Full disclosure as I jump into this book.  This is my favourite gospel. Am I allowed to say that? I don’t even know, but I really love the storyteller.  Luke is an academic, a physician in fact.  He likes historical detail.  I wish he gave a little more of it.  Honestly, I wish he gave a lot more detail but I’m assuming papyrus, or parchment or whatever he was writing on wasn’t cheap. I guess you really had to choose your words back then. 

Also like me, he’s a Gentile, which simply means he isn’t Jewish. So he fills in a few blanks that someone who wasn’t raised Jewish might miss. The man for whom he wrote it was also a Gentile, so I get to feel like part of his target audience. Luke clearly loved and respected this guy, Theophilus, so he wanted to give him a clear, well presented account.  Each gospel, telling the story from a different perspective, adds to our picture of who this Jesus was and what he was like. I’m really thankful there are four of them. But Luke speaks my language.  If you find one of the other guys tells the story in a way that connects better with you, that’s ok! We can still be friends. 

As we read the book of Luke together I need you to actually read it with me.  This is a conversation about a story.  I might summarise things from time to time, but mostly I want to talk about it.  When I sit down to study the Bible it’s like being with an old friend.  I grab my biggest mug, full of coffee.  I wrap up in a blanket if it’s a chilly day.  I keep a notebook handy, both to record things I see and to write down all the crazy distracting thoughts that randomly come to mind.  Something about studying the Bible makes me suddenly remember that I am almost out of milk, I need to reschedule my optometrist appointment and that I need to see how my friend’s dog came through surgery yesterday.  If you are as easily distracted as I am, I highly recommend having a notebook handy where you can write those things down to deal with later.

I typically also say a prayer asking God to help me notice what he wants me to notice.  If you aren’t sure if there is a God this might be a way to invite him to help you notice him.  There is no formula, but I would challenge you to keep an open mind as you read.  If you believe in God, you may find he isn’t exactly who you thought he was.  If you don’t or aren’t sure, try to be open to the possibility.  This is another topic for another day but there are a lot of reasons – scientific, rational, moral, historical, even existential – to think that there is a God and that he is the one revealed in the Bible.  I personally have come to be rationally and experientially convinced of this.  It makes sense in view of what I know about the world and I have personally experienced things that have added to my conviction.  But that’s just me.  I’m not here to tell you what to think, I’m just here to read the Bible with you. 

Okay, I’m hoping you’ve found a comfy spot and an open heart.  Now let’s find Luke.  If this isn’t new to you, go read Luke 1:1-25 and meet me at that heading a paragraph or two down the page.  If this is new, you’re going to need a Bible of some kind.  There are, of course, paper Bibles.  I love holding an actual book in my hands, but it’s completely unnecessary if you don’t have one handy.  There are several apps that have multiple translations and paraphrases of the Bible.  There are even a number of websites you can go to.  If you go to your browser and type Luke 1:1-25, it’ll pop right up.  If you have a paper Bible, Luke is probably ¾ of the way to the back. There’s always the table of contents if you get stuck.  Luke 1 is the first chapter of Luke and the part that says 1-25 refers to the verses. The verses are the little sequential numbers in the paragraphs as you are reading.  It’s a pretty simple system.  The numbers don’t have any special significance.  Someone just added them in the last 600 years or so to make it easy to reference and talk about specific sections of the document.  It’s a common thing to do with ancient texts.

I think that’s the preamble out of the way.  Let’s take a look at the book of Luke!  Read chapter 1 verses 1 to 25, take a sip of whatever you’re drinking, and let’s chat.