3rd Sunday after the Epiphany
Luke 4:14-21
The Word of God = Good News
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
During this season of Epiphany, the baby who was born in the manger on Christmas comes to live for us. During this season, we see who this child really is. We see Jesus in many different ways during this season. Last Sunday, we saw that he was concerned about his mother and wedding party he had attended. Jesus spent some time in a social context, he spent time with his family and with his friends. He spent days, not just a few moments of time that was his supposed duty, but Jesus valued the time he spent with his family, getting to know them, getting to see them as people and as friends.
And in today’s gospel lesson, we see Jesus in a different light. We see him in the synagogue and it was his turn to read. He turns to a passage in Isaiah and reads it. Then he sits down and begins to explain the passage, to bring the passage alive for the people.
To fully understand all the significance of this passage, we must first understand the Jewish synagogue system of worship. In the synagogue, sacrifice was not done. 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.
So on this day, Jesus was taking his turn in the synagogue to read the lesson and then to explain it. He picked a lesson that was very familiar to the Jews, a lesson that stirred up the hearts and the passions of all Jews. 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.
Then Jesus hands the scroll back to the attendant to put away, returns to his seat, the eyes and the minds of the men present follow him, for they know that he will now explain the passage, he will teach this passage to them.
Jesus sits, and he begin to speak, and speak he does. He begins his sermon with the most amazing sentence, He really grabs their attention by saying, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus is saying today he has fulfilled this scripture, today he is God’s salvation to the world.
Our text stops with this first line of his sermon, but next week we will have the rest of his sermon and the reaction of the men in the synagogue to his preaching. But today, we dwell only on Jesus’ first line, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." 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 bring hope and salvation to all people.
I think the best way to get a handle on this is to first look at this passage as Isaiah said it to his people many years ago. The people had returned from captivity in Babylon. They were trying to rebuild their the temple, but things weren’t going very well. The people were getting discouraged, they thought God had abandoned them. Times were hard, food was scarce and hope for the future was in short supply. The people were so desperate so full of mourning that they even covered their heads with ashes, and wore sackcloth, the garment of mourning. But Isaiah comes and says to all of this, God is here, He will deliver, He will save, He will make you a mighty nation. Through you, God will keep his promise to bring salvation to the world. This passage is one of hope, of freedom, of release, a passage of salvation.
Now when Jesus said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. " Jesus was saying the same thing. Jesus is saying to the people and to us that He is the one to bring God’s salvation to the world. He is God’s word incarnate in this world.
A story says it well:
The story is told of four ministers discussing the pros and cons of various Bible translations and paraphrases. Eventually each stated which version, in his opinion, is the best. The first minister said he used the King James because the Old English style is beautiful and produces the most reverent picture of the Holy Scriptures. The second said he preferred the New American Standard Bible because he felt it comes nearer to the original Greek and Hebrew texts. The third minister said his favorite was the paraphrased Living Bible because his congregation was young, and it related to them in a practical way.
All three men waited while the fourth minister sat silently. Finally he said, "I guess when it comes to translations and paraphrased editions of the Bible, I like my Dad’s translation best. He put the Word of God into practice everyday. It was the most convincing translation I’ve ever seen."
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.
You will never stand alone while standing on the Word of God. by Kathryn Souza-Wine
While we are standing of the Word of God we will never be alone because that Word of God is Jesus Christ in our world. And Jesus Christ works through us to bring his salvation to all people. As Luther says, "We are like Little Christs to one another".
When life gets tough, we need something more solid to cling to than feelings and emotions. "In time of trial we should rest not on our feelings but on the Word of God" (Martin Luther). God’s Word is like the rock of Gibraltar. In it there is help for every need.
We gather each week here as Jesus went to the synagogue each week, to hear God’s word for our lives so that we may be filled with it to carry the message of hope and grace into the world around us, into our lives.
We are Christ’s instruments in the world affecting it with his grace.
A closing story says it well:
A lady says:
I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called "Smile."
The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway, so, I thought,
this would be a piece of cake, literally.
Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special play time with our son. We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did.
I did not move an inch...an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved. As I turned around I smelled a horrible "dirty body" smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was "smiling". His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God’s Light as he searched for acceptance. He said, "Good day" as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally deficient and the blue eyed gentleman was his salvation.
I held my tears as I stood there with them. The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, "Coffee is all Miss" because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).
Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action. I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue eyed gentleman’s cold hand. He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Thank you."
I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, "I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope." I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, "That is why God gave you to me, Honey. To give me hope." We held hands for a moment and at that time we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give. That day showed me the pure Light of God’s sweet love.
I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in "my project" and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, "Can I share this?" I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and that is when I knew that we, as human beings and being part of God, share this need to heal people and be healed.
In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald’s, my husband, son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student. I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.
Jesus said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. "
Amen
