Luke 24:1-12 - Investigative Report of the Resurrection

     It has been a few days since I last wrote. My intention was to write daily, but the press of pastoral ministry doesn't always make that possible. So I have decided to write as I am able.
     Today we begin looking at Luke's account of the Resurrection. Yes, we are well past Easter now, but the Gospel records are so rich, I am going to continue to explore them with you. After all, the death and resurrection of Jesus are the greatest events in earth's history so far, followed certainly by the beginning of Earth's Judgment and the Second Coming of Jesus. Confining our thinking about Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection to a time of year isn't necessarily good anyway. We can and should think of the Cross and the Resurrection all year long, because that is where our hope lies.
     I love Luke's account of the Resurrection because it is a carefully investigated account. Luke was not part of the Twelve and therefore did not have the privilege of seeing Jesus' ministry and Passion personally. He became a disciple later, probably. So, before he wrote his Gospel, he had to research everything carefully. He interviewed eye witnesses one by one, and as a physician with highly trained skills of observation and analysis, he wrote his investigative report.
     He tells us how he researched his Gospel before writing it, in Luke 1:1-4:  "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. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught" (Emphasis mine).
     Luke investigated everything about the story of Jesus very carefully from beginning to end, and only then wrote out his Gospel account. This means that when we read Luke's story of the Resurrection and the events surrounding it, we can have a high degree of certainty that he paid attention to the details and made sure that his report was orderly and certain.
     This does not mean the other Gospel accounts are less inspired; not at all. It also does not mean they are less trustworthy. Each writer emphasizes the things the Spirit impressed on their heart at the time of writing. It just means that Luke's report was constructed especially with an interest in completeness and order, because that was the purpose of his written account to Theophilus, who, though unknown outside the Biblical account, was probably an important Roman official.
     It is with that assurance that we will begin our study of Luke's Ressurection account in our next writing.

Pastor Michael Brownfield