Thurs.’s Devo Luke’s Account

Read Luke 1:1-5a I have a real desire to look into the Gospels and study the words of Jesus. I felt led to go to Luke and study his account of Jesus’ ministry so today we will start Luke. I’m excited to see what the Holy Spirit has in store for us. Luke wrote this book and the book of Acts and dedicated both of them to Theophilus. His name means “friend of God”. In the 3rd verse he addresses Theophilus as “most excellent” which might mean he was a person of rank, perhaps a Roman officer. God has his people strategically placed in the enemies houses. This might come as a surprise to you, but their were believers in Hitler’s army. Luke was a doctor so he wanted a detailed, accurate account of what Jesus did. I’m sure he was careful to verify every fact and word correctly so that people who were not able to actually eye-witness Jesus life could read an accurate account. He starts at the beginning before Jesus arrives on the scene and sets the stage. Herod was the king of Judea. Herod was responsible for putting the apostle James to death, and casting Peter into prison (Luke 3: 1 Acts 12: 1 19). This is what the Eason Dictionary has to say about Herod: On the second day of a festival held in honor of the emperor Claudius, he appeared in the great theatre of Caesarea. "The king came in clothed in magnificent robes, of which silver was the costly brilliant material. It was early in the day, and the sun's rays fell on the king, so that the eyes of the beholders were dazzled with the brightness which surrounded him. Voices here and there from the crowd exclaimed that it was the apparition of something divine. And when he spoke and made an oration to them, they gave a shout, saying, 'It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.' But in the midst of this idolatrous ostentation an angel of God suddenly smote him. He was carried out of the theatre a dying man." He died AD (Acts 12) of the same loathsome malady which slew his grandfather (Acts 12: 21- 23), in the fifty- fourth year of his age, having reigned four years as tetrarch and three as king over the whole of Palestine. After his death his kingdom came under the control of the prefect of Syria, and Palestine was now fully incorporated with the empire. God chose to have Jesus come to earth in a time where the government was hostile to God and his laws, much like the time we are living in. God has chosen to send us to earth to live now which is a great privilege. We can shine brighter because the atmosphere is darker. Lord, let us never fear our government or the times we are living in. We choose to put our hope and faith in you.