Rooted in Historical Reality

   I've probably quoted this to you more than once already. From my linguistic key re: eye witnesses. "This reflects a conviction that the Christian faith is rooted not in speculative creation but in historical reality" by a man named Ellis.
   We see an amazing instance of historical data in the opening verses of chapter 3. Do these known political leaders line up historically with the facts of Luke? A simple google phone search says they do.... try it yourself! If John was called in from the desert in the 15th year of Tiberius  (29AD), all the other people mentioned were in exactly the positions Luke records them in. Wow!
    And John comes preaching a message of repentance, just as the angel announced he would. And people repent. "He will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.", the Angel of Luke 1 quoting from Malachi 4. It's certainly all coming together in an amazing way.
    Next week we'll look at Jesus ministry "in the synagogues of Judea" [4:44] Even though we've just gotten started in the book of Luke, the stories are from his second year of ministry, the year he was wildly popular. That amazing year of ministry will continue through Luke 9, and we'll just keep studying two chapters at a time to see what we can learn.
   He calls some disciples, he argues with some Pharisees, he designate sthe 12 Apostles (what does that mean?) And he teaches the sermon on a Level Place.... it will be interesting to see the similarities and differences between that account in Luke and the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6....
   We thought earlier about the voice of Jesus in the book of Luke. We're going to start hearing that voice more next week and we'll find it to be .....what?
   I love the gospels because Jesus is never quite the same as my idea of him, and that helps me clarify that picture. Reminds me of John 3:2, "Dear friends; now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure."
   I think that means the more clearly we see Jesus, the more we'll be like him. Let's try to see this Jesus, the complete revelation of God.