Certainty

2. Luke 1:1-4

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 opens his narrative by informing his recipient of his purpose: “that you may have certainty.” He also tells his method: “to write an orderly account for you”; that is, to write an account that is not necessarily chronological, but chooses material according to his purpose. Luke wants to take what eyewitnesses have been telling and teaching (in obedience to Christ’s commission) and make an account that results in “certainty”.

Luke speaks of “things that have been accomplished”. Something did not just happen, something was accomplished.

Bear with me: I am not a scholar, but I love language; and the Greek language had nuances and shadings that are difficult to render in English. The Greek phrase Luke used is pragma plerophoreo.

• ·         Pragma carries a sense of a deed, a thing, a work.
• ·         Plero is defined as “replete” or “complete”.
• ·         Phoreo according to Strong’s means “to have a burden, i.e. (by analogy) to wear as clothing or a constant accompaniment:--bear, wear.”

·         Put together, plerophoreo  expresses “to carry out fully (in evidence), i.e. completely assure (or convince), entirely accomplish:--most surely believe, fully know (persuade), make full proof of.”

Pragma plerophoreo is a proven certainty that the ministers of the word were so sure of, they wore it like a suit of clothing.

Luke and Acts are parts I and II of the same narrative. Some have theorized that they were affidavits for Paul’s legal defense to show that Christianity was a legitimate offspring of Judaism, which was a legally accepted religion in the Roman Empire. Whatever Theophilus’s (the name, by the way, means “lover of God”) purpose in commissioning the accounts, Luke’s purpose was broader. He wanted those who read to know for certain that what eyewitnesses were saying about Jesus was the truth.

Do I have “certainty”? When I read the Gospel accounts of “things that have been accomplished”, do I accept the reality even when what is being told seems beyond belief? Can I wear it as clothing? Can I accept it as a done deal, a fulfillment, a completion? Can I find my sure completion here, in Jesus Christ?

In Christ, I CAN be certain of these things.

Heavenly Father, You have done something in Christ that changed everything. Let me most surely believe in what You did; let me wear this certainty like clothing. You fulfilled all Your intentions in Christ. Let me find completion and answer in Him and in what He does. Amen.