Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 1.

I do not normally pay much attention to the first couple of verses of Luke, but today I want to start by commenting on them.  Luke begins by explaining why he wrote this account.  He tells us that he has observed that others have written up accounts about the life of Jesus (and perhaps also the founding of the Church).  He then tells us that, since he had carefully investigated all of the events surrounding Jesus, he would write up an orderly account of those events.  This suggests to me that there existed at that time accounts which recorded stories about Jesus’ life in no particular order, and that perhaps some of those accounts were fictional.  As a result of his purposes in writing this account (and the Acts of the Apostles), Luke wrote a carefully researched  and systematic account of Jesus’ life.

When God’s messenger appeared to Zechariah, Zechariah’s initial response was to be gripped with fear.  When he appeared to Mary, Mary’s initial response was to be troubled.  In both cases, God’s messenger, Gabriel, told them not to be afraid.  This follows a pattern from the Old Testament.  So, God’s message always begins with “Do not be afraid.”  It is a scary thing to be chosen by God for some purpose of His.  Yet, He assures us that He will stand by our side as His purpose is worked out through us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.