The Letters of Luke

  I like to do some creative writing.  I may not be that great at it, but it's something I enjoy.  Oftentimes, I like to start with Scripture and re-write it.  Not because I think it needs improving, but because I like to re-tell the story.  It's fun for me, and perhaps there is a way God can use it.  I'm going to begin posting some of the writing I've done--I've worked my way through the Gospels of Luke & Mark.  We'll begin with Luke, being the most recent project.  The way I chose to tackle Luke was to view it as a series of letters between Luke & Theophilus.  I offer them as my hobby, nothing more.

  It is my hope that this glorifies God.  Perhaps someone will stumble upon it and see God in a new way.  My only hope is that it is a blessing to someone.

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Luke 1:1-4

Dear Theophilus,

Good evening!  I pray that this letter finds you well, and that business has been treating you well.  I hope that success continues to find its way to your door.  And your family?  Give them my greetings.

I write to you with a most curious matter.  Normally, I would not have given it second thought, and yet the more thought and attention I have invested in it, the most it has found its way beneath my skin.  It is like a pebble that is buried in my sandal, rubbing against the flesh—I can only ignore it for so long until it becomes a painful part of my reality.  I write to you to hear your opinion, Theophilus, for I trust that you will consider the matter worthy of your time.  I know how busy you are, but if this is true, it could change everything.  Frankly, I have a hard time believing it could be true, but perhaps it is.  I have heard so many things, some of them from long ago, that I cannot help but wrestle with the matter.  It has cost me sleep and comfort, for until I come to the bottom of it, it will hound me. 

I want you to know that I consider you a reasonable and learned man, one not interested in pursuing fairy tales or other types of worthless endeavors.  I know that you are a man of some faith, not like those silly zealots who shape their whole lives around what they believe, but still a man who considers the heavenly realm worthy of thought and attention.  Though I do not share your belief, I respect your decisions and your belief.  Perhaps, Theophilus, you are better prepared and more knowledgeable about these matters, and I hope you can enlighten me.  It just seems to be a stretch to believe it is all true, and if it is true… I shudder to think what that might mean.  Have I been wrong all these years?

Never mind that for the moment.  I want you to know, Theophilus, that I have undertaken to record an account of these events that have occurred among us.  Some have been shocking in how counter-cultural they are, and they seem to point in many different directions, and yet all vectors radiate out from one man, this man they call Jesus.  I will endeavor to tell you what I have heard, what I know.  I won’t pour it out all at once, and I anticipate your replies, for to write it down as one story would surely be too much for the mind to consider.  It could not all be true, could it?  I have done some light studies of older documents, and it seems that many of these things have been spoken about some centuries ago.  I have heard some speak of these events as though they are a fulfillment of what has been longed for, but I daresay—did anyone truly expect those things to come true?  And if recent events happen to match up, it is just vague coincidence, right?  It can’t all be true, can it, Theophilus? 

And yet, I must say that much of what I have heard has been given to me by those who were present at the time.  These are people I trust, and what they tell me is so incredibly shocking, so brazenly against how I have set out to live my life, that if it were all true I would be a shattered man, unable to reconcile the truth of these events with the focus of my life’s work.  And so I enter into this discussion with a healthy amount of skepticism toward it all, curious about getting to the bottom but certain that there will be no basis to the matter, that it will be explained away by events interpreted wrongly, by misleading surroundings, by passionate, silly crowds and rumors gone wild. 

 

I have done some light investigating of my own, and several of my men are still scouring the countryside, attempting to find details that might shed light on some of these outlandish events.  I do not want you to believe that I am taken up by the passion of the crowd.  I am not one willing to throw my life’s work and worth away simply because an eloquent man has a way with words.  No, Theophilus, you know the weighty import I put into such decisions.  I want to write an account of what I have heard, that you may consider the facts as I have found them and enlighten me on what I have missed, that you may have the full knowledge of the man they call Jesus and make a decision for yourself, and also to offer me your learned and balanced opinion.  I seek not the popular tales that circle among the gossipers, but rather your sophisticated thoughts, that I may get to the bottom of the matter and put it to rest.  Open my eyes, most excellent Theophilus, that you might interpret these religious events which have troubled me so.  I want you to know the truth concerning the things you have doubtlessly heard about in your religious dalliance, that you might be straightened out and so that you might untangle the knots that such stories have tied in my heart. 

 

I thank you in advance for your time.  I have some little doubt that the matter will be resolved easily, unless my men discover some fact or item that has heretofore been lost in the desert sands, a nugget of truth that might resolve this matter for me.  While I would like that, so that I might rest easy once more, I believe that you will put your full weight of thought into this, that we may both engage such a topic and come out on the other side with a satisfactory conclusion that will trouble us no more.  I have heard much about this Jesus, and hope to relay all the information to you.  I will attempt not to overwhelm you with what I have heard, but I want you to have it all, that you may consider everything.  If the case were more trivial, I would skip straight to the heart of the matter, but I feel as though that would be short-changing the question in hopes of gaining resolution, and if I am to find peace about this issue, I must set everything out upon the table, that we may examine each story, each fact, on its own, and come to a place of contentment with whatever decision is reached. 

Again, greet your family for me, and know that I hold your opinion in high regard.  I look forward to your reply, that I might begin to set down the fact of this most curious case regarding Jesus.

Sincerely,

Luke