just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word.even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us,Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
6 sermons cite this verse
… the things that have happened right here among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were actually part of the story, were eyewitnesses. So Luke is not writing, in his mind, he's not writing the Bible, but Luke's extraordinary document, because who wrote it, when it was written, and what it says about Jesus, was so precious to the early church that it was collected and it was copied, and eventually it became part of the New Testament, which eventually became part of what we call and what we respect as the Bible. But Luke's not writing the Bible. Luke's just telling us what happened. And what happened at the end is why the story was worth telling in the first place. In fact, Luke would be quick to tell us if the story didn't end the way the story ended, there was no story to tell because Jesus was just another wannabe prophet, wannabe rabbi, wannabe messiah who went the way of all the wannabe, hope to be messiahs in Judea. …
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. There was a conference this week in Boston, the Evangelical Theological Society. I don't know how many hundreds, maybe numbering in the thousands of academics gather to hear papers, give some papers, meet, network. We had several people from RTS who went. I was there, Chad, Blair, Will, Pastor Eric went. So Christ's covenant was well represented. And you may remember that Tricia and I met when we were at school in Boston's North Shore. So I do like New England and it was, there were three beautiful fall New England days. It was cold, kind of like fall should be. Cold enough that the allergens seemed to have died, which was a nice reprieve for me. And got up in the morning and went on a run down Commonwealth and into the Boston Commons and to Park Street and back around, and it was beautiful. …
… or the things that happened among us, right here among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who were from the first, eyewitnesses and servants of the word. So Luke is not writing the Bible. Luke is just telling us what happened. And later this first century document would be included in the documents that make up what we call the Bible. So he starts off by detailing Jesus' birth. Then as we said in part two, then he introduces us to the warmup act, John the Baptist. And then he gives us a summary of Jesus' entire life mission. He said that Jesus said this, I must proclaim, I must proclaim the good news. I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. That is why I was sent. So Luke's like, here's Jesus' mission statement to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. And the whole idea of the kingdom of God, Jesus presenting the kingdom of God, This represents the reign and the rule of God. …
… when these things happened, they happened among us. Just as they were handed down to us by those who from the very first were eyewitnesses of the events or eyewitnesses and servants of the word. This is code word for Jesus. So Luke is saying, look, many people have tried to document what has just happened. I'm one of those and I wanted to make sure that I got it straight. So I got my information from the eyewitnesses, the people who were the main players, the A players and the events I'm about to describe. He said, so I too decided to write an orderly account for you most excellent Theophilus, which was Theophilus was a first century believer who's like, okay, I'm a Jesus follower, but I've heard so many different accounts in so many different orders. I need somebody to give me a chronological order. I wanna know the whole story from beginning to end. And so I put this account together so that you, this is so powerful, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. …
… many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have happened, been fulfilled right here among us. This happened in his lifetime. Just as they were handed down to us by those who were from the first eyewitnesses. In other words, this isn't something I read about that I'm regurgitating. I've talked to the eyewitnesses and servants of the word. And this is code word in the New Testament for Jesus. With this in mind, he says, with this in mind, I myself have carefully investigated. I'm not passing along information I just got randomly from other people. I have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, from the beginning of Jesus' life, as we discover. And I too decided to write, along with a lot of other people, I too decided to write an orderly account that is a sequential chronological account for you, most excellent Theophilus. And Theophilus was probably, best we can tell, a first century Christian who had become a Jesus follower and had heard the stories and claims of Jesus, but apparently he, like many other people in the first century, and Jesus followers were like, would somebody please put the whole story together for us? We believe, but I mean, an orderly account would be so helpful, especially when we think about passing this along to the next generation. So Luke wants to provide Theophilus with reliable answers. Now, here's what you discover when you begin reading the gospel of Luke. Luke is not writing religious literature. Luke has no idea there's ever going to be a …
… of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those, ready for this? Who from the first, in other words, when this thing first began, were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. In other words, Luke says, what I'm about to tell you, I got from the eyewitnesses. I talked to the people who were there. And sure enough, read the book of Acts. He knew Peter, he knew John, he knew James, the brother of Jesus. He said, I have interviewed everybody I can because I wanted to make sure there's at least one account that covers all the bases. Then he says this, with this in mind, with this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated, parakalutheo, one Greek word, carefully investigated. In other words, it means having carefully followed along or having closely paid attention to the events. I myself have done all the research I can, talked to everybody I can. I too have investigated everything from the beginning. …