TELL YOUR STORY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Luke 1:1-4

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today, a new journey begins after nearly ten years of writing from the Old Testament. Ironically, this new journey begins in the New Testament, also known as the New Covenant as God sends His Son Jesus onto the world stage with a new promise for salvation, one that was available for all, Jew or Gentile.

We’ll launch this new study in the four Gospels of the New Testament, our first passage coming from the Gospel of Luke but before we begin, it’s important to first have a brief discussion about the four Gospel writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each man was different in his background and experience:

Matthew was a tax collector who was recruited by Jesus to be one of His twelve disciples.

Mark is widely believed to actually be John Mark (Acts 12) who was closely associated with Peter from whom he learned about Jesus.

Luke was a doctor (Colossians 4:14) and a colleague of Paul who as we will see in our scripture passage today received his knowledge of Jesus from others who had knowledge of Him.

John was one of Jesus’ most adored disciples. In fact, John was often referred to as the “one who Jesus loved”, indicating a special bond between the two men.

Indeed, each of these men was very different but they all had one thing in common:

They had a story to tell about Jesus.

Let’s look at the opening four verses of Luke’s Gospel:

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.  Luke 1:1-4

I find it interesting to learn that although we have four Gospel accounts in the Bible, the attempts to “draw up an account of the things” Jesus had fulfilled, putting the events that formed the life and ministry of Jesus into writing, were attempted by many others. Those accounts came from various sources, much like we might see journalistic endeavors happen today. Sometimes stories are written from first-hand experiences; still at other times, they are written based on the testimony of eyewitnesses, from others who may have seen something occur. We know through these opening verses that Luke was in the latter category as he sought to provide an “orderly account” for a man named Theophilus so that he might “know the certainty of the things” he had been taught about Jesus. Not much is known about Theophilus except that Luke had a lot of respect for him, using the words “most excellent” as a descriptor. Of interest, the opening verse of the Book of Acts is the only other place where you find reference to Theophilus which has served as the indicator that Luke also wrote that book of the Bible.

So Luke told the story of Jesus based on a careful investigation and validation of everything he had learned from “eyewitnesses and servants of the word” in order to provide instruction for Theophilus and anyone else who would be blessed to study his writing, including us today some 2,000 years later.

And so we begin this walk, this Christian walk, through the New Testament and along the way, you are going to see me using accounts from more than one Gospel on many occasions, something referred to as synoptic study of the Gospels. It really is the best way to study these books for you are going to see that as each writer shares their particular accounts, they will tell a little different story than the others. And so by putting together all the accounts (or in other words, looking at the accounts synoptically) we get a fuller understanding about what actually happened.

One final note before I close on this opening New Testament message, one that involves you and me.

You see, we all have our own testimonies about Jesus and how He has impacted us or the lives of others we know, testimonies we are called on to share with others as we share the good news of our Savior. Like Matthew and Mark and Luke and John, we all have a story to tell.

So how are you telling your story to others within every day God blesses you with?

And will you take a few moments to share your story with other readers of The Christian Walk?

I hope to get a chance to read your testimony about Jesus.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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