Christ’s Laborers Labor with Confidence

Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist| Luke 10:1-9| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| October 18, 2026

It is well known that Lutherans do not pray to the saints in heaven, but that does not mean that we ignore them either. Our Lutheran Confessions state that we should thank God for the saints, among other reasons, “because He has given teachers and other gifts to the Church.” (Ap. XXI:4) And so, it is appropriate that we give thanks to God today for St. Luke the Evangelist, author of the longest of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament and the book of Acts, making him the human author of one third of the New Testament.

St. Luke was not one of the twelve disciples, nor even the seventy-two we heard of in our Gospel lesson, but likely a Gentile convert to Christianity who joined Paul in his second missionary journey (Acts 16:10). Luke accompanied Paul in his imprisonment in Caesarea and finally to Rome. A physician (Colossians 4:14), Luke was blessed with tremendous skill in writing and historical research. He undertook the task to write an orderly account about Christ to a certain Theophilus. Theophilus means friend of God, so all you, friends of God may consider Luke’s books to be written to you, so that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught (Luke 1:4). However talented of a scholar Luke was, we recognize that the Holy Spirit led him to write his narrative of Christ’s work (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21).

Luke’s Gospel claims a special place in the heart of Christians. Only Luke records the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Zechariah of the conception of John the Baptist and to Mary the conception of Jesus. Only Luke records Mary’s visit to Elizabeth while the two blessed ladies carried Jesus and John the Baptist in their wombs. Only Luke records the angels announcing the birth of Jesus to shepherds in Bethlehem and Jesus’ visit to the temple at 40 days and twelve years old. To Luke are unique the beloved parables of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15), the Good Samaritan (Luke 10), the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16) and the Pharisee and the Tax-Collector (18). Only Luke records Zacchaeus the tax-collector climbing the sycamore tree to see Jesus or Jesus telling the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in paradise. Only Luke describes in detail Jesus meeting the two travelers on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection. And only Luke recorded Jesus sending out the seventy-two disciples. Matthew and Mark records Jesus sending out the twelve to preach, but Luke records both the sending out of the twelve and the sending out of the seventy-two.

And so, it is fitting that this text is chosen for the Feast of St. Luke, because as Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest,” Luke was just such a laborer God added to the harvest as the Apostles made their way to all nations proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus sending out the seventy-two foreshadows Jesus sending His ministers to all nations. Your pastor is a laborer who has been added to the work in the Lord’s harvest because of the church’s prayers to the Lord of the harvest. And so, the words of Jesus to the seventy-two apply to the Office of the Ministry today.

Jesus says that He sends them out as lambs in the midst of wolves. This sounds like discouraging words. Yet, Jesus’ laborers should have great confidence in their labor. Though they go as lambs in the midst of wolves, they are not sent as sheep to be slaughtered, but those who represent the Lamb of God, who laid down His life and took it up again. They go as sheep of the Good Shepherd, who drives the wolves away before them. Jesus’ laborers do not need to worry about the needs for their bodies. Jesus tells them not to bring anything along with them, because those who hear and believe the Gospel they preach will care for their bodies, as St. Paul also says, “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.” (Galatians 6:6) So, if these laborers stay faithful to the Gospel message they are sent out to preach, then they are worthy of their wages and do not need to fear poverty, hunger, or nakedness. God will open the hearts of His Christians to provide for His laborers. Yet, even if these laborers come to physical harm, they should not be greatly concerned, because it is an honor to suffer for Christ and Christ promises a much greater reward to those who suffer for righteousness’ sake.

But Christ’s laborers are not sent to battle flesh and blood, but as St. Paul writes, “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) So, Christ’s laborers are not chiefly concerned with the danger to their bodies, but about the spiritual warfare they must wage against Satan and his demonic hordes. Yet, even here Jesus’ laborers may have the utmost confidence. Later in the chapter, Luke records that the seventy-two returned marveling to Jesus saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” to which Jesus responded, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” And so, Jesus’ laborers have confidence in their battle against Satan, because the Lord who sent them has crushed the head of Satan through His suffering, death, and resurrection. Jesus’ laborers are sent to proclaim Jesus’ victory over Satan. And with that proclamation, they are also given power over the enemy.

Jesus’ laborers may have confidence in their labor, because Jesus assures them that the harvest will be plentiful. It is a privilege to enter the labor of the harvest, but Jesus does not need any of His laborers to have a great harvest. Jesus’ harvest was chosen before the foundation of the world, as St. Paul writes in Ephesians 1, “He chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world… In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ…” (vss. 4, 5) Jesus knows who are His before they even believe in Him, as He says in John 10, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (vs. 16)

So, Jesus’ laborers have confidence in their mission, because Jesus has already told them that they will have success. The harvest is already plentiful. There are sons of peace waiting to welcome them in. The elect will listen to their preaching and accept the Gospel. Christ has already defeated Satan before them. They may go forth with confidence in their labor, knowing that their labor is not in vain.

And Jesus’ laborers should not be discouraged by those who reject them. Later in this chapter, Jesus said to His disciples, “The one who hears you hears Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me, and the one who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” (Luke 10:16) And so, Jesus’ laborers do not go forward to proclaim their own message, to exercise their own eloquent rhetoric or logic, but to proclaim the Word of Christ. And God promises that this word will bear fruit. “Faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) God spoke through the prophet 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.” (Isaiah 55:10-11) Jesus’ voice does not fail to gather His sheep, so Jesus’ laborers should not doubt the voice He has given them to proclaim His Word.

When people reject the voice of Jesus’ laborers, they are not rejecting men, but God Himself. They may make excuses for themselves for why they refuse to listen, refuse to come to Church to worship, refuse to mend their ways, repent, and take the message to heart. But unless they can say that the laborer is not speaking Jesus’ Word, it is not the laborer they are rejecting, but Christ Himself who speaks through him.

Jesus told His laborers to proclaim, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” And this is basically the same message Jesus gave to His disciples in the Great Commission and what He commands His Church to continue to proclaim today. But what does it mean that the Kingdom of God has come near?” The Kingdom of God comes in two ways: in grace and in glory. In grace, God sent Christ to suffer and die for our sins and rise again for our justification. God’s kingdom of grace comes to us when the message of forgiveness and salvation is proclaimed by the merits of Christ’s death and resurrection. So, God’s Kingdom comes to you through Baptism, where by God’s Word He gives us His Holy Spirit, clothes us in Christ, forgives our sins, and grants us new birth. God’s Kingdom comes to us in the Absolution, where Christ’s laborer declares your sins forgiven, not by His own merits, but based on the merits and promise of Christ Himself. God’s Kingdom comes when we eat Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins and for the increase of faith and love. God’s Kingdom comes when God grants you His Holy Spirit, so that in faith you grasp the promises given in these means of grace and believe that for Christ’s sake your sins are forgiven, Satan is conquered before you, and that you have certainty of eternal life. Those who have faith in these promises are prepared for God’s Kingdom to come in glory, when Christ will return to judge the living and the dead.

So, we learn that Christ’s laborers do not only proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom, but Christ uses them to usher in His kingdom. God’s Kingdom comes to us through the ministry of the Word, the ministry of Christ’s Word, which overpowers Satan and delivers Christ’s victory to those who believe.

As a physician, Luke must have been especially impressed with the power to heal which Christ gave to His apostles and first disciples. While miraculous healings continue today through the power of prayer, these miraculous healings are not the primary function of the Church. Rather, Christ the Great Physician of the soul sends His laborers to deliver even better health than healed limbs and bodies. Through the ministry of the Word, Christ’s laborers grant perfect health that lasts to eternity.

And this perfect health Christ promises both to His laborers and their hears. He said to the seventy-two, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:19-20)

And so, we thank God for the physician St Luke, not for his labor to heal temporary bodily ailments, but for His good work of recording the Gospel for us in the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, so that Christ’s laborers may be equipped to labor with confidence and so that we too may be gathered into the Lord’s harvest to receive eternal life. Amen.