Bible Verse:
“Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you.” Luke 1:3
Our tour bus pulled up and parked in front of a round-shaped ruin surrounded by sixteen fractured Greek Ionic columns in the Roman ruins of Ephesus, Turkey. “Some think this is the remains of St. Luke’s tomb,” our guide announced. “I’ll show you why.” Following our Turkish tour guide, we plowed our way through knee-high weeds to a marble doorpost with two clearly engraved pictures that had somehow survived the ravages of time.
The first picture was of a large, engraved Byzantine cross. “The cross dates this doorpost to no earlier than the 4th century AD,” our guide explained. “Constantine’s dream, when Christ told him to ‘make a likeness of the sign which he had seen in the heavens,’ happened in 313 A.D. After this dream, Constantine ordered that the banner of the cross be carried in front of his armies as they went into battle. That’s how the symbol of the cross transfigured into Christian tradition, symbolizing Christianity throughout the world even today.
“It’s the second picture of a bull carved under the Crusader cross that has led people to believe this was St. Luke’s tomb,” the guide explained, “for the bull came to symbolize Luke and his gospel. Others say that bulls were sacrificed at the temple, and that this bull symbolizes Jesus, who became a sacrificial victim for all mankind.” Our tour guide grinned. “Actually, the remains of St. Luke are really thought to be in two different places-St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the Church of the Apostles in Istanbul.”
I thought about the tour guide’s recitation. A good chance exists that this burial site really had nothing to do with Luke. The many misconceptions, exaggerations, and unsubstantiated historical legends touted at biblical sites continued to amaze me.
Although Luke’s burial site cannot be verified, the validity of his gospel is unquestioned. Luke’s desire to strengthen the faith of all believers, confirm Jesus’ ministry on earth, and encourage the preaching of the gospel to Gentiles gives us living in the twenty-first century the gospel truth. And that’s the best truth of all.
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, may we continue to allow the teaching in Luke’s orderly account of your life on earth to help us follow you. Amen.