St. Luke
Lk
10:1-9
10/18/26
“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.”
St. Luke begins his Gospel with
these words. Luke is the only Gospel writer who gives us a literary
introduction to his work. The fact that he does, and the language that he uses,
tells us something that is soon confirmed by reading the Gospel: Luke was a man
of some education and literary skill.
Luke acknowledges that others have
written a narrative about Jesus. He may
be referring to Matthew and Mark, or perhaps to other accounts that were
present in the early Church. He grounds the source for these accounts in what
the eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered.
Then Luke adds that he himself had
followed these things closely, and so he had decided to write a well ordered
account. His purpose in doing so was very simple, so that Theophilos – and all
who have read the Gospel since - may have certainty concerning the things that they
have been taught.
St Luke had remarkable access to
what the eyewitnesses and ministers of the word had delivered because he was a
companion of St. Paul. Luke was an overachiever. Not only did he write a Gospel. He also wrote the Book of Acts as the second
volume in his work. There he recounted what happened in the early Church from
Jesus’ ascension to Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome.
Some of these things were events
that Luke experienced firsthand. On the second missionary journey Paul was
forbidden by the Holy Spirit from going to preach the Gospel in Asia and
Bithynia. Instead, he arrived at Troas – the port on body of water that separated
Asia Minor from Greece. There Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia urging
him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Then Luke reports, “And when Paul
had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia,
concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” Luke describes
how he began to accompany Paul in his Gospel work.
With only some exceptions, Luke was
a constant companion of Paul. At the end of the third missionary journey, he
accompanied Paul to Jerusalem. Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea for two years as
a result of that visit. And when he set sail for his trial in Rome, Luke was
once again with him. When did Luke have time to investigate the material in his
Gospel and Acts? Well, it seems likely that those two years waiting in Judea
provided the occasion and access that he needed.
Luke was with Paul during
imprisonments. He was with Paul at Caesarea. When Paul was imprisoned and wrote
Colossians and Philemon, Luke was there. The apostle told the Colossians,
“Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings.” When Paul was in his
first Roman imprisonment, Luke was there. And later, when Paul was again
imprisoned in Rome and knew that his execution was approaching, Luke was there.
As we hear in the epistle lesson for today, Paul wrote in 2 Timohty, “Only Luke
is with me.”
St. Luke was an evangelist – he was
inspired by the Holy Spirit to write one of the Gospels of the New Testament.
When you add in Acts you find that Paul and Luke are the most prolific authors
in the New Testament. And Luke was also a missionary. He journeyed with Paul in
the proclamation of the Gospel. The Book of Acts recounts the missionary
activity of the earliest Church.
This missionary emphasis of St
Luke’s writings and life makes the Gospel lesson assigned for today very
appropriate. In it, we hear about how Jesus sent forth a group of his disciples
as missionaries. In their message and
work we learn about what Jesus Christ means for us. We also receive
encouragement to speak the Gospel with confidence no matter how it seems to be
received.
Our text begins with the words, “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.” This
comment is a reminder that there was a larger group of disciples who
accompanied the Lord and were committed to him, beyond just the twelve apostles
and some women.
“After this” – or more literally
“after these things” refers to what had just taken place in the previous
chapter. Jesus had asked the disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” The
answers were all some kind of prophet – John the Baptist or Elijah. Then Jesus asked, “But who
do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” And in response,
Jesus said something they did not expect: “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.”
A little later, Jesus took Peter,
James, and John up on a mountain and was transfigured before them. His clothes
were dazzling white, and he stood there in conversation with Moses and Elijah.
Then God the Father said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” The
glory of this event soon met a stark contrast as Jesus predicted his passion
for a second time as he said, ““Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of
Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”
Just before our text in chapter nine
we find the statement: “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set
his face to go to Jerusalem.” Twice Jesus has said in chapter nine that he will
suffer and die. And now he begins his journey to Jerusalem where this will take
place. He is on his final journey to the holy city where he will accomplish the
purpose for which the Father sent him into the world.
In this final stage of his ministry
Jesus sends the seventy two disciples ahead of him as a kind of advance team.
They are to prepare the way where Jesus will be going. Our Lord said, “The
harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the
Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Jesus gave them specific
instructions, and they all conveyed a sense of urgency. He said, “Go your way; behold, I am sending
you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no
sandals, and greet no one on the road.” They were to travel light. They were
not to be delayed in any way – not even to stop and exchange greetings with
people they met on the road.
When they arrived at a town, they
were stay with those who received them. Jesus told them to eat what was set
before them. He said, “Remain in the
same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his
wages. Do not go from house to house.” They were not to go looking for
something better.
Jesus gave them a very specific work
to do. He told them, “Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God
has come near to you.’” This work was an extension of Jesus’ own ministry.
After he had healed many and the people wanted him to stay in Capernaum he
replied, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns
as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
Jesus declared that he was the
presence of the kingdom of God. The reign of God was present in Christ to
overcome Satan, sin, and death. As demonstrated in the transfiguration, Jesus
was the Son of God present in this world. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born
of the virgin Mary he was present as the One who is true God and true man.
Jesus was the Christ. He was the
Messiah descended from David because Joesph had taken him to be his own. But he
was the Messiah – the anointed One – not because olive oil was poured on his
head like the kings of Israel and Judah in the past. Instead, he was anointed
by the Holy Spirit at his baptism. At the synagogue in Nazareth Jesus declared
that these words from Isaiah were fulfilled in him: “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.”
Jesus Christ had come to free you
from sin and death. This is the true poverty, captivity, and oppression
experienced by all people. Created for fellowship with the holy God, instead
you sin as you put yourselves before God and our neighbor. Created for life,
this sin will result in death for each one of you.
But Christ has freed you through his
death and resurrection. Jesus went to Jerusalem to die on the cross. There he
received God’s judgment against your sin. He passed through death as his body
was taken down and buried in a tomb. But on Easter God raised him from the dead
as the beginning of your resurrection life. The Lord told his disciples on
Easter, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day
rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be
proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are
witnesses of these things.”
Freedom from sin and death through
faith in Christ. Eternal life in fellowship with God. This is indeed good news.
And this good news – this Gospel – has the power to bring forgiveness and
salvation to others. Paul told the Romans, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew
first and also to the Greek.”
This is the Gospel that we speak to
others. This occurs in many ways. It happens as opportunities present
themselves to share the hope that we have in Christ – the comfort and peace
that he gives in our life. It happens as we talk about why we go to church each
Sunday – that we come to the Divine Service to hear Christ say, “I forgive you
all your sins”; that we come here because we experience the miracle of Jesus
Christ present in his body and blood every Sunday to give us forgiveness and
strengthen faith. It happens in the very simple act of inviting a friend to
attend the Divine Service because you think it’s great.
This does not always receive the
response that we want. Sometimes it even meets with angry rejection and
disdain. It is easy for this to become discouraging. And so we also need to
listen to what our Lord says in the verses just after our text. Jesus had said
about towns that received the disciples, “Heal the sick in it and say to them,
‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”
Yet then he went on to say, “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.’” Jesus
acknowledged that some places would not receive the Gospel. But in those
settings Jesus told them to say the exact same thing: “The kingdom of
God has come near.”
He did because in the Gospel God is always
at work through his Spirit. God has promised that his word always accomplishes
what he intends. He said through Isaiah, “For as the rain and the snow come
down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring
forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my
word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it
shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which
I sent it.”
We don’t know what the Word is
doing. Is it calling people to faith? Is
it drawing people to a new, deeper, and true understanding of the Means of
Grace? Is it preparing a person for some future encounter with the Gospel? Is
it hardening a person in their own committed rejection of the Gospel? We don’t
know. And the good thing is that we don’t have to know. Our only job is
to speak. And we speak in the confidence that the Spirit of God is always
at work in the word of the Gospel.
On this Feast of St Luke we give
thanks to God that he used his servant to give us both the Gospel of Luke and
the Book of Acts. Luke shared in the
missionary work as he accompanied the apostle Paul. He is the means by which
the Spirit of God has given us what the eyewitnesses and ministers of the word
have delivered about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through
his inspired writings the Holy Spirit continues to give us the forgiveness of
sin and sustain our faith in Christ.
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