In 1906, the German theologian, Albert Schweitzer, published a book called The Quest for the Historical Jesus. In his book, Schweitzer doubted much of what Christians had historically believed about Jesus: who Jesus was, the message that he preached, and what he came to accomplish.
Schweitzer’s book proves just how steep the slippery slope of doubt really is. Because Schweitzer doubted things like the virgin birth and the resurrection, other scholars after him started doubting the inspiration and authority of Scripture, and so on and so forth. Now, there are scholars today who doubt Jesus was even a real person!
In a climate where there is so much doubt about these things, it can be tough to feel certain about anything! Is certainty even possible? Certainty about the Bible? Certainty about God’s character? Certainty about the gospel?
Can we have certainty? That’s the big question we’re going to ask and see if we can find answers in Luke 1:1-4.
To the question of whether or not we can have certainty, Luke certainly thinks the answer is yes! Yes, certainty is possible. But certainty about what? And by who’s word? And why?
So first, certainty about what?
Look at verse 1: “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us.”
There’s three items worth investigating in this verse. First, “the things.” What are “the things” Luke is talking about? As the rest of his gospel will demonstrate, Luke is thinking primarily about the events of Jesus’s life: his birth, his ministry, the miracles he performed, the parables he taught, the things he prophesied, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension to heaven. These are “the things.”
Luke also says “many” have undertaken a similar task to compile these things into a narrative.
The “many” probably includes some of his colleagues in ministry. For example, John Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark which many evangelical scholars believe Luke had access to as he wrote his own gospel.
But there were probably others as well—a broader tradition of both oral and written resources that the early church used to teach others about the Christian faith. Perhaps things that echo Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, summarizing the events of Jesus’s life and explaining their spiritual significance.
The point is that many people thought the events of Jesus’s earthly ministry were worth recording in narrative form. And Luke wants to do the same thing but with a specific goal. He’s compiling these things–the life and ministry of Jesus–into a narrative so that we can have certainty. But what about? What these things have accomplished.
The word the ESV translates as “accomplished” conveys a sense of fulfillment—the things that have been fulfilled, or the things that have been completed.
In other words, the events of Jesus’s life—his birth, life, death, and resurrection—have fulfilled something or brought something to completion. And that something is God’s redemptive plan.
Luke is saying that God’s redemptive plan has been accomplished, it's been fulfilled, it's been completed in the life and ministry of Jesus.
It is on this point that Luke both begins and ends his gospel.
Turn real quick to the last chapter in Luke. Luke 24:13 begins with two men on the road to Emmaus discussing everything they’ve just witnessed in Jerusalem. While they’re walking and talking, Jesus joins them but they don’t recognize him. He asks them what they’re talking about, and they look at him funny: “Have you not heard about what just happened in Jerusalem? Do you live under a rock?” And then they proceed to tell the visitor all this crazy stuff about Jesus—how they thought he may have been the Messiah, but then he was crucified and died, and was buried in a tomb, but then his body was gone, and some women said angels told them Jesus was actually alive. And now these men don’t know if up is up anymore. And then something special happens: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus interpreted to them all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (24:27).
In other words, Jesus fulfilled everything from Genesis to Malachi. In this little preface to his Gospel, Luke wants us to understand that the Old Testament was a preface to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
Who is the promised offspring who fulfills the Abrahamic covenant, through whom all the families of the earth are blessed (Genesis 12:3)? Jesus.
Who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows? Who was stricken for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:4-5)? Jesus.
Whose throne and whose kingdom has God established forever (2 Samuel 7:13)? Who is the light shining on those in darkness? Whose name is Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace? Whose government shall increase and never end (Isaiah 9:2-7) Jesus.
Whose heel has crushed the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:16), freeing us from bondage, and inaugurating a new covenant that will not be broken because he has written it on our very hearts (Jeremiah 31:33)? Jesus.
That’s what Luke wants us to be certain about. That Jesus really has fulfilled all the anticipation and expectations of God’s people from the beginning. That he has accomplished it all. We don’t have to doubt it. It’s certain.
Finally the third item of note in verse 1, Luke says, is that these things have been accomplished “among us.” Which really brings us to the second point of Luke 1:1-4. We’ve seen what we're to be certain about. Now on who’s word can we be certain?
Look at verse 2: “just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us.”
Let’s start with that word “eyewitnesses.” Luke says we have it on eyewitness accounts that these things actually happened.
Philip Graham Ryken says that “if Mark was a storyteller, and John was a philosopher, then Luke was an investigative reporter.”1 Now, we know that Luke himself was not an apostle, so he didn’t see any of these things with his own two eyes. But we know he went out and found those people who did.
And like any good reporter, he gets on-the-record sources. He so often includes names—Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon, Anna, Levi, Jairus, Zacchaeus, Mary and Martha, Joanna, and Joseph of Arimathea. Each name is like a citation. Luke is saying, “If you don’t believe me, you can go track them down or their families and ask them yourself.”
Luke also says he’s received an account of these things from ministers of the word—authorities like the apostles, so again, eyewitnesses to the life and ministry of Jesus. But also, those commissioned by Jesus to go and share the gospel to the whole world. In other words, the men who staked their very lives on the truthfulness of what they had seen.
Of all the disciples, only John isn’t martyred for his faith. And still, he was banished to a remote island. Not exactly a life of ease and comfort. Is it likely that all these men would suffer such horrible fates for a lie? No. They must have been certain about what they had seen and testified to.
Now let’s pause because this whole question of testimony raises another apologetic issue, especially for us today. Is mere testimony enough?
After the Allies discovered Nazi concentration camps and began liberating them, General Dwight Eisenhower brought in photographers to go and document everything they found because he was worried people wouldn’t believe the testimony–no one would believe the scale of the atrocities and savagery. So, photographic evidence was necessary.
And in our modern world, that is how we often think about history and truth. I have to see it with my own two eyes, or I’ll never be 100% sure. I need hard proof. Testimony alone isn’t enough. Testimony is biased. It's slanted. It can be falsified.
We call this the scientific approach to history—where everything must be quantitatively proven with facts and figures before it can be accepted as true, and it dominates our culture. So, it's not surprising that when scholars apply the same standard to the Bible many begin to doubt its historical claims.
Scientific historians may think they’re being neutral and unbiased, but what they don’t realize is that most of what we know depends on testimony. Their claim to pure objectivism is a myth because even scientific facts and figures come to us in linguistic form from someone else; someone else with their own biases and perspective who has interpreted the facts and figures to assert something as true.
As evangelical scholars Provan, Long, and Longman have said, “In short, when it comes to what we call knowledge we are intellectually reliant to a very great extent upon what others tell us. We all depend upon testimony, whether we confess it or not.”2
So the issue is not testimony or no testimony. The question is, How good is that testimony? Does it align with the other information we have? Does it merit our trust?
As we’ve already demonstrated, Luke’s testimony is solid, based on eyewitness accounts from many different sources including those who had nothing to gain by lying. Moreover, he goes out of his way to add historical context, like when he tells us Jesus’s birth occurred when Quirinius was governor of Syria (2:2). So yes, Luke is a credible ancient historian.
But doesn’t Luke have an invested interest in the narrative he’s compiling? Of course. He wants people to read his gospel and believe! But does having an evangelistic bent discredit him? No. And in fact, it only adds to his reliability.
Luke and the other early Christians understood there was no room for error. They knew their enemies weren’t going to give them the benefit of the doubt. They had to be careful with their claims.
Dale Ralph Davis says it well: “It is simply not true that evangelism compromises historicity; rather, evangelism demands accuracy.”3
So, we know the things Luke wants us to be certain of: the things that have been accomplished in Jesus. And we have it on good authority that the testimonies he’s compiled are accurate. And yet, most of us still have doubts from time to time. We can read in Luke 24:46, for example, that Jesus rose again on the third day for the forgiveness of sins and still wonder, does that apply to me? Have my sins really been forgiven?
And that brings us to the third and final point: Why? Why can I be certain that these things that Jesus has accomplished are true? And why can I be certain that these things are true for me too?
In the previous point, I failed to address one major person who’s word we can always trust. And that, of course, is God.
Philip Graham Ryken again reminds us that, “in describing how Luke came to write his Gospel, we must never forget that he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.” Ryken goes on to say, “Luke was the one who did the research and the writing, but God was the one who gave us this Gospel. The work that Luke did was under the sovereign control of God’s Spirit, so that the Gospel he wrote is the very Word of God. Like everything else in the Bible, it is not merely a human book about God, but a divine book to humanity.”4
Now, we can take great comfort in knowing Luke’s gospel is inspired. It is therefore perfect, without error, and unable to lie just as the Lord who breathed it out (2 Timothy 3:16).
But not everyone will recognize the Bible as God’s Word. And here’s the thing: that should be expected. We can have the most perfect apologetics, answer every question and contention about the Bible and some people still won’t believe it's true.
In his book, Surviving Religion 101, Michael Kruger says this,
“[D]isagreements with your non-Christian friends cannot be solved simply by giving them more facts. Regardless of how many good arguments you give them, they will always interpret the evidence in light of their worldview. What they ultimately need, therefore, is conversion–and only the Spirit can do that.”5
Kruger’s point aligns with what we read in Scripture. In John 10:27, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” The Westminster Confession of Faith, putting it another way, says that full persuasion and assurance is “from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts” (WCF 1.5).
To summarize, recognizing that God’s Word is true is not a product of human work. It is not of your own doing and therefore dependent on your own intellect or reason. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
So, if you find yourself convinced by the words of Scripture, if you find it credible and making plain sense, then know that the Spirit is working within you. You haven’t been duped. You haven’t been indoctrinated. The living God is revealing himself to you through his Word because he loves you and is drawing you into a deeper relationship with him.
Know also that your doubts do not scare away Jesus. Think about the story of Thomas. When Thomas doubted the resurrection, Jesus did not abandon him or reject him. Jesus met Thomas where he was and provided the assurance and certainty that he needed (John 20:27).
Today, the Lord provides assurance through his ordinary means of grace. The Word (as I’ve already mentioned), the sacraments, prayer, and Christian fellowship—all of these are meant to increase our faith and grow us closer to God. The Lord knows our stubborn, doubting hearts, and he graciously provides the nourishment we need.
What I hope you’re starting to see is that we so often approach the question of certainty the wrong way. As if certainty is something wholly dependent on us—like we have to white knuckle our way into it. In other words, we make it a work, a law, something I have to merit.
But that’s not how Luke thinks about certainty. And it’s not how the rest of the Bible speaks about certainty either.
Certainty is not a product of our efforts but a promise of God (Hebrews 10:22). And like any promise of God, we lay claim to it by faith and faith alone. Faith nurtures assurance and we nurture our faith by reflecting on what the Lord has done for us–like those things recorded for us in Luke’s gospel.
That’s not to say we won’t have periods in our life where our faith feels weak, when we feel distant from God and the certainty of what he’s done for his people. That’s almost certain. We’re promised trials and hardship and those times will try our faith. But take comfort in this, from the fourteenth chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith, written by some of the smartest pastors and theologians of their day, who knew every proof, every logical defense for the Christian faith:
“This faith is different in degrees, weak or strong; may be often and many ways assailed, and weakened, but gets the victory: growing up in many to the attainment of full assurance, through Christ, who is both the author and finisher of our faith (WCF 14.3).
If you seek certainty–certainty about the forgiveness of your sins, certainty about the Gospel, certainty about the things which God has accomplished—seek it by faith in Christ and Christ alone, who is both the author and finisher of our faith.
This sermon was delivered by Robert D. Hasler at Christ Presbyterian Church in Burke, VA on November 26, 2023.
Philip Graham Ryken, Luke, Reformed Expository Commentary (Philipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2009), 1:9.
Iain Provan, V. Philips Long, and Tremper Longman III, A Biblical History of Israel, 2nd ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015), 48.
Dale Ralph David, Luke 1-13: The Year of the Lord’s Favor, Focus on the Bible Series (Scotland, UK: Christian Focus, 2021), 16.
Ryken, Luke, 1:10.
Michael J. Kruger, Surviving Religion 101: Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 46.