Feast Observed
Actual Date: October 18
2 Timothy 4:5–18
St. Luke 10:1–9
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul says that Luke the beloved physician greets you (Col. 4:14). So, St. Luke was a doctor of medicine, a very learned man. But he is not remembered by the Church for healing diseases, for being a doctor of the body. We remember him today for being a doctor of the soul, especially for writing the Gospel that bears his name and the Book of Acts.
As far as we know, Luke was not one of the followers of Jesus during His earthly ministry. His name is Greek, and so most suppose that he was a Gentile who came to believe in the Savior through Paul’s preaching. We first get a glimpse of Luke in Acts, journeying with Paul on his first trip into Greece, and so, as far as we know, the first time the Gospel came into Europe. I say we only get a glimpse of him, because he never mentions himself by name in the Book of Acts. But while the book has been referring to Paul and his companions as “they,” right when they are about to cross over into Greece it switches to “we,” so the author is included. This happens two other times, indicating that Luke was then accompanying Paul. The second time is on his trip to Jerusalem where Paul was arrested and imprisoned. The third time is on Paul’s trip to Rome as a prisoner. We know Luke was a close companion of Paul, as he was the only one with Paul during his final imprisonment at the end of his life as Paul said in 2 Timothy. In this way, even though Luke was not chosen by our Lord to be an apostle, he was close to the apostle Paul and so Luke’s Gospel is still closely connected to the ministry of an apostle.
But Luke didn’t just rely on Paul to write his accounts in the Gospel or Acts. At the beginning of his Gospel, Luke says that he interviewed those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word (Luke 1:2). Probably, while Paul was in prison, Luke visited with the 12 apostles who had known Jesus personally. And he must have talked with Mary, the blessed mother of Jesus herself.
Luke’s Gospel gives information that no one else could know, other than Mary. More than once, he tells us that Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart (Luke 2:19). So we hear about Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah and the birth of John the Baptist; Gabriel’s visit to Mary; her visitation with Elizabeth; the birth of Jesus; the family’s trip to the temple where they meet old Simeon and Anna; and the time when 12 year old Jesus stayed behind at the temple. These are clearly the remembrances of a mother.
We also get several of our great canticles from the first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel (again, probably from Mary’s memory): the Benedictus, which we often sing at Matins – the song of Zechariah at the birth of his son, John; the Magnificat, which we sing at Vespers – Mary’s own song of praise; the Gloria in Excelsis – the song of the angels to the Bethlehem shepherds; and the Nunc Dimittis – Simeon’s song while holding the Lord’s salvation in his arms, the infant Jesus.
And there are other unique parts from Luke’s Gospel that he must have heard from others: the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Rich Man and Lazarus, the Prodigal Son, and the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. All of this gives us an important theme in Luke’s Gospel, what we might call the Great Reversal. The poor become rich, the hungry are fed, the mighty are brought down but the humble are lifted up, the first become last, the last become first, those who think they are righteous are turned away, but sinners are made righteous and welcomed into the kingdom.
This is the message that Jesus gave his ministers to proclaim: Peace be to this house! And, The kingdom of God has come near to you. True peace, heavenly peace comes when sins are forgiven in the name of Jesus. It’s the blood of Jesus that makes peace between God and men. It’s the blood of Jesus that allows men to enter the kingdom of God. Luke may have been a physician, but Jesus is our true physician of body and soul. He is the One who heals and gives life, not only for life in this world, but even more so for the life of the world to come.
By the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, St. Luke proclaimed this Jesus in the writing of his Gospel and the Book of Acts. And still today, that proclamation is heard as we read and listen to those holy writings. The peace and the kingdom of Jesus still come today to our house here and to your homes whenever His Word is read. In fact, Luke pointed this out at the beginning of his second book, the book of Acts. He wrote: In the first book (his Gospel) I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. The Gospel of Luke was only the beginning of Jesus’ doings and teachings. Jesus continued to do and teach throughout the Book of Acts through the work and words of the apostles and His other servants like St. Luke. And so even today, Jesus continues to do and teach through His Church, through His ministers and through all His servants as they confess their faith in words and deeds.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
