Jesus began his ministry by announcing his priorities: Good news to the poor. Relief to the oppressed. Freedom to the captives.
Here’s a transcript:
I’m thinking about the fourth chapter of Luke’s Gospel (Luke 4:14-21). This, in Luke, is Jesus’ first sermon: reading from the scripture of Isaiah in a synagogue in Nazareth of Galilee.
Jesus read from the 61st chapter of Isaiah. What Luke recorded doesn’t precisely match our text of Isaiah. Why that is, is pretty much impossible to say. Jesus, no doubt, read what was before him. What did Luke have before him? We don’t know.
What Jesus read, or at least what Luke quoted, was that the Spirit of the Lord had come to bring good news to the poor, to lift up the oppressed, to let the captives go free, to declare the year of the Lord’s favor. Jesus then said, “This scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Those words, in Luke, defined Jesus’ purpose, passion, and drive for his ministry: to speak good news to the poor, to relieve the oppressed, to set the captives free. It was not a message of power or self-aggrandizement. It was not a message of pomp and circumstance. It was a message that centuries before had given an exiled people hope, and in that moment, gave them hope once again that their current circumstances — which were serious and in some cases desperate — would be relieved by the grace of God.
Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. The poor have good news preached to them. The oppressed are raised up. The captives are set free.
I urge you to listen to all other messaging in this era. Compare that to the words of Isaiah, and compare that to the foundational ministry of Jesus. Are the words we’re hearing words of good news? Do they lift up the oppressed? Do they set captives free? If so, then God’s promises are fulfilled in our hearing!
And if not, then you and I must work and pray and struggle to see that those words are fulfilled in our time, as well as in Christ’s.
That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.
Program Note
There’s one more edition of What I’m Thinking before I take a sabbatical, and therefore What I’m Thinking takes a break for the three months of February, March, and April. Next week, my plan is not to reflect on the upcoming scripture texts, because that will be the responsibility of our sabbatical interim, the Rev. Diane Weible. Instead, I’ll talk a little bit about my sabbatical, what I intend to do, and what I hope happens in order to fit me out for renewed ministry come May.
So: one more edition of What I’m Thinking before the month of May begins, and I hope that you’ll tune in, and I hope that you’ll let me know what you’re thinking.
