James could have said the same thing. By the grace of God, the unbelieving brother became a pillar. By the grace of God, the man who once did not believe became a witness to the Resurrection. By the grace of God, the man who knew Jesus according to the flesh came to know him as risen Lord.
James therefore gives us a vivid picture of grace coming first. He does not reason his way from family familiarity into Christian faith. The risen Christ comes to him. Before James becomes leader, reconciler, bishop, or martyr, he is the recipient of resurrection grace.
Saint Luke’s feast therefore does not finally ask us to admire Luke from a distance. It calls us to receive again the Gospel Luke spent his life proclaiming. Jesus Christ has come. Good news is proclaimed to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed.
The Prayer Book gathers that vocation into the image of wholesome medicine. Luke’s doctrine heals because his Gospel brings us to Jesus Christ, who forgives sin, calls sinners to repentance, restores the disordered heart, and gives resurrection life.
Michael fights, but the victory does not rest upon Michael. We resist, but the victory does not rest upon our spiritual strength. The saints conquer “by the blood of the Lamb.” That is where our confidence rests. When temptation exposes our weakness, the blood of the Lamb has not changed.
Michael and his angels truly fight, but Revelation itself identifies the decisive ground of victory: the blood of the Lamb. Angelic warfare serves the victory of Christ; it does not supplement it. Michael is not a second savior standing alongside Jesus.