by Edwin Crozier<\/p>\n
As Luke digs into the story of who Jesus is, he doesn\u2019t say, \u201cLong ago, in a land far, far away.\u201d He doesn\u2019t say, \u201cOnce upon a time.\u201d He gets specific. It was the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea. Herod was the tetrarch of Galilee. Philip was the tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitus. Lysanias was the tetrarch of Abilene. The high priesthood was shared by Annas and Caiaphas. Wow! That is pretty specific. Of course, critics try to poke holes in these details while supporters have found evidence that every bit of this fits exactly right.<\/p>\n
Luke isn\u2019t writing a fairy tale. He is not sharing a myth or a legend. He is recording historical events. He is not providing a metanarrative. He is not trying to write a series of stories to help us organize our way of thinking about life and the world. He is claiming these events happened in real-time in real places. They can be dated on the calendar. They can be pinpointed on the map. This story of Jesus matters because it happened. He really lived. He really taught. He really died. He really rose again. And because these things really happened, they mean something even today. You may disagree. You may think Luke is wrong. You may think Luke lied or was mistaken. You may think Luke completely made it up. If so, feel free to state your case.<\/p>\n
However, please don\u2019t make the very silly mistake of claiming Luke believed he was passing on mythic stories to help explain the world and how we should live. He didn\u2019t. He believed he was writing history. He believed he was writing a biography. And everyone reading it in his day would have known that was what he was attempting. For Luke, this story needed to be recorded because it actually happened. Since it actually happened, it actually means something, it actually has consequences for our lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Edwin Crozier As Luke digs into the story of who Jesus is, he doesn\u2019t say, \u201cLong ago, in a land far, far away.\u201d He doesn\u2019t say, \u201cOnce upon a time.\u201d He gets specific. It was the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea. Herod was the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[279,73],"class_list":["post-15865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-history","tag-jesus"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27641,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-was-jesus-born\/","url_meta":{"origin":15865,"position":0},"title":"When was Jesus born?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have known Bible scholars to teach that Jesus was born in the Spring or maybe the month of April!? What say ye? Answer: The day of Jesus' birth gives rise to endless speculations. Instead of picking a day based on some obscure philosophical argument, let's list out the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28930,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-christian-criticize-society\/","url_meta":{"origin":15865,"position":1},"title":"Can a Christian criticize society?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a Christian be a social critic, such as a lawyer or a journalist dealing with a corrupt government? How far can he go in criticizing? Answer: John the Baptist ended up in jail because he told the current ruler that he wasn't properly married. \"But Herod the tetrarch,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16600,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-herod-an-idumean-end-up-ruling-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":15865,"position":2},"title":"How could Herod, an Idumean, end up ruling Israel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I found the article on the Internet concerning Edom quite informative. I am reading Josephus Flavious and have some interest in what the secular historians say in regard to biblical times and places. Josephus states that Herod was an Idumean. My question is, since Ezekiel's time, when the land\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38923,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-missionary-work-scriptural\/","url_meta":{"origin":15865,"position":3},"title":"Is missionary work scriptural?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Mr. Hamilton, What is \"missionary work\" and is that scriptural? Does God call us to a particular occupation, such as God has \"called me\" to this career or that career? Is all this scripturally sound? Thank you. Answer: Missionary work has come to mean going to foreign countries to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13320,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-help-me-understand-who-were-the-people-with-similar-names\/","url_meta":{"origin":15865,"position":4},"title":"Can you help me understand who were the people with similar names?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Some articles on the net are so confusing and misguiding that a layman finds it hard to understand or come to a conclusion about who is who. Will you please explain and guide me if these following honorable characters are different or the same? {A} John the Apostle, Evangelist,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58244,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-did-god-say-that-we-are-not-allowed-to-use-instruments-in-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":15865,"position":5},"title":"Where Did God Say That We Are Not Allowed to Use Instruments in Worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Paul Mays Question: Where did God say that we are not allowed to use instruments in the avenue of Christian worship that is music? Answer: The thing is God doesn't owe us a list of what worship we are not allowed to offer. 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