Luke 1:3 (ASV)

Passage

it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus;

Nearby Context

Luke 1:1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us,

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

Luke 1:3 it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus;

Luke 1:4 that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed.

Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "all things", "seemed", "good", "having", "traced", "course", "accurately", and "first". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "all things" and "seemed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "even as they delivered them unto us..." into verse 4's "that thou mightest know the certainty concerning...", so "all things" and "seemed" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "all things" and "seemed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.