Although Luke covers the same basic territory as Matthew and Mark, he gives away his own slant in the very first chapers. Matthew begins with a formal family genealogy; Mark opens with a bleached-desert scene. In contrast, Luke describes a hearty celebration.
The way Luke tells it, events surrounding Jesus' birth resembled a joy-filled musical. Characters crowded into the scene: a white-haired great uncle, an astonished virgin, a tottery old prophetess. They all smiled broadly and, as likely as not, burst into song.
Once Mary had recovered from the shock of seeing an angel, she let loose with a beautiful hymn. The old priest Zechariah broke nine months of muteness with a rousing poem, and even the unborn John the Baptist kicked for joy inside his mother's womb (1:44). When Jesus finally made an entrance, in an inconspicuous stable, the sky filled with singing angels. Clearly something was brewing on planet Earth.
History Split in Two
You get the feeling when you read his account that Luke wanted to capture in words the spirit of "great joy" that the angel predicted (2:10). Among dreary, defeated villagers in a remote corner of the Roman Empire, something climatically good was bursting out.
The author tells us (1:1-4) that he researched many accounts of Jesus' life. Intimate details in these first two chapters show he relied heavily on eyewitnesses, for no other Gospel writer picked up so many facts. Careful |
