3rd Sunday after the Epiphany
Luke 4:14-21
"Good News to the Poor"
14 ¶ And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report concerning him went out through all the surrounding country.
15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read;
17 and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
18* "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
20 And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
21 And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."RSV
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
Jesus read a passage of scripture in the synagogue on the Sabbath. It read in part, "he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor."
This was not such a strange passage of scripture, the people knew it came from Isaiah. This passage from Isaiah, chapter 61, verse 2, was a passage of hope, a passage of deliverance, a passage that reminded the Jews that God was indeed still with them, still caring for them. This was a great passage to read, because it was one of the favorite passages from their ancient traditions.
And it was not even strange that Jesus read a passage of scripture in the synagogue. The synagogue was a place for teaching and reading. The temple in Jerusalem was the place for the priests to offer sacrifice to God, but in the synagogue, men came to learn. Another difference between the synagogue and the temple was in the temple the priests were in charge, but in the synagogue there were no priest, no preacher. Each man had an opportunity to participate in the time of reading and learning. A man would volunteer to read a passage from the scrolls of the Old Testament, and then afterwards, he would sit down and explain what those passages he read meant to him.
But what was strange, unique and different was when Jesus sat down he said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Jesus said that the scripture about deliverance, about salvation, about God being with the nation of Israel was fulfilled in him. Jesus was salvation. A strange and unique concept.
Jesus is dropping a bomb shell on this congregation. He is shaking them up. He is telling them that he is God’s salvation in the world. Through him God’s deliverance, God’s promise of hope, God’s promise of freedom has come to his people. Jesus is revealing something about himself, he is making clear his mission, his calling, his task as he goes about his ministry on this earth. Jesus is setting the scope, the limits, the horizons of his ministry.
Jesus is telling them that he is the Word of God incarnate in the world. Jesus is telling them that as God’s word in the world, Jesus is the bringer hope and salvation to all people.
Jesus is like the king in the following story;
"Long ago, there ruled in Persia a wise and good king. He loved his people. He wanted to know how they lived. He wanted to know about their hardships. Often he dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar, and went to the homes of the poor. No one whom he visited thought that he was their ruler. One time he visited a very poor man who lived in a cellar. He ate the coarse food the poor man ate. He spoke cheerful, kind words to him. Then he left.
Later he visited the poor man again and disclosed his identity by saying, "I am your king!" The king thought the man would surely ask for some gift or favor, but he didn’t.
Instead he said, "You left your palace and your glory to visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate the course food I ate. You brought gladness to my heart! To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have given yourself!" 1
To me you have given yourself! This is what Jesus is saying to those in the synagogue that day. Today, I am giving myself for the salvation of the world. Today, God’s grace has come through me. Today, the captive have been set free. Today, I am preaching good news to the poor. Today, salvation has come.
Someone once said the best sermon is not one which is preached, but one that is lived. In these words of Jesus at the synagogue, he is saying just that. Today, God’s grace is fulfilled through a person, Jesus Christ.
Jesus is putting God’s word into practice.
Jesus is putting God’s word of salvation into practice in our world, too. This is a passage of hope and salvation for us.
Jesus is reminding us that no matter what we experience in this world He is there for us. Jesus is God’s incarnate word in this world of brokenness.
Jesus is talking about God’s plan of salvation for the whole earth, instead of just the nation of Israel. Jesus is saying that through him, God would bring salvation to all people. Jesus is saying that through him salvation would come even to us today. Salvation is here for us because Jesus has fulfilled this passage.
This salvation is seen very clearly in this passage. Jesus says that part of his salvation is to preach the good news. The good news is that God is with us, God cares about us. There is forgiveness, there is hope, there is renewal. Jesus knew that in a world where people find only the bad news, where sin, death and the devil are alive and well, we need some good news. We need to know that God has not abandoned us.
Jesus wants us to cling to that hope. Jesus wants us to cling to the good news of His salvation.
But some don’t.
It is like the bees in the following:
As I finished washing the dishes, I glanced out of the window and saw my 8 year old brother dangling a long pole in the swimming pool. His tangled brown hair hung in his eyes, and his clothes were splashed with water. He always managed to avoid helping with the chores, and today was no different. I watched as he carefully steadied the pole in the water, lifted it and tapped it on the concrete deck.
"What’s he doing?" I wondered. I decided to go outside and see what time~wasting activity had kept him from helping me.
"What are you doing Ben?" I asked as I walked over to where he stood.
"Saving bees," he replied. I could see now that each time he steadied the pole, it was beneath a bee. He then lifted the bee out of the water and placed it on the warm concrete to let the bee dry it’s wings and fly away.
"But some of them won’t hold on." He continued. "I try to save them, but they just keep trying to swim and won’t grab the pole."
"Great," I thought. "One less bee to sting me." I began walking back toward the house, determined to waste no more of my time.
Then Ben spoke again. "It’s like Jesus," he said.
I stopped and walked back to my little brother. "What do you mean?" I asked, confused by that comparison.
"I try to save the bees from drowning, but they have to choose to grab the pole. I can’t force them," he explained. "And that’s like Jesus and us. He wants to save us, but we have to choose to accept the atonement. He can’t force us." And with that simple analogy, Ben went back to saving the bees.
As I thought about what he said, I realized how much I was like one of the drowning bees. When I faced a struggle in my life, I was prone to battle it out alone, convinced I was strong enough to make it. Trusting the Saviour enough to stop ’treading water’ was difficult. But as I watched Ben patiently pull each bee out of the water, I began to understand how willing the Saviour is to help me.2
Jesus is telling us not to ’tread water’ but to turn to him for salvation. This gospel lesson is a picture of the salvation of Jesus for his time and ours. Jesus came not just for the nation of Israel, but for all humankind. He came for you and me. He came to bring salvation into this time and place. He came to bring salvation now and for the future.
A closing story sums up what it means to live in grace.
When I was about twelve years old my dad took a friend and I to the carnival.
We purchased an armband and entered the gates. We were awestruck at all of the blinking lights, the throng of people, the voices disappearing into the night air, and, most of all, the numerous rides.
We heard the shrieks of joy from those who were riding on the various rides
in the carnival that night. Their faces were lit up much like the bright lights
and you could see grins so wide that it seemed their faces would split open from their excitement.
As I watched them, I could imagine the feeling of lightness in their stomachs
as they were rocked to and fro. I could almost feel the breath being suddenly thrust out of their lungs as they lurched from side to side. It looked like so much fun!
We walked on. Everyone that we approached seemed to be enjoying themselves greatly. Each ride that we came to looked more exciting than the previous one.
The people aboard seemed to be having the time of their lives.
The whole scene looked so inviting!
And, yet, we had no money. My dad had paid for the armbands and told us we were on our own. Without any money, we were left to watch everyone else enjoy themselves. The more we saw everyone else having a great time, the more we wished we were able to purchase tickets in order that we might ride the rides.
We were standing around, miserable, wishing my father would come and get us out of that place, when we heard him say to us, "Hey, you two. What are you doing?"
"We are just watching these people on the rides," I replied.
"Why aren’t you riding any of them," my father asked.
"We don’t have any money to buy tickets," I continued.
"Son, don’t you know that the rides are included in the price that I already paid. Your armband gets you access to all of the rides."
We were stunned. We had no idea that we could have been enjoying the carnival to its fullest extent by just taking advantage of what my father had given us.
Sadly, there are many Christians just like my friend and I at the carnival. They walk around miserable, seeing others at peace, seeing others filled with joy, seeing others content and free. They are miserable as they watch others full of assurance and victory and blessing. Oh, it all looks so inviting, but they just don’t see how they can pay for it. They stand around wishing their Father would come and get them out of this place.
And, then, maybe, they hear His voice. "What are you doing?" He calls.
"Watching these people enjoy themselves," they reply.
"Why aren’t you enjoying yourself?" the Father asks.
"We can’t afford the tickets," they continue.
"Son, daughter," God calls. "Don’t you know that they are included in the price that I already paid? Jesus did more than just save you, He gave you a life of blessing. He did more than just reserve you a place in Heaven, He gave you a wonderful, anointed life here on earth. Don’t you know that it’s included in the price He paid?"
Many Christians walk around with a brightly colored spiritual armband on, never realizing that it gives them access to all of the blessings that Jesus Christ offers.
They’re at the carnival...but they’re not riding any rides.
Friends, Jesus died to give you life...abundant life. He promises you peace, joy, contentment, assurance, victory and confidence.
Don’t be satisfied to simply wear your armband...get on the ride!
Have a "Wonderful DAY in Christ," 3
Jesus says: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale Monday, January 15, 2007
1 Contributed by: Jason Cole
from SermonCentral newsletter
2 by Charity Brunson from Christmas_story_lovers
3 Jimmy D. Brown from http://timshen.faithweb.com
