In this study we will see:
- How Luke's Gospel fits into history.
- That Jesus is "the Son of God."
- What Jesus said he came to do.
The New Testament is made up of several short books
and letters. Our English Bibles are translations of what the
early Christians actually wrote. The experts tell us that we
can be sure that the text on which these translations are
based is exceptionally accurate.
How can we be sure about the
Bible accounts?
In the days of the first Christians, there were many
writings about the life of Jesus. But some had special
quality--they had been written by Jesus' followers or their
close friends. These gospels and letters were carefully copied
by hand. Over the years, archaeologists have found thousands
of manuscripts of bits of the New Testament and even some
complete copies. By comparing these, we can get very close to
what the New Testament writers originally wrote. Some of these
copies are dated less than 100 years after the original gospel
or letter was written.
For an idea of how good this evidence is, compare the New
Testament with other writings that are about as old as the New
Testament. For example, Julius Caesar wrote a book called
The Gallic War about 50 years before Christ was born.
We obviously do not have the original copy. Yet, we do have
nine or ten copies, and the earliest of these was made about
900 years after the original. This is a typical gap for
ancient writings.
When, however, we examine the historical evidence relating
to the Bible, one learns that there are thousands of
manuscripts of the New Testament books. Therefore, we have
good reason to believe that we know almost exactly what Luke,
Paul and the others wrote.
Who wrote the gospel of
Luke?
The author of this gospel, Luke, also wrote another book in
the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles. He was the only
New Testament writer who was not Jewish, and he was a doctor.
Independent evidence confirms that he was a very careful and
accurate historian.
Luke's Gospel: fact or
fiction?
- Where did Luke get his information?
(1:2)
- How did he write it?
(1:3)
- Why do you think Luke wrote this
introduction?
Where did Jesus come
from?
Luke gives details of the unique origin
of Jesus, and the following passage explains how Jesus' birth
was foretold.
- What would the future hold for
Mary's child? (1:32,33)
- How would Jesus be conceived?
(1:35-37)
- Jesus is said to be the Son of God.
What do these verses say about Jesus' "double"
origin?
Jesus explains his
purpose
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the south of
Palestine. He grew up in a very ordinary town, named Nazareth,
located in Galilee which was in the north of Palestine. Jesus
was a carpenter, but at the age of 30, he became a religious
teacher, moving from town to town.
In Luke 4:14-22, we read what happened when Jesus began
teaching. He went to the synagogue, which was the local place
of worship. Although he probably had no more religious
education than the average Jewish man, people wanted to hear
him. He was asked to speak at the synagogue in Nazareth.
- What kinds of people had Jesus come
to help? (4:18)
What do you
think this means?
- What was he going to announce?
(4:19)
What does this
mean?
- What do you think the people in the
synagogue understood when he said the words in verse
21?
Jesus came to help the "poor", the "captive", the "blind",
and the "oppressed." What are ways in which people today are
poor, captive, blind or oppressed?
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