Luke 1:1-4 – Prologue

The Gospel of Luke was written by Luke, a physician who was Paul’s traveling companion. The Apostle mentioned him specifically by name in Colossians 4:14, Philemon 24, and Timothy 4:11. Although his name did not appear in this Gospel, early the church already accepted him as the author of both this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles. Both these books were addressed to a certain Theophilus, whose name means God’s lover. He was probably a high-ranking Roman official, who had acknowledged Jesus as His Lord and Savior. From his name, we surmise that Luke was also inviting all God’s lovers to read and be confident of all that they had been taught concerning Jesus Christ.

Bear in mind that there were many oral traditions circulating in Luke’s day concerning Jesus’ life and works. How was a person supposed to know whether what he heard was genuine or not? So here Luke opens this account of the life and works of Jesus Christ with a long and formal statement. He wants to establish right at the onset that this is a trustworthy account. Why so? It was because he had personally researched, and carefully and thoroughly examined the facts that were circulating concerning Jesus. What he was dealing with was facts and information passed down by people who saw and witnessed them. Besides, these facts came from people who were servants of the word. Having researched and ascertained all, he now compiled his research and had them written down systematically and consecutively. The reason he did so was so that Theophilus and people like us, who are the “lovers of God”, will know the truth and live confidently concerning our encounter with Jesus, the God incarnate. Here Luke invites us into what he had written and then to interact and respond to the truth. Let’s open our hearts and spirit to what God wants to instruct us through Luke’s Gospel!