Ryle / McGrath Luke

1. Auflage 1997
ISBN: 978-1-4335-1654-2
Verlag: Crossway
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, Band 14, 320 Seiten

Reihe: Crossway Classic Commentaries

For hundreds of years Christendom has been blessed with Bible commentaries written by great men of God highly respected for their godly walk and their insight into spiritual truth. The Crossway Classic Commentaries present the very best work on individual Bible books, carefully adapted for maximum understanding and usefulness for today's believers. Luke is an encouraging treatment of the third Gospel-the life of Christ as told by 'the beloved physician' under the direction of God's Spirit. The teachings and miracles of our Savior come to life in a powerful way, producing deeper devotion and increased commitment in the hearts of those who follow the Master. An assuring volume that will strengthen and encourage Christian believers as they seek to better understand what it means to walk with Christ day by day.

J. C. Ryle (1816-1900) was a prominent writer, preacher, and Anglican clergyman in nineteenth-century England. He is the author of the classic Expository Thoughts on the Gospels and retired as the bishop of Liverpool.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ryle, J. C.

McGrath, Alister

Leseproben

Luke
Chapter 1

St. Luke’s general introduction to his Gospel (1:1-4)

St. Luke’s Gospel contains many precious things which are not recorded in the other three Gospels. For example, the histories of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the angel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary, and, in general terms, the ?rst two chapters of his Gospel. Only St. Luke records the conversions of Zacchaeus and the penitent thief, the walk to Emmaus, and the famous parables of the Pharisee and the tax collector, the rich man and Lazarus, and the lost son. These are parts of Scripture for which every well-instructed Christian feels peculiarly thankful. And for these we are indebted to the Gospel of St. Luke.

The short preface (verses 1-4) is a peculiar feature of St. Luke’s Gospel.

1. A sketch of the nature of a Gospel

In the ?rst place, St. Luke gives us a short but valuable sketch of the nature of a Gospel. He calls it an account of the things that have been ful?lled among us (verse 1). It is a narrative of facts about Jesus Christ.

Christianity is a religion built on facts. Let us never lose sight of this. It came before mankind at ?rst in this shape. The ?rst preachers did not go up and down the world proclaiming an elaborate, arti?cial system of abstruse doctrines and deep principles. They made it their ?rst business to tell people great plain facts. They went about telling a sin-laden world that the Son of God had come down to earth and lived for us and died for us and rose again for us. The Gospel, as it was ?rst proclaimed, was far more simple than many make it now. It was neither more nor less than the history of Christ.

Let us aim at greater simplicity in our own personal religion. Let Christ be the Sun of our system, and let the main desire of our souls be to live the life of faith in him and to daily know him better. This was St. Paul’s Christianity (see Philippians 1:21).

2. The true position of the apostles in the early church

In the second place, St. Luke draws a beautiful picture of the true position of the apostles in the early church. He calls them eyewitnesses and servants of the word (verse 2). There is an instructive humility in this expression. There is an utter absence of that man-exalting tone which has so often crept into the church. St. Luke gives the apostles no ?attering titles. He affords not the slightest excuse to those who speak of them with idolatrous veneration because of their office and nearness to our Lord.

He describes them as eyewitnesses. They told people what they had seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears (see 1 John 1:1). He describes them as servants of the word. They were servants of the Word of the Gospel. They were men who counted it their highest privilege to carry about, as messengers, the tidings of God’s love to a sinful world and to tell the story of the cross.

Well would it have been for the church and the world if Christian ministers had never laid claim to higher dignity and honor than the apostles claimed for themselves. It is a sad fact that ordained men have constantly exalted themselves and their office to a most unscriptural position. It is no less sad that people have constantly helped this evil by a lazy acquiescence in the demands of priestcraft and by contenting themselves with a mere vicarious religion. There have been faults on both sides. Let us remember this and be on our guard.

3. St. Luke’s quali?cations for writing a Gospel

In the third place, St. Luke describes his own quali?cations for the work of writing a Gospel. He says that he carefully investigated everything from the beginning (verse 3).

It would be a mere waste of time to inquire from what source St. Luke obtained the information which he has given us in his Gospel. We have no good reason for supposing that he saw our Lord work miracles or heard him teach. To say that he obtained his information from the Virgin Mary or any of the apostles is mere conjecture and speculation. It is enough for us to know that St. Luke wrote by God’s inspiration. Unquestionably he did not neglect the ordinary means of obtaining knowledge. But the Holy Spirit guided him, no less than all other writers of the Bible, in his choice of material. The Holy Spirit supplied him with thoughts, arrangements, sentences, and even words; and the result is that what St. Luke wrote is not to be read “as the word of men” but “the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Let us take care to hold on to this great doctrine of the plenary inspiration of every word of the Bible. Let us never allow that any writer of the Old or New Testament could make even the slightest verbal mistake or error when writing, since he was “carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). Let it be a settled principle with us in reading the Bible that when we cannot understand a passage or reconcile it with some other passage, the fault is not in the Bible but in ourselves. The adoption of this principle will place our feet on a rock. To give it up is to stand on quicksand and to ?ll our minds with endless uncertainties and doubts.

4. St. Luke’s main purpose in writing his Gospel

Finally, St. Luke informs us of one main purpose he had in mind in writing his Gospel. It was that Theophilus may know the certainty of the things which he had been taught (verse 4). There is no encouragement here for those who place con?dence in unwritten traditions and the voice of the church. St. Luke knew well the weakness of human memory and the readiness with which a history alters its shape both by additions and alterations when it depends only on word of mouth and report. What therefore does he do? He takes care to write (verse 3).

There is no encouragement here for those who are opposed to the spread of religious knowledge and talk of ignorance as the “mother of devotion.” St. Luke does not wish his friend to remain in doubt on any matter of his faith. He tells him that he wants him to know the certainty of the things he had been taught (verse 4).

Let us close the passage with thankfulness for the Bible. Let us bless God daily that we are not left dependent on human traditions and need not be led astray by ministers’ mistakes. We have a written volume which is “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

Let us begin St. Luke’s Gospel with an earnest desire to know more for ourselves the truth as it is in Jesus and with a hearty determination to do as much as we can to spread the knowledge of that truth throughout the world.

Notes on Luke 1:1-4

. Our information about St. Luke is scanty. What we have no reason to doubt is that he was the companion of St. Paul on his travels and that he was a “doctor” (Colossians 4:14). It is generally agreed that his Gospel was written with a special reference to Gentile converts rather than Jews.

1. Many have undertaken. Who these many were, we do not know. St. Luke’s meaning appears to be simply that they wrote without any divine call or inspiration.

2. The word. Some think that this means the Lord Jesus Christ, the “Word” who “was made ?esh” (John 1:14). It seems, however, more probable that we are to take it as the written word or the word of the Gospel.

3. Orderly account. We must carefully observe that this expression does not imply that Luke followed the chronological order of the chief events in our Lord’s life more than the other evangelists. It rather means that he grouped together and classi?ed in an orderly way the principal facts which he was inspired to record.

Theophilus. We know nothing certain about this person. The prevailing opinion is that he was some Christian Gentile in a high position to whom St. Luke, for reasons unknown to us, was directed to address himself in writing his Gospel. The expression most excellent seems to indicate that he was no common person. It is the same expression which St. Paul used in addressing Felix and Festus (Acts 24:3; 26:25).

Zechariah and Elizabeth, and Zechariah’s vision (1:5-12)

The ?rst event recorded in St. Luke’s Gospel is the sudden appearance of an angel to a Jewish priest named Zechariah. The angel announces to him that a son is to be born to him by a miraculous interposition and that this son is to be the forerunner of the long-promised Messiah. The Word of God had plainly foretold that when the Messiah came, someone would go before him to prepare his way (Malachi 3:1). The wisdom of God provided that when this forerunner appeared, he would be born in the family of a priest.

It is hard for us to imagine the immense importance of the angel’s announcement. To a pious Jew it must have been glad tidings of great joy. It was the ?rst communication from God to Israel since the days of Malachi. It broke the long silence of 400 years. It told the believing Israelites that the prophetic weeks of Daniel were at last ful?lled (Daniel 9:25), that God’s choicest promise was at last going to be accomplished, and that “the seed” was about to appear in whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:18). We must place ourselves in imagination in Zechariah’s position if we are to give these verses their true weight.

1. The character of Zechariah and Elizabeth

Let us note, ?rst, in this passage the high testimony which is given about the character of Zechariah and Elizabeth. We are told that they were both upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly (verse 6).

It matters little whether we interpret such righteousness as that...