Should the book of Luke be repaired to read correctly, or should it be tossed out?
1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
This person is not the disciple Luke, and apart from that, he make numerous mistakes.
If we could toss out the book of Luke, how about the book of Matthew? Might as well toss out that one too. Both report about the birth of Jesus and at the end, we seem to have read about two different Jesuses. The message that the two books together give is the evidence that there was no Jesus at all. Look at what I am talking about:
Were There Two Different Jesuses?
When Luke wrote Acts of the Apostles to Theophilus, he guaranteed him that he had dealt with ALL that Jesus did and taught until the end of his life on earth. (Acts 1:1,2) If Luke is someone worthy believing, there must be something wrong with Matthew.
1 - I am not talking about the huge difference in the genealogy of Jesus. (Mat. 1:1-17)
2 - Neither am I talking about the anxiety of Mary to explain her pregnancy without having yet slept with Joseph. (Mat. 1:18-25)
3 - Nor am I talking about the Astrologers from the East who came to worship the newborn king of the Jews. (Mat. 2:1,2)
4 - I am also not talking about the star that stood still over the place where the child was born. (Mat. 2:9-11)
5 - Nor about the flight of the child to Egypt. (Mat. 2:13-15)
6 - I am not talking about the slaughtering of the innocent under the age of two with the Herodian intent to catch Jesus. (Mat. 2:16-18)
7 - Well, finally, I am not talking about a lot of other things that Luke ignored in his "accurate" account of EVERYTHING about Jesus to Theophilus.
Here's what I am talking about: While the Jesus of Matthew was still in Egypt, waiting for Herod to die, the Jesus of Luke was born, after eight days circumcised, on the 40th day presented in the Temple, and immediately after these requirements of the Law, the family headed back to Galilee, and to their own town in Nazareth. (Luke 2:21,22,39) Now, bear in mind that Jesus was only 40 days old when they headed back home to Nazareth.
In the meantime, the Jesus of Matthew was still trapped in Egypt waiting for the word of the "angel" with the news that Herod had finally died. Perhaps in order to spare the embarrassment, the age of this Jesus was omitted.
Therefore, how many Jesuses were there? If there was but one, either gospel writer is lying or neither ever met each other. But then again, how about the spirit that inspired the revelation? I think Christianity will be better off if we don't remove that stone. The smell will be too strong.