St. Luke the Evangelist Day
For this reason, it seemed good to me also, since I followed everything closely from the beginning, to write an orderly account to you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you were taught. Luke 1:3-4
When I choose the texts for the devotions, I use my planning calendar. The calendar follows the pericopes of the Church Year. When I got to this week, my calendar also pointed out that October 18th is the day that the church remembers St. Luke, the man God had chosen to write one of the Gospels. Today we have a good opportunity to quickly review the importance of the written Word of God.
Even though Luke doesn’t mention his name, we know he is the author by putting together the information about him in the New Testament. As he says here he “followed everything closely from the beginning.” In his second book, Acts, he also records the beginning of the Gospel fulfillment, the Good News going out into the world. When you read the book of Acts, you may notice how Luke switches pronouns between third person plural or first person plural. When Luke is personally present he uses “we.” In Paul’s letter to Philemon, Luke is listed among the people sending their greetings. Later when Paul writes his last letter, 2 Timothy, Luke is mentioned as the only one who is with him.
Paul’s letters were quickly seen as valued possessions for the new churches. Since Luke was a coworker with Paul on many of his journeys, the Gospel that Luke wrote served as a great tool. To this day, this orderly account that the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to write serves the purpose for which God gave it. The Good News of Jesus is true. We’ve been given the written Word to guarantee it.
Lord Jesus, thank you for the victory. Thank you also for giving us the written record. Amen.