St. Luke – What Does This Mean?

Dear saints, most of what we know about St. Luke we find from outside of the Sacred Scripture. Eusebius tells us he was born in Antioch in Syria. It was in Syrian Antioch that the Holy Spirit called Barnabas and Saul to begin what became the first of three missionary journeys for St. Paul. Nowhere in the Gospel of Luke or in the book of Acts does he mention himself by name. In the introduction of both books he uses the first person describing the method by which he wrote. In the second missionary journey, he uses ‘we’ to describe what the party was doing and experiencing. He does this again in the third missionary journey and through the rest of the book.

Luke was not a Jew and was likely an educated slave, something not uncommon in those days. He was likely emancipated, which was also not uncommon. He may have stayed at Philippi as pastor as Paul and Silas continued their second missionary journey.

St. Luke is commonly remembered as a physician. But today, his commemoration, he is called the Evangelist. In fact, the only mention of him being a physician is when St. Paul calls him one in the Epistle to the Colossians. His role as evangelist was made clear in our Collect as we pray, “Your blessed Son called Luke the physician to be an evangelist and physician of the soul.” And as we ask that “the healing medicine of the Gospel and the Sacraments may put to flight the diseases of our souls that with willing hearts we may ever love and serve You”

When Luke writes his account of our Lord’s Gospel, the church only has the Gospel written by St. Matthew. That account was written by a Jew to a Jewish church with Jewish converts. Those who heard it would automatically understand the nuances that Gentiles would not. Gentiles would not understand the significance of the genealogy in chapter one. They would not understand the various feasts and laws and observances without additional instruction.

But more and more, the church was becoming more Gentile and less Jewish. This makes sense: as the Gospel spread throughout the world, more Gentiles heard it. Because there were more of them, more of them believed. And so, St. Luke did what continues to happen today: He takes the work and testimony of someone else and uses it. He adapts it to his audience. What St. Luke writes is not original, but he uses it in an original way. In the books of Luke and Acts, we find not a pious layman, but a serious and studied theologian. And guided by the Holy Spirit, he writes a magnificent two volume set.

Think about it: Had the Holy Spirit not used Luke, what would Christmas be without, “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed….” With only Matthew’s account, we would only hear of an angelic visitation followed by a man trying to figure out how to get rid of his betrothed without causing too much strife.

St. Luke shows us our Lord rebuking a demon and commanding it to come out and be silent. It does. We have Jesus telling the lame man to take up his pallet and walk. He does so. Telling the dead man at Nain to get up. He does and speaks. Luke tells of the sinful woman invading a Sabbath meal and having her sin forgiven by Jesus. Without St. Luke, we would not have many masterful narratives or miracles. We would not have the road to Emmaus. “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road?” We would not know about the parable of the Prodigal Son.

This is why we remember and thank God for St. Luke today. Not because he was a physician of the flesh, but because his Gospel was centered on Christ, the True Physician of our souls. St. Luke focuses us on the Creator coming to his creation to release it from its disease of soul, making it a new creation. Jesus heals his creation by casting out demons, raising the dead, forgiving sin, and healing the sick. And all this he does by the power of his word, which creates and does what it says.

Our Lord’s miracles testify that God had invaded his creation and blessed it by releasing it from its bondage brought on by its fall. Jesus brings freedom to all the captives of sin and death. In him, all creation undergoes a healing. He brings mercy to and for all. But the world rejected all this by rejecting him.

And being rejected, he is nailed to The Tree. And there, on that cross, all sickness and death was put on him. The world shook and grew dark. And in his death, it is recreated through his shed blood. This new creation, our forgiveness of sin and salvation, comes only through the blood of Jesus.

In the Gospel lesson today, our Lord sends the 72 out to do exactly what he has done: heal the sick and proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near. When they return, we find they cast out demons as well. They proclaim the reality of the new creation through Jesus Christ. Proclaim liberation through word and miracle. It is a reality centered in the words of absolution: “Peace be to this house.”

These sent ones demonstrated peace in their presence. Sent with no provisions, they were provided hospitality by those who received them as heralds of this peace. And their peace was the medicine needed for lives broken by sin, sickness, and death. Through their preaching and miracles, it was shown that the kingdom of God was near. They brought to those who received them a foretaste of the feast and the kingdom which was present at the very birth of Christ, and a peace that now reigns in heaven.

Recall again our Collect. The Word and the Sacraments are the healing medicine of the church. St. Ignatius called them the ‘medicine of immortality.’

Just as Jesus and his 72 healed those who heard and believed, so also have you been healed. You have been healed by water and blood. By word and spirit. Like the 72 sent by our Lord, he sends pastors to this day into the harvest fields as lambs among wolves. And they take with them the medicine of Word and Sacrament. They take with them the means for mission and healing. This medicine comes to all places: from sick room to nursing home to church building and cathedral. It comes to the broken hearted and the captive. To sinners like you and me. And that the kingdom of God draws near is proclaimed.

And so, I proclaim to you that the kingdom of God is also near here. The peace of Christ which passes all understanding now rests upon you. And in the presence of the Lamb, we partake and celebrate with all the saints in a foretaste of the Feast which is to come. The table is set. Your Savior invites you to eat and be filled. So, rejoice that your names are written in the heavens. In the Book of Life. Amen.

Rev. Brent Keller
Peace Lutheran Church
Alcester, SD