Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 1:2

"even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word," — Luke 1:2 (ASV)

In this verse Luke stresses the validity of the tradition of Jesus’ words and deeds (an emphasis that occurs elsewhere in the NT; see 1 Corinthians 11:23; 15:3). Although the “eyewitnesses [GK 898] and servants [GK 5677]” may have included some of the “many” (v.1), they are mostly to be distinguished from them because they were prior to them. Witnesses are important to Luke to establish the validity of his information. The words “from the first” (probably meaning from the early days of Jesus’ ministry) are tied grammatically to the word “eyewitnesses” (primarily the apostles, whose authority Luke upholds throughout Luke-Acts). These were not passive observers but “servants of the word.” “Word” (GK 3364) here means the message of the Gospel, especially as embodied in the words and deeds of Jesus. In Ac 1:1, Luke combines the words “do” and “teach” when he describes Jesus’ ministry. In summary, v.2 makes a serious claim regarding careful historical research that has weighty implications for our estimate of the entire gospel.