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One of the greatest statements we can make about ourselves is when we decide to act anonymously.The world hates those who seek fame by adding their own little names to great causes and mighty people.
Yesterday we were thinking about St. Luke, the author of the third gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.His contribution to the Christian faith is inestimable. The research he did, the checking of the sources of information, and his reporting of things about Jesus which not one other soul in the world ever recorded. Without Luke we would have no record of the conception and birth of John the Baptist - the way Mary learned of her role as the mother of Jesus - not a word about the shepherds who came to Bethlehem by night - no word of Jesus being presented at the Temple on the eighth day of his life for circumcision into the Jewish nation, nor of his being made a son of the Temple at Jerusalem when he was 12 years old - nor of the family tree, which Luke traced back beyond Adam to God!
Luke alone reports that mind-blowing sermon of Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth: the raising from the dead of a widow's son at the village of Nain; the names of Jesus' women followers (Chapter 8): the conversion of Zacchaeus of Jericho: additional dialogue between Jesus and Pilate, and in fact the presence of the crowd of women as he dragged his cross to Golgotha. Even the words of the two criminals crucified with Jesus are recorded, and memorably the whole event of the risen Jesus going with the two disciples on the seven mile walk to Emmaus. Add to this the world-shaping, majestic parables of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son (or as we should say the two lost sons), the crooked steward, the bent judge, and the persistent widow; the rich man and Lazarus; the Pharisee and the tax collector and so much else.
Where would the gospel message have been if these had not been recorded? How much poorer the world would be. Well, we owe their reporting and recording entirely to Luke, the beloved Physician, and this is probably the greatest wonder of them all. He does not publish his own name ONCE in all his writings. You and I would have written under the heading of "God speaks Exclusive Report by me". I would have had my name at the top, because like most folks, we think that it would be wonderful to be world famous. As the song said: "Fame - I want to live for ever, I want to learn how to fly". We would have published it as "The Luke Story", or "God - the Inside Story" Exclusive to Luke. But not him; he tries to remain anonymous, so that nothing would detract his readers from seeing Jesus.You will read this only in Luke:
He said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." Luke 16: 31
TODAY is St. Luke's Day - Let's thank God for him.
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