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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Luke 1
Verse Commentaries:
Chapter Level Commentary:
(Luk_1:5 to Luk_2:40)
In every chapter we must read the Bible first and try to identify its subjects (paragraphs), then compare our understanding with the modern versions. Only when we understand the original author's intent by following his logic and presentation can we truly understand the Bible. Only the original author is inspired—readers have no right to change or modify the message. Bible readers do have the responsibility of applying the inspired truth to their day and their lives.
Note that all technical terms and abbreviations are explained fully in the following documents: hyperlink, hyperlink, and hyperlink.
READING CYCLE THREE (from "hyperlink")
FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.
1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Third paragraph
4. Etc.
CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS
A. Luke the Historian
1. Luk_1:1-4 have several rare Greek words that relate to Hellenistic histography. Luke is trying to express his purpose of accurately recording what his research discovered about Jesus' His life and ministry. Luke was a well educated citizen of the first century Greco-Roman world.
2. The problem about Luke's Greek orientation has to do with the nature of Greek history. Often it was very selective and written more for entertainment and propaganda than modern history. Luke uses Hellenistic terms to describe his methods, but records Jesus' life in a Hebrew historical fashion. The best historians in the Ancient Near East (i.e., most accurate) were Hittites and Hebrews.
3. The real question is what is history? Modern western history is chronological and cause/effect driven. Yet even modern history is significantly colored by who writes it and why! History, by its very nature, is a biased selection and description of past events.
4. Luke's Gospel is not modern history or biography, but it is good and true history. The four Gospels are, in reality, gospel tracts, written for evangelistic purposes and targeting selected groups. Events and their relationship to each other are not necessarily chronologically arranged and interpreted for maximum impact. This is not to imply they are concoctions or fabrications, but they are eastern, not western; they are theological as well as historical. Different does not mean bad or false!
See Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth, pp. 127-148.
5. Luke has used the best traditions of his day to present Jesus Christ as God's promised Messiah, sent to redeem all humanity. He is surely influenced by Paul's Gentile mission. Luke is writing to convert Gentiles (as well as encourage believers), not just historically inform them.
6. The four Gospels are different, very different, yet they are true—true eyewitness accounts, true summaries of Jesus' words and activities—but they are not modern histories.
7. Luke clearly wants to put Jesus' life and ministry into a Palestinian and Roman historical framework.
a. a vision of Zacharias in reign of Herod, King of Judea (cf. Luk_1:5)
b. birth connected to a decree of Caesar Augustus (cf. Luk_2:1)
c. birth connected to Quirinius' presence in Syria (cf. Luk_2:2)
d. preaching of John (cf. Luk_3:1-2)
(1) Tiberius Caesar's (fifteenth year of his reign)
(2) Pontius Pilate governor of Judea
(3) Herod tetrarch of Galilee
(4) Phillip tetrarch of Ituraea
(5) Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene
(6) Annas and Caiaphas were high priests
B. The Blessings of Chapters One and Two
1. It must be remembered that they are given in a mindset of OT prophecies. Jesus surely fulfilled these OT expectations, but moved beyond them. These blessings must be seen as precursors of the gospel. They are OT pictures which will be universalized (i.e., not Jew vs. Gentile, but believer vs. unbeliever; not Israel, but all the world). The Gospel affects more than Israel and Palestine (cf. Luk_24:47).
2. It needs to be remembered that Luke, in chapter one, is recording the blessing of those who were first informed about and impacted by Jesus' birth. These blessings are in OT poetic form (cf. Luk_1:46-55; Luk_1:67-79) and contain OT content. OT poetry is a genre called wisdom literature. It has special interpretive procedures (See Fee and Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, pp. 206-230).
a. "the Magnificat" (song of Mary), Luk_1:46-55
b. "the Benedictus" (song of Zechariah), Luk_1:68-79
c. "Gloria in excelsis" (song of the angels), Luk_2:14
d. "Nunc dimittis" (song of Simeon), Luk_2:29-32
C. The parallels between John the Baptist and Jesus
1. devout parents
2. birth announced by Gabriel
3. supernatural conceptions
4. mothers both glorify God
5. babies named by an angel
6. both babies fulfill prophecy
7. the circumcision of both under Mosaic Law is specifically mentioned
8. normal physical and emotional growth, but superior spiritual growth
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
1. Why is the virgin birth an important biblical concept?
2. How did the Spirit accomplish this task?
3. How do we balance the greatness of Mary's faith with the normalcy of her humanity?
4. What is the important truth revealed in Luk_1:51-53?
5. Why are the titles of the godly king listed in Luk_1:6 so significant in our understanding of Jesus of Nazareth?
6. Why can Zacharias be filled with the Holy Spirit before Pentecost?
7. Why is the Davidic origin of the Messiah so important?
8. Why were the Jews expecting Elijah to be reincarnated?