Luke begins his statement by saying: "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative..." From these words we understand that there were many who had attempted to draw up or to write a narrative concerning the things that had been fulfilled and that had been adequately authenticated by many infallible proofs to the believers. Immediately the question arises: To whom and to what works does Luke refer? Some have thought that he had in mind Matthew and Mark, who, it is thought by many believing scholars, wrote before Luke composed his record of the Gospel. It is quite probable that Mark wrote his record in the late fifties or in A.D. 60. Matthew, it is judged by the same believing scholars, wrote shortly after Mark. This supposition has much in its favor. But Luke could not refer to these two documents by his statement, "Forasmuch as many..." By no manipulation of his statement can we force upon his "many" the small number of two writers. Moreover, there is implied, in all probability, in his statement a censure and an adverse criticism of those writers, together with their documents, since he felt it his duty to search out accurately the things which were believed and to write them down in an orderly manner. In view of this implied criticism, it is quite likely that Luke referred to different ones who had been associated with Jesus, more or less, during His public ministry, and who by their own efforts--unaided by the Spirit of God and divine inspiration had attempted to draw up narratives concerning the life of our Lord and the things that had been fulfilled and had been accepted as true among the believers. From bits of papyri which have been rescued from rubbish heaps of Egypt, we learn that there were different ones of our Lord's disciples who wrote down at least sayings of Jesus. In view of this fact it is quite likely, then, that as the days of our Lord receded into the distance, there was felt by many the need of a written record of His life and of His teachings. This was a natural feeling. There were various eyewitnesses who had become ministers of the Word, and who doubtless wrote down from memory certain records and began to circulate them. Luke, by the Spirit of God and by his investigation into the life and teachings of Jesus, knew that these uninspired records were inadequate.

When the time arose for the records of our Lord's life to be committed to writing, the Spirit led Mark to write his record of the Gospel, choosing those narratives and sayings of the Lord that would assist him in presenting in the most graphic and appealing manner the Gospel to the Roman people, for whom he, Mark, wrote. Matthew likewise was led by the Holy Spirit to write his record of the Gospel, selecting those instances and those teachings of our Lord that would present to the Jewish people the proposition that Jesus of Nazareth was and is their longed-for Messiah and the Redeemer of the world. Following these two accounts comes that of Luke, who wrote his record of the Gospel. In speaking of the things concerning which he wrote, he thought of them as "those matters which have been fulfilled among us…" The marginal reading of the Revised Version on the word, fulfilled, is "fully established." Both of these renderings are correct and accurate. The first one emphasizes the thought that the life and teachings of Jesus were the fulfillment of prophetic predictions that are found in the Old Testament. A careful perusal of the books of the Old Testament shows that there were and are many prophecies concerning our Lord, His life and works. Thus in the fullness of the times God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. The Lord played the role that was foretold by the Old Testament prophets. Hence Luke could say that, in writing the teachings and the life of Jesus, he was speaking about the things that had been fulfilled among those who believed. This thought certainly is to be found imbedded in the original text. Moreover, the marginal reading of this word "fulfilled" is likewise correct. These matters that were accepted by the believers had been "fully established." There were many witnesses who had followed our Lord from the beginning, from the baptism of John through to the very end of His earthly career and who witnessed His death, burial, and resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the throne of God. All of the gospel facts were thoroughly attested by competent, faithful, true witnesses, who by such a method fully established the credibility of all the facts connected with the Lord Jesus that were believed by the apostolic church. There was not left any room for doubt concerning anything regarding Him, His work, and His mission.

The statement, "even as they delivered them unto us," shows that Luke the writer of the book was not an eyewitness of the things concerning which he wrote. But he claims to have heard the message from eyewitnesses. There were many disciples of our Lord who testified concerning the things which they had seen and heard. When we read the Gospel Records we see that there were vast hosts of people who went to hear Jesus preach. Many of them followed Him from one place to another. The Apostles followed Him and were most intimately associated with Him from their call up to His ascension. After Christ was crucified and buried, He rose and appeared to various groups of the Apostles and to certain ones of them. At one time He appeared to above five hundred brethren, concerning whom Paul declared in A.D. 58 that the greater part were still alive and could give their testimony concerning Him in His resurrection body. Many of these eyewitnesses testified concerning the things which they had seen and heard since they became ministers of the Word. Luke had therefore many competent witnesses from whom He heard the story concerning the things that had been fulfilled among them.

In addition to the oral testimony of these eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, Luke had these various narratives that had been drawn up by certain ones who attempted to write records of the life of the Lord. Luke had also Mark's record of the Gospel, together with that of Matthew. He therefore had both oral and written sources.

Luke was a real scientist. He was a physician and was so recognized by the Apostle Paul. Hobart in his excellent work, The Medical Language of Saint Luke, has proved that Luke was a physician. He has done this by showing that he, above all others of the Evangelists, used accurate, scientific, medical terms that were current in his day and time. In speaking of diseases, the other writers of the Gospels, as a rule, used general terms, whereas Luke in his two books, the Gospel and Acts, employed accurate, scientific terms, which fact proved that he was a physician.

Luke was a real scientist. What makes a man a scientist? One who has the scientific spirit. The one who by training has qualified himself to do research, who is thorough in his labors, and who has a passion for facts and truth apart from all error. An examination of the writings of Luke shows that he possessed all of these qualifications. He claimed that he traced out the course of all things accurately from the first.

Experts in the Greek language tell us that they detect the feminine touch, for instance, in Luke, chapters 1 and 2. They are convinced that these touches are echoes of Luke's having consulted Mary and Elizabeth for their stories regarding the marvelous birth of John the Baptist and the miraculous conception and virgin birth of the Lord Jesus. There is a large section, Luke 10:1-18:30, which is peculiar to Luke alone. Believing scholars think that he had some different sources from which he drew this information. Remember that these scholars come to this conclusion in view of the fact that Luke declares that he had both oral and written sources, which he had consulted accurately before ever he had attempted to write his record of the Gospel.

Let us always bear in mind that Luke declared that he had traced out the course of all things accurately from the first, and that he had written to Theophilus "in order," that is, in an orderly manner which unfolds before the reader's mind the narrative concerning the things that had been fulfilled in their midst. According to his statement Luke began from the very start of the things that had been fulfilled, namely, the birth of the Forerunner, or herald, of the Messiah. The law and the prophets were until John. When he came, he introduced a new order. Beginning with his ministry the kingdom of heaven was preached and all men were taking it by violence. Thus the birth and ministry of John the Baptist is the proper starting point for the things that have been fulfilled among us. When we open Luke's record of the Gospel, we see that he starts with the annunciation concerning the birth of John the Baptist. He then narrates the birth of Jesus. He likewise mentions Christ's residence in Nazareth. He alone tells about our Lord's going to Jerusalem with His mother and Joseph when He was twelve years of age. Following his account of this fact, Luke covers eighteen years of our Lord's life in 2:52 by saying that He "advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."

Following this statement, he gives us an account of the ministry of John the Baptist, which reached its culmination in the baptism of Jesus. Naturally here Luke, presenting Christ as the ideal man, the God-man, with the emphasis upon His humanity, gives us our Lord's genealogy from the human standpoint. Then, in chapter 4, he tells about His being tempted by the devil.

In keeping with the chronological order of the life of our Lord, Luke speaks about His returning to Nazareth and beginning His Great Galilean ministry, which is covered in 4:16-9:50. As hinted above, Luke covers--in 9:51-18:30--The latter Judean and Perean ministries which followed the great Galilean ministry and which brings us to the closing days of our Lord's earthly career.

From this point to the end of the record Luke moves in the same groove as that in which Mark and Matthew had already gone. A close study of the Gospel of Luke leads one to believe that he has done exactly what he declared he would do, namely, write out an orderly, chronological account of our Lord's life. When one lays the Gospel of Luke beside that of Mark and compares them closely, he sees that Mark likewise, though much briefer than Luke, gives an orderly unfolding, chronologically speaking, of the events which he narrates. This fact confirms our conviction that Luke has written in an orderly manner, as he states that he did.

Though Luke was a scientist and did research by gathering accurately all the material and information that he possibly could from all sources, we are not to imagine that he simply wrote down what he had learned by his investigation. Jesus had promised to His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit who would guide them into all truth, bringing to their minds things that He had said and also showing them things that would come to pass thereafter. We have every reason to believe that Luke enjoyed the full and complete inspiration of the Spirit that any of the Old Testament prophets experienced or the New Testament writers enjoyed. The reason for my making this statement is that his account of the Gospel narrative is in perfect harmony and accord with those of Matthew and John, who were apostles of the Lord Jesus, and who enjoyed in the fullest sense the inspiration of the Spirit of God. We may correctly conclude that after Luke had, by personal investigation and research, gathered all his material, the Holy Spirit led him to select those narratives and discourses of our Lord that would enable him to present to his readers Him as our Kinsman-Redeemer, who is none other than God in human form, entering the world by miraculous conception and virgin birth.

That we have an inspired, accurate, and faithful record in the form of the Gospel of Luke is attested by the further fact that Luke has stood alone through the centuries in his testimony concerning certain historical data. For instance, Luke has stood alone in his statements relative to the decree which Caesar Augustus issued concerning the enrollment of the entire Roman empire. In keeping with this imperial edict, Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem of Judah to be enrolled. When they arrived, the time came for Mary to bring forth her first-born, the Lord Jesus. Luke says that this was the first enrollment, and that it was when Quirinius was governor of Syria. The critics and the rationalists ridiculed and derided Luke account of the birth of our Lord and his historical references. Only in modern times has it been possible to test and to verify historical data which Luke alone has given us. The archaeologists have brought marvelous and wonderful light to us which vindicates Luke in all of his utterances, and which proves conclusively that the critics are in error, and that Luke was absolutely accurate in every particular. For instance, Sir William Ramsay has performed a monumental task in that he has by his archaeological researches brought to light much indisputable evidence that proves the genuineness and the historicity of the New Testament writings. Others in the same field have made marvelous contributions to the general theme of the genuineness and authenticity of the Apostolic Writings.

We can therefore with full assurance and confidence accept as the Word of the Living God everything that Luke and all the other inspired writers have left for us.

Luke states that it was his purpose in writing his account of our Lord's life that "Theophilus" (and all other believers) might "know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed." The testimony concerning the Lord Jesus, His life and His works, when measured and tested by the canons of historical criticism and the laws of evidence, proves to be the testimony of eyewitnesses of the highest credibility. There is no reasonable doubt concerning these records. Simon Greenleaf -- who in his day was a professor of the Law School in Harvard University, and whose work, "Treatise on the Law of Evidence," is accepted as the standard work by the law profession throughout the English-speaking world -- has shown in his volume, An Examination of the Testimony of the Evangelists, that these records stand up under a critical examination conducted according to the laws of evidence, and that they are true, accurate accounts of the things which they narrate.

The records of our Lord's life and teachings are of such a nature that they bring Joy, peace, comfort, and satisfaction, as well as absolute certainty, to those who read them with an open mind, who accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord, Messiah, and Kinsman-Redeemer, --the One who alone can deliver a person from his sin and prepare him for life with God forever and ever.

Praise God for the record of the Gospel according to Luke, as well as for all other portions of the inspired Word of God.