Luke's Story (15 page)

John, an apostle of Christ, to most excellent Luke and the elders of the church at Syrian Antioch:

It is with great heaviness of heart that I have cut short my travels and am on my way back to Ephesus, as word has come to me of the passing of the mother of our Lord and Savior. Gregoriana reports that the blessed lady died quietly in her sleep during the afternoon a fortnight ago. News had also reached me of her great pleasure in meeting and working with you on your account, Luke, which makes me all the more eager to see the results.

Pray for us as we honor this saint whom God chose as a vessel for His great gift. We shall grieve her and miss her terribly, yet we also rejoice in her blessed hope, which we share. Our eulogizing her will also be a celebration of her stellar life and all she has meant to the Ephesian church and to believing brothers and sisters everywhere.

I understand that you are on your way back to our brother Paul, but if emissaries are available to be sent from Antioch for the funeral, be assured we will welcome them with all hospitality.

And do greet Paul for me in the matchless name of our Redeemer and assure him of the prayers of all the saints aware of his dangerous plight.

Now blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in pto beli height="6" width="1em">
It was just past noon when the Roman ship finally docked, and it took more than an hour to board soldiers who would help offload the assorted criminals and those—like Paul—who had been sent to Rome for trial.

It did not surprise Luke to find that Paul was the last to be escorted off the ship, personally guarded by a commander named Julius. Luke wanted to jump and cheer and praise God, but he forced himself to remain just one among the crowd. When Paul espied him, he slowed and the commander hesitated with him.

“I knew if any would be here for me, Luke,” Paul said, “it would be you.”

The commander informed Luke where Paul would be held and when he could see him, and Luke ran all the way back to his own quarters, eagerly getting his scrolls together so he could begin reading to his old friend.

 

 

OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS, as Paul was allowed to rent his own chambers and enjoy occasional visits while the authorities tried to determine his disposition, Luke spent much time with him. They prayed and sang, and while Luke sought to encourage the man, he himself was emboldened just listening to Paul. While he was lonely and, naturally, worried over his own fate, still Paul wrote letters to the churches and shared these with Luke.

It warmed the doctor to see that Paul often told other believers that “only Luke is with me,” and referred to him as “the beloved physician.”

To Luke’s great delight, Paul seemed to have no issues with his account of the history of Jesus. He urged Luke to keep on with it and begged him to bring him more and more of it. “It is as if the Holy Spirit Himself is giving you utterance through your pen,” Paul said, making Luke all the more eager to stay at the task. Paul was most excited about Theophilus’s generous offer to read the manuscript to the church at Antioch and to supervise its copying and distribution around the world.

“You know there is more for you to do, don’t you, Luke, when this is finished?”

“More?”

“Much more. The story does not end with Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Far from it. The beginning of the movement, the very founding of the church, the bravery of the disciples, the preaching of Peter—indeed, all the acts of the apostles—must be documented and recorded. How this will thrill the believers!”

“The Acts of the Apostles,” Luke said. “I know much of the story already.”

“And Peter and I can tell you the rest. I came along in the middle of it, of course, but when he arrives here, Peter will be a great source of information and inspiration for you.”

“When he arrives?”

Paul smiled and showed Luke a scroll from Peter, announcing his intention to join them.

Luke was already full of anticipation. “I had wondered what I would do when my letter to Theophilus was complete. I would write this to him as well, telling him that after covering all that Jesus began both to do and t the prd through the Holy Spirit to his chosen apostles, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”

“Yes!” Paul said. “And Peter can tell you, as he has me, that being assembled together with them
,
Jesus commanded the disciples not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’

“Then you can move right into His promise that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit had come upon them and that they would be witnesses to Him in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Isn’t it thrilling that we are privileged to be fulfilling that prophecy?”

“I can’t wait to get to it,” Luke said. “But I must keep it in abeyance until my gospel is finished. I’m very nearly to the end.”

“Go and finish it, then, Doctor, then make haste to return to me and let me hear it.”

 

 

TWO YEARS INTO Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, Luke arrived early one morning with a carefully wrapped original of his scroll and a meticulously made copy.

“I have plenty of time to get this aboard the courier ship,” he told Paul, “but you wanted to see me first?”

“Yes, my friend. I want to hear the very last portion one more time, and then I want to pray over it. This is only the beginning. Once your good sponsor Theophilus has this in hand, he will get it copied, and those copies will be copied, and as these make their way to the churches all over the world, copies will be made of copies until anyone who wants to hear this account will be able to. Meanwhile, you will be hard at work on your and Peter’s Acts of the Apostles, which I believe will be every bit as anticipated and welcomed—perhaps more so because of this.” He held the new scroll in both hands, as if cherishing it.

“Now, read to me of when the resurrected Jesus suddenly appeared to the eleven and those who were with them in the upper room.”

Luke carefully unrolled the copied scroll and found the place. And he read:

“Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you.’ But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.’

“When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, ‘Have you any food here?’ So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.

“Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prs thb>Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

³⁵
And the angel answered and said to her, “
The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
³⁶
Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
³⁷
For with God nothing will be impossible.”

³⁸
Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

 

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹
Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste
, to a city of Judah,
⁴⁰
and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.
⁴¹
And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb;
and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
⁴²
Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed
are
you among women, and blessed
is
the fruit of your womb!
⁴³
But why
is
this
granted
to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
⁴⁴
For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
⁴⁵
Blessed
is
she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

 

The Song of Mary

⁴⁶
And Mary said:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

1:28
^a
NU-Text omits
blessed are you among women.
1:29
^a
NU-Text omits
when she saw him.

⁴⁸
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;

For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

⁴⁹
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,

And holy
is
His name.

⁵⁰
And His mercy
is
on those who fear Him

From generation to generation.

⁵¹
He has shown strength with His arm;

He has scattered
the
proud in the imagination of their hearts.

⁵²
He has put down the mighty from
their
thrones,

And exalted
the
lowly.

⁵³
He has filled
the
hungry with good things,

And
the
ric shown sfore Him all the days of our life.

 

⁷⁶
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;

For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,

⁷⁷
To give knowledge of salvation to His people

By the remission of their sins,

⁷⁸
Through the tender mercy of our God,

With which the Dayspring from on high has visited
^a
us;

⁷⁹
To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,

To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

 

⁸⁰
So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.

1:78
^a
NU-Text reads
shall visit.

Christ Born of Mary

 

2 And it came to pass in those days
that
a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
²
This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
³
So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

⁴
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
⁵
to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife,
^a
who was with child.
⁶
So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
⁷
And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

 

Glory in the Highest

⁸
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
⁹
And behold,
^a
an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
¹⁰
Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
¹¹
For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
¹²
And this
will be
the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”