Articles
Confident of the Way
Confident of the Way
The story of Jesus and his early Church is told in the two-volume work of Luke-Acts. Making up over a quarter of the New Testament, this biographical history is a sort of narrative map – a story that shows the places of Jesus and his Apostles – for “the Way” that Christians should live in following Jesus individually and serving God collectively as the church of Christ.
Both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles begin with prologues that preview the purpose of the story. We see this first in Luke 1:1-4, where the author Luke, who was likely a travel companion of the apostle Paul, writes that, it seemed good to him to write an “orderly account” for Theophilus, so that he could have “certainty” concerning the things he had been taught.
“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.” (Luke 1:1–4 ESV)
We learn two important things from these verses about the purpose of the story that will follow. First, it is written to someone who is likely a believer (Theophilus means “God-lover”) or who at least has heard the Christian story before, and is being provided greater certainty about the story he has been taught. The Gospel, therefore, is written for more confidence in Jesus. The Greek word for “certainty” means a knowledge that is safe, secure, undoubtable. The same or similar Greek words are used to describe the safety of a lock on a prison (Act 5:23) or the steadfastness of an anchor in the water (Hebrews 6:19).
Second, this confidence in the Gospel story comes from an account that is historically precise and “place-by-place,” which is the translation the Greek word for “orderly” in Acts 18:23. It expresses the succession of events and settings that make the narrative of Luke-Acts into a path for carefully and confidently walking in the steps of Jesus and the first Christians. In this way, the author tells us that we should read the Gospels and Acts as a sort of spiritual map for our life.
Study Questions:
In review, what does the prologue in Luke 1:1-4 teach us about the purpose of the Gospel?
What term do the following passages use to describe the teachings and life of Jesus and the early Christians? Why is this an appropriate designation? Luke 1:79; 3:4; 20:21; Acts 9:2; 16:17; 18:25; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22.
The parables are good examples of “spiritual geography” in which physical settings have spiritual significance. Read the following three parables in the Gospel of Luke. In what ways do the places and spaces described in the parables correspond to the life of Jesus or the type of life that he is instructing his disciples to live?
Luke 8:4-15 (Parable of the Sower)
Luke 10:25-37 (Parable of the Good Samaritan)
Luke 13:18-19 (Parable of Mustard Seed)
