Luke, more than the other Gospel writers, unveil the historical background to the Life of Jesus: “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness” (Lk 3:1-2) A.N. Sherwin-White, former professor of Ancient History at Oxford, says concerning the historical accuracy of this passage: “The chronology of Luke is deliberate. The internal coherence of the lengthy formula by which Luke dates the beginning of the mission in Luke 3:1 cannot be challenged for accuracy.” (Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, 166). If Luke was this accurate on background information, what about the “convincing proofs” (Acts 1:3) that were really important to him; Jesus’ miracles, words, deeds, death, resurrection, and offer of eternal life?!
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 20:33:03 +0000
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