Acts 3:1-9 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (3p.m.). 2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful (the gate entrance into the Court of Women directly in front of the exterior altar), to ask alms from those who entered the temple (Presumably a good location as people are in a supposedly good frame of mind to help the needy - a vital aspect of true religion); 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And (Peter) fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." (One might suppose that here was the 40-year old cripple, tired at the latter part of the day, holding out his container for gifts of money, and too weary to look up at passers-by. Peter asked him to look up). 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, "I do not have any silver or gold (money), but what I do have I give you: In the Name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise up and walk." (What inspired Peter to respond like this?) 7 And Peter took him by the right hand and lifted him up (Would a man who has been unable to stand for so long know how to stand, comprehend that he has the strength to stand up, have the faith to accept Peter's words?) and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up (in enraptured joy and disbelief swept away), stood (savouring the joy of noting "I'm actually standing!") and walked (and he savoured that totally new experience) and entered the temple with them -- walking, leaping, and praising God (in exultation, over-flowing exuberance, and gratitude). 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God.

Acts 4:1 Now as they (Peter and John in that late afternoon) spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached (that) in (the Name of) Jesus the resurrection from the dead (is God's promise). 3 And they laid hands on them (How incongruous that two men should be arrested for doing the work of God!), and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening (about 6pm or a little later). 4 However, many of those who heard the Word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. 5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem (All these were held in high esteem by the religious public and all are conspirators against the Son of God! Do we comprehend the enormity of evil in that religious leaders, avowedly honouring God, but with hidden hypocrisy, lead in the plot to murder The Son of God [Ps 2:2-6; 35:4-8,26]? These men with their fine outward appearances continue with their perversity): 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, "By what Power or by what Name have you done this?" 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (the Greek has, the Nazarene), whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 (Peter does not let up, but continues to dominate with the power of God): This is 'the Stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the Chief Cornerstone.' (We should note that Peter says, citing Ps 118:22 that they are the builders! What a powerful condemnation!) 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (But there are more than 22,000 variations of that Name). 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.

13b And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the (Sanhedrin) council, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, "What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it (But in public the facts were denied. Hypocrisy thrives in the dark!) 17 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this Name."

18 And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the Name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge (Of course they outwardly say they obey God rather than men, but the reality is otherwise). 20 For we (the servants of God) cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. 22 For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. 23 And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.

24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said (in Ps 2): 'Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the LORD and against His Christ' (the Anointed - the One anointed by His Father to do what the Son did and is doing). 27 For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together."

We'll continue with the characteristics of the Gospel of Luke as in the NRSV Study Bible:
Jesus' contemporaries are also depicted as not understanding the character of the conflict (see Eph 6:12; Rev 12:9 -- the conflicts are Satan inspired). ... The story is a fascinating and dire depiction of how conquered people are divided or even pitted against each other. ... Since Luke's story of Jesus emphasizes the fulfillment of the Scriptures, it is not surprising to find the narrative full of scriptural allusions. However, Matthew has the largest number of OT quotations of all the NT writings. It is Matthew's Gospel, as the first of the NT works, which of necessity reveals the comprehensive interconnections of NT and the OT.

JERUSALEM'S ROLE
FROM THE NJB (Standard Edition, 1985; a Catholic translation with extensive annotations).
The third Gospel's distinguishing quality results from the attractive personality of its author which shines through all his work. Luke is at once a most gifted writer and a man of marked sensibility. ... Luke is able to bring out one of his chief theological notions: namely that the Holy City is the predestined stage for the drama of salvation (See 9:30-1; 13:33-5; 18:31-3; 21:20-1; 24:44-53; Zech 12:2; Dan 11:45; Rev 11:7-8; 21:1-2).

We'll briefly look at some of these Scriptures since Jerusalem, prophesied as being a stumbling block to the nations, as will also be the people of God (Zech 12:2-3; Isa 8:14; Dan 11:32,33).

• A significance in the Transfiguration Vision (Matt 17:1-8; Mk 9:2-8; Lk 9:28-36):

Luke 9:30-1 And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

• The apparently holy majority hate and kill the supposedly unholy minority (Dan 12:7):

Luke 13:33-5 "Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem (Jesus and the apostles had to keep very busy, moving frequently, to avoid being arrested before the time, as foreknown by God and revealed to His Son [Acts 2:23; Lk 9:51]). 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! (How strange that the City of Peace, the city symbolic of the best that God offers, the city representative of godly government, the city to which all the world will turn, is also representative of the worst: "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt" [Rev 11:8]). How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! Your house (The brand new and fabulous Temple - as described in Matt 24:1; Mk 13:1; Lk 21:5) is left to you desolate (But it was busy; there was financial support; people flocked there on the Holy Days; the religious leadership structure was extensive; but Christ's perception was that it was spiritually desolated!) and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD!" (i.e., The Son of God returns in the Name of His God and Father [Jn 20:17; Rev 1:6; 3:12,21; 5:9,10; 20:6]).

• The death of Jesus Christ must be in Jerusalem:

Luke 18:31-3 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. 33 They will scourge and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." (Both Jews and Gentiles are guilty of the death of the Son of God. The wages of sin is death, and all have sinned. Christ has purchased us all by His own blood).

• Jerusalem and the End Time:

Luke 21:20-1 But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies (That occurred in 66, 68, and 70AD; and it will occur in the future), then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.

• The Gospel started in Jerusalem and concludes in Jerusalem:

Luke 24:44-53 Then the resurrected Jesus Christ said to them at His last miraculous appearance, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."

45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures (probably hours of teaching and reviewing Scriptures from Genesis, including the Psalms, Isaiah, Zechariah, and many other OT works). 46 Then He said to them, "This is how it was written, and so it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day (No OT Scripture directly prophesied this other than parabolically interpreting Jonah [Matt 12:39,40; Lk 11:29]), 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name to all nations (down through history), beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I'm sending the Promise of My Father upon you; but stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with Power from on High." 50 And He led them out as far as Bethany (on the N.E. side of the Mount of Olives on the road to Jericho), and He lifted up His hands and blessed them (Examples of blessing are: Gen 48 and 49; Ps 134; Prov 31:28; Rev 1:3). 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing the God (Gk ton Theon, which only refers to the Father; the normal use of Theos, Theo, Theou has no definite article, whereas Theon does have the definite article, the).

A Gospel is a theological narrative about Jesus Christ. It teaches us the truth about the Son of God and gives us His teachings, which He was given by His Father (Please see John 5:19,20; 6:29,33,44,45,57; 8:28; 14:24, et al).

From Darrell L. Bock (LUKE: A Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament; 1994; VOLUME I [LUKE 1:1-9:50]; VOLUME II [LUKE 9:51-24:53]). This is a huge work (over 2000 pages) which is the result of 13 years of effort by a scholar who regards the Gospel of Luke as his favourite.

He says that Luke is the longest book in the NT and tells us what first-century customs and thinking were like. He not only introduces Jesus and his ministry, but also shows how that ministry relates to the early church era. He also lays the foundation for many of the issues whose answers come in Acts. Our studies will verify this very strongly. And I'll probably refer more to this two-volume work. I'll use his scholarship to point out various major errors scholars make, and that he does also. In the process we should learn even more how to heed with far more exactitude and care, and how to verifiably interpret the Scriptures.

MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN -- How are they different?
Why do we have four Gospels? Would not one accurate one be enough? What are their essential differences? There are many scholarly arguments about supposed inconsistencies and differences that expose errors amongst the Gospels. Admittedly there are differences. These, as I'll show, are of emphasis and purpose. This can be illustrated by looking at the first verses of each which reveal profoundly different approaches.

Matthew 1:1-2 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ (What kind of genealogy is Matthew really interested in? Only the physically accurate?), the Son of God (which is not in the original Greek), the son of David (who was alive about 1000 years before Jesus; Joseph was His father by human records), the son of Abraham (Abraham died over 800 years before David. So the genealogical interest from the first verse is in the prophetic promises given to the one who is the Father of many nations, the Father of the Faithful, and in the significance of the promises about the Throne of David, which is not a wooden chair in a pagan cathedral, nor a stone invented by Irish legend. All the promises are brought together by Jesus Christ the Son of God [Rev 3:14 in NKJ, NASB, RSV; Prov 30:4; Heb 1:8,9; Jn 1:14,18 {monogenes Theos [God], not monogenes hios [son]}). 2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers (The Bible frequently speaks of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of the promises given them - who are all our spiritual fathers (Rom 4:16; Isa 51:2; 1Thess 2:11; 1Cor 4:15-17; Heb 11;40). They are our spiritual fathers if we worship the same GOD they worshipped and the same Christ they all came to know (Gen 22; 32; Gal 3:8; Heb 11:10,39,40).

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The Greek word for beginning is arche and is without an article (a, or the). In fact this introductory remark has no verb. It is not so much a sentence as a headline - a headline loudly proclaiming Mark's intentions in the record he gives us. The headline would probably be better put: Beginning the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark then, in verses 14,15 of chapter one enthusiastically and boldly says:

14 Now after John the Baptist was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel!"

Luke is different again. His scientific caution, his methodical calm is clear:
Luke 1:1-2 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set out in order a narrative of those things which are most surely believed among us (So in Luke's day there were many accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. We can see how much has survived by the Will of God), 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us (Luke admits he was not an eyewitness but he spoke to eyewitnesses, and key ministers of the Gospel and of course he knew Paul very well. That is the nature of his record of the Gospel).

John's account is the last, probably written some 15 years after the destruction of Jerusalem. He had very likely read all the previous accounts. His account challenges the core of heresy that is rampant and flourishing: Who really is Jesus Christ? What is the relationship of the Father and the Son of God?
John 1:1-2 (I shall render the first two verses in the Greek word order that scholars still argue about how to interpret. The bias of the trinity dogma forces the interpretative word order the vast majority of Bibles now have): In the beginning (Gk en arche; i.e., in a beginning) In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with (the) God (ton Theon), and God (Theos; no article, hence a God is a possible translation) was the Word. 2 This One was in a beginning with the God (ton Theon).

Scholars will admit that this translation and word order does not misrepresent the NT Greek of Jn 1:1-2. But there are endless and lengthy arguments as to why this cannot be. The primary motivation is that this contradicts the dogma of the trinity.

Let's again notice the differences as revealed by the opening statements in the four Gospels.
Matthew is concerned that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus is of the Royal House of David. So can there be another inheritor to the Throne? No! Jesus is the son of Abraham, who is the father of the faithful, and we must note that the Scriptures frequently speak of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Hence the promises of the OT fill Matthew's work. Matthew has more OT references than any other NT work. Matthew also has 30 references to the Son of Man (Luke has 25; Mark has 13; John has 11).

Mark gives no introduction but directly tells us that he is concentrating on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and strengthens this impact in verses 14-15: Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the Gospel."

Luke is very clear that he is about to give a very careful and thoroughly accurate, chronological account of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

John is markedly different. He starts with the heavenly history of Christ's origins, and that approach is maintained throughout. I again ask readers to carefully consider Jn 20:17; Rev 1:6; 3:12,21; 5:9,10.

It seems that each builds on the previous work or works. Since there is no biblical statement that these gospels are sequential and in the order as listed in the NT canon, we have to turn in part to early historical evidence. All early references that are currently available list the books in the current order given. Irenaeus makes an interesting comment (Irenaeus Against Heresies, Bk III, XI,8) and says that the order of the Gospels is comparable to the order of the Cherubim: the Lion, Matthew (see Rev 5:5; Hos 11:10; Gen 49:8-10); the Ox, Mark (see Rev 4:6; Dt 33:17; Num 29:13ff; Ps 22:12; Jer 52:20); the Man, Luke (see Gen 3:24; Heb 9:5; 1Ki 7:27-9,35-6; Ezk 1:4-28); the Eagle, John (Ex 19:4; Rev 12:14; Rev 4:7; Ezk 1:10; 10:14).

Additional Anticipations in Luke
Luke-Acts highlights God's Plan (Acts 2:38-9: Repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sins, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the promise includes children and those scattered all over the earth who are called; and Acts 3:19-21: Repentance, forgiveness, the times of refreshing promised by the Coming of Jesus Christ, and the Restoration foretold by all the prophets but who understands?). These promises are given to the whole world even though the Jerusalem-Judaea focus is grounded in the promises given to Israel. Too often it is forgotten that the seemingly physical promises do not fully stack up with Scripture when these are carefully examined. Exodus 19:4-6 is a paramount example. Here is the promise of creating a Royal Priesthood (and restated in the NT: Rev 5:10; 3:21; 2:26; 1Pet 2:5,9), only possible through Jesus Christ, and made according to the Old Covenant (Ex 24:6-8). What do those who say that the Old Covenant is totally abolished say about this? They do not bring this into their spurious theological assumptions.

Gentiles are included in the Plan of God as God's people. The apostle Paul develops this much further, and it should be recalled that Luke was a working companion with the apostle. So it is apparent that Luke will help us develop a healthy world view of the life and teachings of Jesus, the Son of God.

The Jewish nation, which received the Gospel first, responded negatively in the main. And it is quite disturbing to find that the primary persecutors of Christians in NT times, as Acts makes abundantly clear, were religious Jews. The lesson for us is: the coming persecutions will be primarily from those who know us and say they love us (Matt 10:34-9; Mic 7:5-7; Dan 11:30b,32). The Church did not separate itself from Israel, but the Jews forced Christians away. The story of Hagar and Sarah which parallels Sinai and Mt Zion is instructive on this (Gal 4:22-31).

Luke deals with the resurrected Christ in lots of detail and this is further developed in Acts. How can a Church preach the Gospel in the absence of the Leader? Faith and the Power of God are wonderful features (See Lk 1:15,17,35,41,46-7,67-8,80; 2:25-7,32,40,52; 3:16,22; 4:1,14,18-9).