Day 15: Luke 1-3. The "Orderly Account" of Luke
Unlike Mark, but like Matthew, Luke begins well before the beginning of Jesus' ministry. He begins by telling us that he too is going to write about Jesus, and that his account is going to be an orderly one. He writes to tell someone call "Theophilos" about Jesus (by the way, Theophilos is Greek for 'Lover of God.") There's a combination of well-known and less-well-known stories in these first two chapters of Luke. I know I had the first few verses of Luke 2, the Christmas story, almost known by heart. But what about the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist? Unlike Mary, Elizabeth and her husband were not young ,but an older couple who had long ago given up hope that they would have a child. Like Mary, Zechariah meets an angel who tells him the good news, but he respond, "How will I know? After all, my wife and I are getting on in year...." To me, this is a nice way of saying, "Give me a break. How am I su...