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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Luke 1.

    Luke begins by telling us that he is aware of many other accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. He then explains why he is writing another account. It would be easy to see what Luke is saying as a criticism of those other accounts, but I do not think that was his intention at all. It looks to me like Luke is saying that he took the time to clear up some discrepancies between various accounts and to make sure that he could confirm from reliable sources the stories he included. Further, he checked his facts against other sources to make sure that things happened the way he was told (for example, we know that Luke’s account both here and in the “Acts of the Apostles” includes geographic detail of incredible accuracy). Each of the four Gospels which we have were written for different purposes. Matthew was written to show how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of Jewish Scripture concerning the coming Messiah. Mark was written to communicate Jesus’ message. John was written in order to lead people to faith in Jesus. Luke was written in order to provide an accurate account of Jesus’ life and ministry. I find it valuable to remember Luke’s focus on accuracy when reading his Gospel.

    One thing which strikes me is the difference between how the angel reacted to Zechariah’s “How can I be sure this will happen?” and Mary’s “But how can this happen?” The response of Zechariah is not very different from that of Mary. Yet, Zechariah was struck dumb for not believing what the angel told him, while Mary was given an explanation and a sign (the fact that Elizabeth was pregnant). I have heard people explain these different actions by the angel by finding a difference in the reactions of Zechariah and Mary to the news. However, it strikes me that the explanation to the difference in the angel’s action lies with what came before the angel brought its news to each of these recipients. That difference can be found in the angel’s second sentence to Zechariah, “God has heard your prayer.” Zechariah had been praying for a child. Then when the angel tells him that, not only is he going to have a son, his son is going to be a great man in God’s eyes, Zechariah questions how he can believe it to be true. I mean, after all, they were both too old to have children. Zechariah had been praying for a child, but he did not really expect God to fulfill his request. How often are we guilty of what Zechariah had done here? We ask God for something. Something we desperately desire, even something we need, or which would make us better servants of God. Yet we do not really believe that God will provide it to us.