within the holy place, it seems to have been considered as belonging to the most holy (see on Heb. 9:4). “
The commentaries agree that this job was considered to be one of the most sacred and important jobs a priest could do in the temple. It took place at 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. during the morning and evening sacrifice times when many people gathered in the temple. However, the incense continued to permeate the temple beyond those times and even entered into the Most Holy place. Whether Jews were in the temple, at home in Jerusalem, in Judea, or dispersed throughout the world, at these times they would stop and pray. These two times were a time to consecrate themselves to God individually and to pray for their nation. Zechariah would have been praying for two things: the forgiveness of his nation’s sins and for the coming of the Messiah.
(Revelation of God / Prayer) At this time Zechariah and his fellow countrymen were longing and praying for the Messiah. Since Malachi about 400 years before, they had been praying and longing for the Messiah to come with no new messages from God. Many had probably given up hope because of the long silence. How like our lives today this is. It has been more than 150 years since EGW gave us messages from God about Jesus’ second coming. She eagerly awaited it and thought it would be soon, but it has been four and five generations since her time, and many have given up and gone to the world. However, we can see that this is not the first long period of silence. When the time was right, God started announcing his plans through prophets and signs. We need to keep believing in Jesus’ soon coming and living our lives obeying the commands that Jesus left with us. I pray for the coming of the Savior and that I will live now worthy of the responsibilities Jesus left for me to accomplish. I pray for faith to wait and love to live the way I should while I am waiting.
(Application) My application to myself is that I can be serving God with all my heart but not much unusual happens for years when suddenly God will call upon me to serve in some unusual, outstanding manner. Does that make the “normal” times any less important of a service than the outstanding times? No, serving God sincerely is all that counts. It is not whether something amazing happens on my watch or just the normal service to God. What counts is that God can say of me that she is “righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.” The rest is just life walking with God whether it is famous or not; whether it seems amazing or humdrum, one service is not greater than another. Being righteous before God is what counts. My job is to just learn to serve and trust God now in the little things doing my duties as He points them out to me, and then to be willing to follow and trust God if and when He asks something greater of me. In addition, I need to remember that just because something is not famous, it does not mean it is not great with far-reaching consequences. If Luke had not included this story in his gospel, we would never have known the names and background story of the parents of the man who Jesus said was the greatest human ever born. I need to remember that there have been many other people serving God who worked mightily for Him although we don’t know anything about them.