A STUDY ON LUKE
1–2

by Michael S. Beates

Put yourself in the position of Luke, the physician, more than 1,900 years ago. You have been commissioned to “draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,” to accurately report on the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah. How would you begin the job? What would be the best sources of information for you to tap? Luke explains that he “carefully investigated everything from the beginning” in his attempt to accurately present the Gospel of Christ.

With that background in mind, it is intriguing that immediately following Luke’s very formal classical Greek introductory statement, the style of the infancy narratives abruptly changes to a distinctly Semitic literary style. This more Jewish syntax and language continues throughout chapters 1 and 2.

One very plausible explanation for this is that Luke, in his desire for veracity, sought out and interviewed Mary, the mother of our Lord. As a girl in her mid-teens when Jesus was born, Mary could very possibly have still been living (by then being in her 60s or 70s) when Luke began his research for his gospel.

Who could have better recalled the wondrous events surrounding the births of John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah? In Matthew’s gospel the birth narratives focus on Joseph rather than Mary. But Luke recounts not only the actions and thoughts of Mary, but much of what happened with Elizabeth and Zechariah, John’s parents, with whom Mary visited for three months while the two women were pregnant (Luke 1:5–56).

The very personal and poignant encounters Mary and Joseph had with Simeon and Anna in the temple (2:25–38) certainly may have been preserved in a common tradition among believers, but they could also be the memories of one who was present at those meetings. Finally, Luke twice records that “Mary treasured all these things in her heart” (2:19, 51). These highly intimate thoughts surely originated from Mary herself and are the strongest indication that Luke had direct contact with Mary as he accumulated his historical information.

There would have been little reason for Luke to “rewrite” in more Hellenistic Greek Mary’s first hand Semitic account of these significant events. These profoundly vivid memories continue to communicate the wonder of God invading history. ■

Michael Beates is a graduate of Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, Pa., and serves on the staff of Ligonier Ministries.

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