SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES by F. D. Starr

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, Cal. · Sep 20, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 38.

SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES

By F. D. Starr

LUKE.

THO not one of the twelve apostles, yet Luke was one of the chosen persons on whom was bestowed the honor of writing the history of our Lord's life and sufferings. We learn from his introduction that there were quite a number who took up the pen for this same purpose. He states that "many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration" of those things.

As Luke wrote his Gospel about twenty-eight years after the resurrection of Christ, the only two persons of whom we have any inspired record that had preceded him in this matter were Matthew and Mark, for John did not write his Gospel till some thirty-five years after Luke wrote his. Two persons could hardly be spoken of as "many," therefore other persons besides Matthew and Mark must have written the history of our Saviour's work, and these histories or Gospels have not been preserved to posterity as have the four that are found in the Sacred Volume. But we have enough. The Lord knew just how many and which ones ought to be handed down to us. It was not His plan to make the record a cumbersome production. Let us thank Him for what we have, and carefully study the same.

It is thought that Luke may have been a Gentile by birth. We find from Col. 4:14 that he was a physician. This should be an encouragement and a model to Gospel workers to-day. The consecrated physician or nurse can add immensely to his usefulness by being prepared to practise the healing art, and thus work for the physical as well as the spiritual welfare of the people, as did the Great Physician himself.

It seems that Luke was with Paul at the time of his imprisonment at Rome. 2 Tim. 4:11. Luke wrote also the book of Acts, so that, with the exception of Paul, no other person wrote New Testament matter so extensively as he. If it be true that Luke was not of Jewish descent, he must be the only person not descended from Abraham who wrote any part of the Holy Scriptures of either the Old or New Testaments.

It is a most fortunate thing for us that "it seemed good" unto Luke, as he states it, to write a declaration of those things pertaining to the kingdom of God, for there are many things mentioned in his book that are not recorded in any of the other Gospels. We will mention some of these: The announcement by the angel to Zacharias and Elizabeth concerning the birth of their son, John the Baptist; the infant Saviour adored by the shepherds; the childhood, youth, and early manhood of Jesus, as well as His talk with the doctors in the temple; raising the son of the widow of Nain; sending out the seventy disciples, and their return; the parable of the Good Samaritan; the foolish rich man; the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices; the barren fig tree; the lost sheep; the prodigal son; the rich man and Lazarus; Zacchaeus climbing the sycamore tree; the parable of the ten pounds; Jesus sent by Pilate to Herod; Jesus praying for His murderers, etc.

One other thing narrated by Luke, but not by the other evangelists, to which we would like to call special attention is the penitent thief on the cross and our Lord's reply to his request. There is evidently quite a misapprehension of the significance of those words. The thief made this request: "Remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom." (R. V.) Jesus' reply was, "Verily I say unto thee to-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." Our translators or compilers have placed the comma so as to make it appear that the Lord assured the penitent that he would meet him in Paradise that day, but Mr. Rotherham, a very noted scholar and translator, assures us in his translation of the New Testament that it would be fully as much in harmony with the original to place the comma after the term to-day as before it. The passage would then read "Verily I say unto thee to-day, Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." Any Greek scholar must admit that this is so. The thief asked to be remembered when Christ should come in His kingdom, in the future. Jesus assures him that that matter is settled then, that his case is sure. When we take into consideration the fact that the thief did not die that day, and that Jesus had not yet ascended to Paradise the third day after this promise was made, we can more readily see that He did not mean that He would meet the thief in Paradise that day. And when we take into account the Scripture teaching that the dead are unconscious till the resurrection, we see still more clearly that the Saviour used the word to-day as an expression of emphasis. This was common in Scripture language; for instance see Prov. 22:19: "That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee." How similar this language to that of Luke 23:43, and how evident that the to-day is used as a term of emphasis. See also Zech. 9:12: "Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope; even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee." The to-day adds force to the expression.

We close this article with the attention called to the scene at Bethany (Luke 24:50-53), where with extended hands the blessed Jesus pronounces a parting benediction; and may we, with the early disciples, be continually praising, blessing, and worshiping our ascended Lord.