Preaching Through Luke

The author reads the opening chapter of Luke as a teaching sequence. Luke states that he wrote so Theophilus could be sure of what he had been taught, and the first chapter then unfolds through a run of pointed questions. Zechariah asks how he can know what he has been promised, and the angel Gabriel points him to the word of God as the source of that knowledge. Mary asks how she could bear the Son of God, and Gabriel explains that God's power will accomplish it. Elizabeth wonders why such a gift should come to her, and Mary's words are read as an account of God's free choosing, mercy, and saving purpose. Last, Zechariah is asked what his son will become, and he answers that John will be a prophet who goes ahead of the Christ without being the Christ himself.

Taken together, these exchanges form what the author calls Luke's catechism, a structured series of questions and answers meant to give believers assurance in what they have learned.