Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist
Isaiah 35:5-8; 2 Tim.
4:5-18; Luke 10:1-9
In the Name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In many ways, St. Luke
picks up his Gospel account where the prophet Isaiah leaves off. Listen to Isaiah’s
words again…
Then the
eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the
ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap
like a deer,
and the
tongue of the mute sing for joy.
Sounds like a medical
transcription report. People can’t see. Can’t walk. Can’t speak. Diagnosis.
Prognosis. Treatment. Isaiah depicts the Lord as a divine physician, as the
Healer of the Nations.
And so does St. Luke, who
we commemorate today. The Good Physician whom Isaiah foretells, Luke records in
his Gospel. From Luke’s perspective, the moment Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the
sign on the stable door where Jesus is born reads: “The Doc is in”. Jesus
fulfills Isaiah’s prophecies. Jesus heals the blind. Jesus opens the deaf ear.
Jesus tells the lame to get up and walk.. And Jesus speaks peace, because he is
the peace of God in human flesh.
And that’s why he instructs
the 72 in Luke 10 to say, “Peace be with this house” as he sends them out as
apostles of his peace. Jesus gives his peace won for us on the cross. Reconciliation
with God. This peace forgives sin. This is the peace he sent the 12 and then
the 72 out to proclaim. This is the peace that Luke writes about in his Gospel.
Jesus is a physician of peace.
Now peace may be the last
thing on your mind when you go to the doctor’s office. You may not find the
medical waiting room a very peaceful place. Oh sure, it might be painted with
soothing colors, decorated with toys, magazines, or TVs. But for many, a trip
to the doctor causes anxiety, fear, and loathing.
But not so with Jesus, the
Good Physician of body and soul. There’s no white coat syndrome with Jesus. No
need to fear your Savior. Yes, he knows your history. He knows you are sick. He
knows you are a sinner. He knows you are unclean. But none of that stops Jesus.
You are precisely why he was born, why he lived, suffered, bled and died.
Yes, your sin causes you
fear – and well it should. We can’t say, “But…I’m not quite dead yet”. We’re
dead in our trespasses. Cold and lifeless on the operating table. But what is
greater, your fear and doubt or Jesus’ cross? Your sin or Jesus’ death that
atones for your sin?
Jesus walks in to the
waiting room of our fallen world to breathe our poisoned air, and to take our
disease of sin and death upon himself, to restore your life forever. The Doctor
dies for the patient in order to bring you back from the dead. Jesus becomes
the curse of sin for you in order to give you a clean bill of health. All of
your sin and death are quarantined in Jesus’ body on the cross. It all dies
with Jesus. You are forgiven. You are restored. You are at peace.
And the more we examine our
lives, the more we see our sinful condition; and the more we realize we need
healing. We need peace.
But in order to get the
proper treatment, we need the proper diagnosis. And that’s one of the reasons
we give thanks to God for His servant Luke, the evangelist. Luke’s job is to bring
Jesus to you through God’s living and active Word.
God’s Word is the scalpel
of Jesus, the Good Physician. And he’s an expert Surgeon. With precision his
law cuts you and “kills” you, in order to heal you and make you alive.
Each commandment is an
accurate incision of the Law.
We have not feared, loved,
and trusted God above all things.
We have failed to use God’s
name properly and call upon him in every trouble, pray, praise, and give
thanks.
We have despised God’s word
and preaching.
We have not honored our
father or mother or other authorities God has given us.
We have not helped our
neighbor in support of their physical need.
We have not led a sexually
pure life in all we say and do.
We have been dishonest and
poor stewards of our possessions and income.
We have not spoken well of
our neighbor and explained everything in the best and kindest way.
We have coveted more things
and people than we can even remember.
The diagnosis isn’t good.
In fact it’s terminal. But Jesus does not delight in torture or punishment.
Jesus, your Good Physician cuts with the Law in order to heal with the Gospel.
He kills you in order to make you alive. The Lord heals the broken hearted and
binds up their wounds (Ps. 147:3). All of those commandments you have broken,
Jesus has kept for you.
Jesus perfectly fears,
loves, and trusts the Father for you.
Jesus called upon God’s
name for you.
Jesus heard and spoke the Word of God for you.
Jesus heard and spoke the Word of God for you.
Jesus honored father and
mother and all authorities for you.
Jesus helped his neighbor
in ever time of need for you.
Jesus led a sexually pure
life, void of lust and desire and sin, for you.
Jesus was a faithful
steward of all God’s creation for you.
Jesus explains everything about
you in the kindest way he can, through the lens of his suffering and death. Not
a commandment broken for you. All your sickness of sin, Jesus has made his own.
Strange as it sounds, Jesus
your Good Physicians turns the scalpel on himself. He stands under the
two-edged sword of God’s Word for you. He bears the Law for you. Keeps the Law
for you. Suffers the punishment of the Law for you. All so that he can heal
you. Jesus is bruised for your iniquities. And by his wounds you are healed.
Jesus is the Great
Physician that Luke, the beloved physician, was called to write about and
proclaim.
“Peace be to this house”. The 72 give as they receive. Jesus gives them peace. The same
peace of God that comes to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus,
all given to us in Luke’s Gospel.
In Luke 2 the angels sang:
Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.
Simeon held the 40 day old
peace of God in his hands and declares he can depart in peace.
Jesus entered Jerusalem on
his way to the cross amidst the cry: “Blessed
is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the
highest!”
Jesus
makes peace between God and man by his death on the cross.
Jesus spoke
to his disciples as he appeared before them resurrected from the dead: “Peace be with you”.
But don’t
think that Jesus’ peace is absent from us today. He is not. Thanks to Luke and
the other evangelists. Thanks to the 72. Thanks to faithful pastors who are
also sent. The peace that Jesus won for you on the cross by shedding his blood,
by dying your death, by rising again – all of that is given to you here.
Christ’s
Peace be to this house. Peace be with your house. Rejoice! This doctor makes
house calls!
Christ’s
peace is here. We sing it and say it around the Altar: “The peace of the Lord
be with you always”. The peace of Christ comes to you here. Take and eat:
Christ’s body. Take and drink, Christ’s blood. Here is the medicine of
immortality, an antidote for your sin.
The peace
Jesus gives is no placebo. It is real. Tangible as bread and wine, water and
words. It is not temporary like our vain efforts at peace. Jesus does not
appease sin and death. He destroys it. And in Jesus’ death you live. Jesus takes
on your sickness you are restored. You are made well.
And so today we give thanks
to God for Luke, the Evangelist. For Luke’s accounts of Jesus’ life and
ministry and for Jesus’ life in the life of the Church in the Book of Acts. But
most of all we give thanks to God for Luke, the beloved physician, who points
us to the Great Physician of body and soul, Christ our Lord.
For today,
the same promise given by Jesus to the 72 also comes to you.
‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ Peace
be with you…and all who dwell here.
A Blessed Feast of St. Luke
to you all…
In the Name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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