Luke 10 vs 23 – 24. “Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Here is a small thing included by Luke, but an important thing nevertheless. It is the words: “Then he turned to his disciples and said privately …..” (v23). Why is this important?
Up to now Jesus had been addressing the seventy-two disciples mentioned in Luke 10 v 17, plus the usual twelve and probably other people who had gathered around. But now he has something to say to his special group of disciples, so he turns to them, probably moves them a little apart from the rest and speaks the words recorded in verses 23 and 24. How come this is so important?
Well, it is a small thing in and of itself but it is written in such a way that it must be true and historical. How would Luke have known this little detail unless an eyewitness had told him? So, as Luke tells us in the beginning of his gospel, he had carefully investigated everything from the beginning, and this little detail emerges! And its importance? This is seen in the fact that a detail of this nature indicates a truthful and transparent account of what happened, which means we can trust all that Luke says about Jesus.
There are many people today who do not believe the gospels and constantly try to find fault with them. We Christians believe that the gospels are both true and accurate. While they do not record every detail of the life of Jesus, they record those things that are important for us to know and believe to have eternal life. And this little observance by Luke that Jesus turned to his disciples and spoke to them privately is one of the authentic little touches that tell us these things really happened.
So then, when Luke takes us on in his gospel to the death and the resurrection of Jesus we know that in this big matter he is telling the truth, because has been consistently true in the small matters. In such details the veracity of the scriptures may be determined.
I mention this in case any reader has been assailed by doubts in recent days. The devil loves to plant such doubts into our minds, especially through the confident and sometimes strident voices of our friends and acquaintances who are enemies of the Gospel. This is an appeal for you to stand firm and not be shaken by him. God’s Word is truth.