Year C Third Sunday After the Epiphany
January 21, 2001
Lord of the Lake Lutheran Church
Web page http://lordofthelake.org
By The Rev. Jerry Morrissey, Esq., Pastor
E-mail pastor@southshore.com
Text: Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
Title: “Grace from Faith”
Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving me my sins and giving me eternal life. Empower me to be the kind of person you want me to be. Amen.
Jesus speaks his first recorded words in Luke proper, notwithstanding Chapter 2 verse 49, by reading from Isaiah in a synagogue service at Nazareth and proclaims the words he read to be fulfilled in their hearing of them.
This text gives us two introductions or beginnings. One is by Luke himself (1: 1-4). It is an introduction to the gospel. The other is by Jesus (4: 14-21). It is an introduction of the gospel.
In Luke Chapter 1 verses 1-4: Introduction to the Gospel according to Luke. Luke is writing for non-Christians, claiming a place for Christianity on the stage of world history. He begins in typical fashion for a work of serious literature in the Greco-Roman world, employing excellent Greek.
A narrative: The Greek, diegesis, means “orderly account.” He is claiming to write history, much like a Herodotus or Thucydides, who was a Greek historian; considered the greatest historian of antiquity.
Eyewitnesses: Luke is not an eyewitness. He has interviewed them and claims to be faithful to what they report seeing.
Ministers of the word: Only here is this term used to refer to those who preach the Christian gospel. Thus his “authorities” are not academic historians, but people who knew and lived by the word they preached.
Theophilus: This could refer to an actual patron who financed the project Side bar: It would be most politic to mention his name and quite customary. However, since the word means “lover of God” it also has symbolic import, referring to anyone reading his account with an open mind.
In Chapter 4 verses 14-21: Introduction of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Both the above and this introduction are formal and solemn. Both speak of things that have been “fulfilled.” Both represent a true beginning. This one contains the content of the gospel as Jesus himself preferred to present it. This is Luke’s understanding of what Jesus meant by “Repent, the kingdom is at hand” recorded as his first words in Mark and Matthew.
In verses 14 and 15: Jesus begins his ministry with his return to Galilee from the wilderness after his baptism and victory over temptation. He opens with a formal address in the synagogue of Nazareth, his hometown, before setting out on his journey south to Jerusalem where he will be crucified. This short summary tells of his debut as a teacher corresponding in content to Mark Chapter 1 verse 14 and Matthew Chapter 4 verses 12-17.
Initial acceptance turns to rejection. In Verses 14-21, this week’s reading, speaks of the acceptance of Jesus and his message of Old Testament fulfillment, while verses. 22-30, next week’s reading tell of rejection. Luke has deliberately put this story at the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus to encapsulate his entire ministry and the reaction to it.
In verse 16 in the habit of doing: Luke alone among the Synoptics stresses Jesus’ weekly worship at synagogue, conforming to custom and obedient to the third commandment. As a side bar: There must have been many things he disagreed with and which grated on him, yet he went.
He stood up to read: This passage is the oldest known account of a synagogue service. With local variations it looked like this: After private prayer on entry into the building there was first the singing of a psalm; second the recitation of the Shema, which is the Jewish confession of faith which begins, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (Deut 6:4). The complete Shema is found in three passages from the Old Testament: Num 15:37-41; Deut 6:4-9 and Deut 11:13-21.
The first of these passages stresses the unity of God and the importance of loving Him and valuing His commands. The second passage promises blessing or punishment according to a person’s obedience of God’s will. The third passage commands that a fringe be worn on the edge of one’s garments as a continual reminder of God’s laws. This collection of verses makes up one of the most ancient features of worship among the Jewish people. According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus quoted from the Shema during a dispute with the scribes (Mark 12:28-30), third the Eighteen Blessings; fourth a reading from the Law, that is Genesis-Deuteronomy, this was a fixed reading for each week read in Hebrew and paraphrased in Aramaic; fifth a reading from the Prophets- not yet fixed during Jesus’ time; sixth a sermon- done by anyone competent or invited; seventh a blessing-prayer by the president of the synagogue; eighth the Priestly Blessing “May the Lord bless you and keep you…” Numbers 6: 24-26, which reads, “The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.” It is clear that the structure of the Lutheran Service comes from the structure of the synagogue service. Jesus would be doing number five and six here. The passage could have been selected by Jesus or chosen by the president of the synagogue. Side bar: Apparently, they did not expect their sermons to be prepared either.
In Verses 18 and 19: This text, from Is 61:1-2, which reads, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
this describes a Messiah who would care about and do something for people in distress, e.g., the poor, hostages, the blind, the oppressed. He would not be a king-type or military general-type or high-priest-type. The Messiah is as the Messiah does. In keeping with Luke’s favorite themes, he would accept marginal people as equally as the rich and advantaged. He would change people and their lives, not just their circumstances.
Poor: This became a quasi-technical term, signifying more than the economically poor, though inclusive of them. Like the “poor in spirit” of Matthew 5:3, these are those who know that they depend totally on God and are most in need to hear his Word.
Proclaim liberty to captives: “Proclaim” means like when a king proclaims an amnesty, it happens, not merely preaching sermons about it. “Liberty” translates the Greek, aphesis, which is the word used for “forgiveness” in the Christian community.
Sight to the blind: Jesus will do this in a physical sense, but its metaphorical meaning is prominent here.
A year of favor: Every fifty years in Hebrew, “jubilee” was a year of liberation: debts were forgiven, confiscated land returned to the original owner, the land was given a vacation from being planted and plowed, slaves were freed. It was a year of grace, at least, theoretically. It is not clear whether and how often this actually happened. Jesus is speaking not of a calendar year, but of an “era” of salvation offered to all, a “year” that will never end, rather than once every fifty years. Yet, this is a “once in a lifetime” offer. It needs to be accepted “today,” now, before it is too late.
In verse 20 the eyes of all…looked intently at him: In most instances the verb used (atenizein), a Lucan favorite, expresses a steadfast gaze of esteem and trust- the nuance intended here. It is part of the assembly’s initial reaction of admiration or pleasant surprise “Hometown boy makes good!” and enhances the interpretation of Isaiah Jesus is about to give.
In verse 21 today: This is the punch line! It has profound meaning. Every Jew believed that God’s kingdom and his Messiah would come- in the future. That was rather easy to believe, compared with Jesus’ proclamation that the day has arrived in him and in their hearing. The word refers to that chronological day back then, but it has reverberated throughout history and sounds in every hearer’s ears whenever the gospel is announced. “Today” becomes real when heard and accepted in faith. The Old Testament and the New Testament is fulfilled in the life of each person when that great event happens. Now, a “now” which has lasted for 2000 years, the captive power of sin is broken, communion with God is established, and God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
In the realm or kingdom of God there are no blind, no lame, no oppressed, no economically poor. That realm exists and always has existed. Wherever God rules, wherever he has no competition from evil, the realm is perfect. God’s realm is so unimaginably immense that wherever evil exists it encompasses only a minor fraction of God’s created space. From our vantage point here on earth and with our limited vision and intelligence, evil seems so much larger and pervasive than it really is, really, that is, from the viewpoint of eternity. From that panorama, like viewing planet earth from outer space, evil might look like so many black holes, of varying sizes, polluting an otherwise beautiful vista of light. The good news is that God himself has entered onto the planet and into a human being in order to bring light to that darkness, to eliminate all evil and restore creation to its pristine light, beauty and goodness.
Now we might have expected God to operate like human beings do and land on the planet with great fanfare, get great press and media coverage and announce his redemptive plan with all the panache of Hollywood. But that is not God’s way. Instead he announces it in a little synagogue in a little town, Nazareth, in a little country, present-day Israel, to a relatively small group of people. He will go on to spread that good news to others in the region, but he will leave it up to his followers to spread it throughout the world. That’s God. Of course, his followers, be they of first century Palestine or, Europe, Africa, Asia or Australia, twenty-first century America, or present day Arkansas, here in Boone County, imitate his methods and declare, proclaim and exemplify this good news in the same simple way as he did. There is the realm of God, which encompasses everything and everywhere. Then there is the “realm” of each individual’s influence, which encompasses a much smaller domain. Yet, that domain overlaps with the domains of others and can penetrate into them. Over centuries this is precisely what has happened. The good news has spread throughout the world one person at a time. It is not yet total, but is moving in that direction. It began quite small, like the size of a mustard seed. Today’s gospel scene illustrates just how small. It also illustrates just how small we begin, each and every day of our lives. It illustrates the hidden, invisible power of beginnings, unknown and invisible at the time, but powerful nonetheless. The beginning of each new day can be “today” for us, if we listen to the Lord’s message as soon as we awake. Recalling this and similar texts as soon as we get up makes their power, dormant until they awaken in our consciousness, come alive in us. Having replenished our physical, bodily energy through sleep, we now give the Lord permission to replenish our, really His, spiritual energy through awakening.
Jesus awakened his audience not merely to the possibilities of life. That in itself is rejuvenating, but it fades as the realities of evil come to extinguish the hopes such dreaming arouses. Jesus awakened his audiences to the realities of the realm of God, now available through hope and trust in him personally. He did not give them some master scheme, some complex philosophical treatise on utopia. He gave them, really offered them, Himself. They would have to accept him and accept him on his terms. There would be no compromising or negotiating, only acceptance. Just as God accepts us as we are, we must accept him as he is. Only when we do, we change and lose the pockets of darkness that remove us from his loving light. Like a king proclaiming an amnesty, Jesus effectively established a new era for humanity, one that would not be forced on humanity, one that would have to be accepted or rejected by each person, but one that would eventually exist without any black holes.
Jesus began his new era not with a reading from the Law, but from the Prophets. This era would not be a rigid one, striving for technical perfection to the letter of the Law. It would be one where the “spirit of the Lord” would be upon us, one of “good news.” He will give us the room to grow, both room to wiggle and room to stray. Yet, he will empower us to be free from the compulsions and obsessions of sin that enslave us. Not at some future date, but “today,” every day.
The Challenge of Fidelity: The pattern of initial acceptance and subsequent rejection of Jesus by his fellow villagers not only foreshadowed his rejection by “his own” people, it predicts what can happen to any Christian. The initial joy as one begins life in conscious contact with God, freed from guilt and sin, full of fervor, can wane. When a person discovers the “demanding” side of being a follower of Jesus then the “delightful” side begins to lose its force and hold, it is not uncommon for that person to either reject Christ or to simply drift away. We can lose the initial emotion, good feeling, of being aware that we are saved. When we learn that there is no “revising” our commitment to Christ, no “compromising” or “negotiating” with him we can allow our “democratic” tendencies to win out and leave the party. Worse, we can actively campaign to destroy anything Christian. While this does not happen to us in a clear-cut way, we can find periods in our lives when we are less than accepting of Christ and all he involves. The good news also says that we can begin again. We can always begin again. This Lord of ours is unique. No matter how many times and for whatever reasons we reject him or ignore him, he accepts us back again when we sincerely repent. It is always “today” in the Lord. Before he declared this new beginning, he underwent the testing of the desert. He knows that we do not always stand firm in the face of opposition. Correct that! We do not even stand firm in the face of inconvenience, let alone opposition. That makes us sad, but the conviction of his character makes us glad. Joy and confidence in him always cancels out sorrow and disappointment in ourselves.
Early enthusiastic acceptance of Jesus is no guarantee of long-term fidelity. Nor does it simply mean we sit back and enjoy all the benefits and accept none of the responsibilities. To be recipients of the “mission” of the Messiah we must also be “sharers,” giving to others what we have received- insight, freedom, help, joy. The Messiah is as the Messiah does. The same is true of the Christian. Jesus declared our “independence” from sin by reading from the Prophet and claiming those words fulfilled, realized, come true in him. It is by God’s Spirit, not the Law, that we are saved. Paul will pick up on that fundamental truth in all of his letters.
Weekly Worship: Jesus did not need to go to synagogue every Saturday to worship God. Neither do we. We worship God or should in every moment of our lives and in everything we do, no matter the place or time. Yet, Jesus went. Why? Jesus could worship God anywhere, but he could not worship God as a member of God’s people without being with God’s people. We can worship alone but we also must worship together. God has saved all of us, not just me. We are members of Christ’s body, of God’s people, and we need to worship together, to demonstrate that fact. People can deny the existence of God, but they cannot deny the existence of God’s people. Non-believers see us going to church and whether they like it or not they must wonder what makes us do such an uncommon thing. They cannot for very long simply conclude that we are all stupid, all duped, all gullible. There must be something to this “God-thing” after all. Common worship not only expresses our common identity, it is part of our mission to give witness to others that God is alive indeed and he makes a difference in our lives. We will never know just how many people were saved by first being curious about what goes on inside a church and then coming to see for themselves. We will never know how many really heard God’s word for the first time when they did so. Many might have never returned, but we will never know the impact. Amen.
