Witnesses of These Things

We have reached the end of our study of the book of Luke. The author, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote this work to give readers certainty concerning the things that they have been taught about Jesus (Luke 1:1–4). As we read and reread Luke’s gospel, the Spirit will work to build us up in the truth of Jesus Christ.

Before our Lord returned to heaven, He told His disciples that they were witnesses of the Messiah and His fulfillment of God’s promises (24:48). These twin themes of witness and fulfillment are important ideas in Luke’s gospel. The testimony of eyewitnesses was particularly important to Luke, and he investigated things thoroughly so that he could provide an orderly account of the life and ministry of Jesus (1:1–4). Luke tells us that Gabriel bore witness of God’s saving purposes to Zechariah and Mary, who then testified to the Lord’s work in their songs of praise. These songs also reveal that God was keeping His promises to Israel through Jesus and His forerunner, John the Baptist (vv. 5–80). The angels declared God’s victory to the shepherds, and Simeon and Anna bore witness that Jesus is the Messiah (ch. 2). John the Baptist gave testimony regarding the coming of Jesus, and Jesus proclaimed the fulfillment of God’s promises in Himself (chs. 3–4).

Jesus called many people to bear witness to Him, focusing especially on the Twelve (ch. 5). He taught people the truth about God’s holiness, mercy, and love, bearing witness to the fullness of the Lord’s character and the greatness of His salvation with His parables and His miracles (chs. 6–19). Our Redeemer also explained how God kept His promises particularly in the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Messiah. He went to the cross and rose again from the dead to bear witness to God’s hatred of sin and a commitment to our salvation so great that God bore His own penalty for wickedness in His Son (chs. 20–23). Rising again from the dead, Jesus appeared to many so that they could be witnesses of what had been done, and He ascended to heaven to pour out the Holy Spirit and empower those witnesses (ch. 24).

Luke’s gospel ends with many divine promises fulfilled and witnesses’ having seen all that Jesus did during His earthly ministry but before the coming of the Spirit. More was yet to come, and Luke would give the church a second volume, the book of Acts, to show how Christ continued to fulfill God’s promises as the early church bore witness to Him.