St. Luke
Lk
10:1-9
10/18/20
The
apostle Paul was definitely an energetic and active missionary on behalf of
Jesus Christ. After his Damascus road
experience in which he was confronted by the risen and ascended Lord Jesus,
Paul had a singular focus in which he sought to proclaim the Gospel to Jew and
Gentile alike. In the Book of Acts, we learn about the three different
missionary journeys that he undertook out of his base in Antioch, Syria. And
bear in mind that Acts is a summary account.
It doesn’t tell us about everything that Paul did. From his epistles we learn about other
missionary activities, such as the work he and Titus did on the island of
Crete.
For a man
who was an apostle – a man whose life was a calling to proclaim the good news
about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – the two years that he was
imprisoned at Caesarea must have been incredibly frustrating. Paul came to Jerusalem to bring an offering
that had been given by the Gentile churches in order to support the church in
Jerusalem. It wasn’t long before his
Jewish enemies conspired against him, and when the events had played out, Paul
found himself imprisoned at Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea. Originally built by Herod the Great as a palace,
it was now the residence of the Roman governor. We learn that the Governor Felix
held Paul there for two years. During
this time Paul was prevented from undertaking the missionary work that Jesus
Christ had called him to do.
Now why do
I mention this at the beginning of a sermon for the Feast of St. Luke, the
Evangelist? It is because Luke, who was
the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts was there with Paul. In the Book of Acts, Luke shifts to the
language of “we” when he was present in the travels. We learn that Luke made the trip to Jerusalem
with Paul, and that then two years later he left with Paul on the trip to Rome.
Luke
begins his Gospel by writing: “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the
things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from
the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the
word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed
all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for
you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty
concerning the things you have been taught.”
Luke was in Palestine for two years
while Paul was imprisoned there. For Paul this must have seemed like completely
wasted time. But what do you think Luke
was doing during those two years? Certainly, he must have been doing the work –
the research – that helped him to write both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of
Acts. What seemed like wasted time to Paul, helped to produce a huge chunk of
the New Testament that has been a blessing to the Church for two thousand
years.
Appropriately, our text for the
Feast of St. Luke describes a sending of missionaries. Near the end of the previous chapter Luke
tells us, “When the days drew near
for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Much of Luke’s Gospel describes Jesus’ final
journey to Jerusalem. Just before this,
our Lord had told the disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
killed, and on the third day be raised.”
Jesus journeys to Jerusalem to die.
But he doesn’t go only to die. He also goes to be raised, and as Luke
says, “to be taken up.” He goes to die,
rise from the dead and be exalted in his ascension.
The time was short. Jesus’ earthly ministry was rapidly drawing
to a close. And so as part of his trip
final trip to Jerusalem he sent out a kind of “advance team” to prepare the
way. We hear in our text, “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others
and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where
he himself was about to go.”
Jesus sent out pairs of disciples
with instructions that emphasized the need to move quickly. They were to travel light – they were to take
no moneybag, knapsack, or sandals. They were not even to pause to greet others
on the road. When they entered a town
and were welcomed into a home, they were to stay there and be fed by the
hospitality provided. Jesus’ instructions about the towns that received them
were: “Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come
near to you.’”
The kingdom of God was the center of
Jesus’ own ministry. Earlier in the
Gospel he said to people at a synagogue who wanted him to stay, “I must preach
the kingdom of God to other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” As I have mentioned many times in the past,
it is crucial that when we hear the phrase the “kingdom of God” we need to
understand that this does not refer to a place. Instead, coming of out its Old Testament
background it refers to an activity – it refers to the reign of
God. We see in our text that the
proclamation of the kingdom of God is tied to an activity – that of healing.
After Jesus was baptized and the
Holy Spirit descended upon him, he went to the synagogue in Nazareth. He had gained some fame as traveling rabbi,
and so here back in his own hometown he stood up to read the Scripture from the
scroll of Isaiah that was given to him.
He read these words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the
year of the Lord's favor.” He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the
attendant and sat down. And then he said, “Today this Scripture has
been fulfilled in your hearing.”
The Son of God entered into our
world in order to bring God’s reign. In
his person he brought God’s reign that frees from captivity and
oppression. He came to free you from the
slavery that rules every life. He came
to free you from sin and death. He came
to free you from the one behind both of those – from Satan himself.
The reach of sin affects the whole
person – body and soul. Jesus’ healing
ministry demonstrated that he was freeing people from all of the ways that sin
has infected us. And you will note that
in our text Jesus did not send these disciples only to proclaim the kingdom of
God. He also sent them to heal.
Jesus sent them with a simple
message: “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” The reign of God was present in Jesus
Christ. When Jesus was accused of
casting out demons by being on Satan’s side, he replied, “But if I cast out
demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Jesus brought God’s reign to free us
from Satan, sin and death. But remember
what is happening as Jesus sends out these disciples in our text. He is on his
way to Jerusalem to suffer and die.
Jesus Christ came to bring God’s reign in all its fullness by being
numbered with the transgressors.
In the Book of Acts an angel of the
Lord sent Philip to meet the Ethiopian who was traveling back from
Jerusalem. He was reading these words from
Isaiah chapter 53, “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb
before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In
his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.” When the Ethiopia said to Philip,
"About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about
someone else?”, we are told that “Philip opened his mouth, and beginning
with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.”
The good news about Jesus is that in
order bring God’s reigns that free us from Satan and sin, the Son of God
suffered and died in our place. And then in order to defeat death, God raised him
up on the third day. God’s reign has
arrived in Jesus, and through Christ he has freed us from the captivity and
oppression in which we were held. That
is what Jesus did. That is what the Church knew to be true. That is what St.
Luke shares with us in the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts.
Luke gives us the word about the
reign of God that has arrived in Jesus Christ. It is the reign that continues
to be present now through our Lord’s Means of Grace. Through the proclamation
of God’s Word; through the water and Word of baptism; through the true body and
blood of Jesus received in the Sacrament we receive forgiveness for the ways
that sin continues to be present in our life. We receive God’s reign that frees
us from the permanent rule of death, because Jesus Christ has risen from the
dead and we will share in his resurrection on the Last Day.
St. Luke’s inspired writings show us
the kingdom of God being shared and proclaimed to all in the Gospel – the good
news about what God has done through Jesus.
Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we are able to
say, “The kingdom of God has arrived.” It is present in the crucified and risen
Lord. This is the message that we have been given to share with our friends,
our family, our neighbors and co-workers – anyone that God has placed in our
life.
Jesus didn’t tell the seventy two
that they would meet with reception and belief everywhere they went. Instead in the verse after our text he
instructed them, “But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go
into its streets and say, “Even the dust of your town that clings to our
feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the
kingdom of God has come near.”
The way the word was received did
not change what was happening. No
matter whether in blessing or in judgment, the word about Jesus Christ always
brings the reign of God. We want to see it received in faith that brings
forgiveness and eternal life. We also recognize that we have no power over the
outcome. Only the Holy Spirit does, who
works where and when he pleases. And in a profound mystery, human beings have
the ability to reject the love of the almighty God.
And so for us, the matter is really
very simple. We know that Jesus died on
the cross and rose from the dead to free us from Satan, sin, and death. We know
that the kingdom of God – the reign of God – has arrived in our Lord. And so we
speak that word to others. We speak it knowing that in the good news about
Jesus the kingdom of God – the reign of God – is always present and at work.
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