As Luke’s account opens he informs us about his approach: ¹ Since many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, ² just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, ³ it seemed fitting to me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in an orderly sequence, most excellent Theophilus; ⁴ so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught (Lk. 1:1-4). 

I believe the challenge is offered to his readership by implication. Much like saying, “You don’t believe me, go and check for yourself.” At some point or another, Christianity has been described in the same way all religions have. They are all “blind leaps of faith with no real evidence to support them.” 

While Mark and John get more of the limelight on this topic, I believe the valuable historian Luke could offer some great help on the matter. A fresh, albeit quick, read of the gospel account I am challenged anew by the people he specifically names. I counted them up, there are approximately 42 named individuals. There is no question that some of them would rather not give an interview, so to speak (e.g., Pilate). But they are named and people would personally know them. Imagine, if Luke had described just one of them in a way that is ‘out of character’, it would have shattered his trustworthiness. 

It gets even better. More than a dozen more are mentioned but not named. Several more are mentioned in the narrative but not named by Luke, though they are by other accounts (e.g., Bartimaeus, Lk. 18:35-43). These figures do not include the hundreds, if not thousands who he healed at various other points in His ministry. Imagine what kind of lasting impression He left on the woman who had the sickness caused by the spirit for eighteen years (Lk. 13:10-17). The Gerasene man who carried the name “Legion” because he had so many demons possessing him (Lk. 8:26-39). Luke notes Jesus told him to “go tell the great things God had done for him.”

This functions like an open invitation to the reader: there are numerous people who can verify this story. Theophilus has been given plenty of reasons to believe. 

Application for the modern reader: Our faith is not built on silly superstitions or fables constructed around mythological tales. It is rooted in the historicity of the Man from Nazareth. Of Whom Peter (noted again by Luke) says, “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Ac. 10:38). We can believe. There are plenty of good reasons to conclude as much.