Today’s Bible reading is Job 8 and Luke 1.
“Can I ever be certain about Jesus? Was he really born of a virgin? Was he really able to heal lepers, make the lame walk, and help the blind to see? Did he really rise from the dead? How can I be certain?”
Do you realize you’re not the first one with questions about Jesus and the incredible claims surrounding his life? In the first chapter of the Gospel According to Luke, big questions are asked by men and women at the center of the story.
Zechariah, an old priest married to an old woman named Elizabeth, is told to expect the birth of a son who will prepare people for the coming of the Lord. “How shall I know this?” (1:18)
Mary, a young virgin, is told that she will conceive and bear a son who will reign over a never-ending kingdom. “How will this be?” (1:34)
When a baby actually is born to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age, it wasn’t a closely guarded-secret. It didn’t stay in a dark corner, hidden in the shadows. “All these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, ‘What then will this child be?’ For the hand of the Lord was with him” (1:65-66).
You’re not the first one with questions about Jesus and the incredible claims surrounding his life. It’s okay to ask questions. That’s how we grow. It’s okay to dig for answers. There’s nothing to hide. All that Luke is requesting is a fair hearing and the opportunity to present the evidence. Just listen to his stated aim:
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-4)
That you may have certainty… Do you see that? This orderly account, preserved now for 2,000 years, contains eyewitness evidence and firsthand testimony concerning extraordinary accomplishments and miraculous events. “How shall I know this?” “How will this be?” “Who then is this?” Readers ancient and modern are invited to come, open, and see for themselves… that they may “have certainty.”
Maybe it’s been quite some time since you felt “certainty” concerning the things you’ve been taught about Jesus. Why not give Luke a fresh hearing? Why not follow in young Mary’s footsteps? “How will this be?” She has no idea. But she’s willing to humble herself before and trust the call of her Creator. “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord” (1:38). Who knows? Follow the flow of Luke’s orderly account in search of certainty and you might end up saying right along with that young virgin, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (1:46-47).
Follow along with our daily Bible reading plan as we read Luke’s Gospel in February and March.
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