Third Sunday after the Epiphany (Year C)

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14Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside. 15He taught in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. 17The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me.
 The Lord has sent me to preach good news to the poor,
    to proclaim release to the prisoners
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
    to liberate the oppressed,
19      and to proclaim the year of God’s favor.

20He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. 21He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.”



                                   


This is one of those days when I wish the Lectionary kept all of the context together. Instead, we get the first part this week and the rest next week (Luke 4.21-30). This part sets the scene for what happens next and that’s where all of the action takes place. But, let’s look at this here and see what’s happening.

As we saw a couple of weeks ago, Jesus was baptized by his cousin John in the Jordan. He was waiting along the banks with everyone else. Jesus stands with us in line, waiting with us.

When it’s his turn, Jesus goes into the water to be baptized. One account states that John objects at first but reluctantly baptises Jesus (Matthew 3.13-17). When Jesus comes out of the water, “the Holy Spirit came down on him in bodily form like a dove” (Luke 3.21-22).[2] According to Tom Wright, “The heavenly voice echoes words of Isaiah the prophet (42.1), commissioning the Messiah as the Servant, the one who will suffer and die for the people and the world. … The voice is at the same time a wonderful affirmation of Jesus’ vocation and a clear reminder of where it is to lead”.[3]

The reference from Isaiah 42 is quite telling: “But here is my servant, the one I uphold; my chosen, who brings me delight. I’ve put my spirit upon him; he will bring justice to the nations.”

Next, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he was “tempted for forty days by the devil” (Luke 4.2). After Jesus overcomes each temptation (vv. 1-13), he “returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee” (v. 14). Some have picked up on the difference in wording here. At first, Jesus is “led by the Spirit,” he’s tempted and overcomes, then returns “in the power of the Spirit.” I don’t think Luke is suggesting that Jesus is no longer being led by the Spirit. On the contrary. Jesus is being led by the Spirit on another level. Luke doesn’t really tell us what that means. In fact, if we just look at Luke’s story, we really don’t have a lot of information about Jesus’ first year of ministry. For that, we have to look to John’s telling of the story.

After his baptism (and temptations), Jesus begins to call his first followers (John 1.35ff). Next, as we saw last week, Jesus attends a wedding and turns water into wine (John 2.1-12). Then, Jesus cleanses the Temple and has his first confrontation with the Jewish leaders (vv. 13ff).[4] Following that, there’s Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus (3.1-21) and then Jesus and the disciples baptizing people Judea (v. 22). Next, we have Jesus in Samaria with many people believing “that this one is truly the savior of the world” (4.4-42). And finally, “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee” (Luke 4.14; cf. John 4.43ff).

This is what I think Luke means by “the power of the Spirit.” There was a lot going on in that first year and “news about [Jesus] spread throughout the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by everyone” (Luke 4.14-15).

When Jesus returned to his hometown, he went to the synagogue “as he normally did” (v. 16). We’re not told why Jesus “stood up to read.” Maybe, since he was the local celebrity, he was asked to read by those leading the liturgy. I know this happens today. When a traveling minister visits a parish, the minister will be asked if she would like to participate in the worship service. I like to think that’s what happened here. And I think that’s why Jesus’ statement is even more shocking to those in attendance.

Jesus is asked not only read but to give the homily. That’s why we’re told “every eye … was fixed upon him.” They were waiting for his message. What they got, however, wasn’t what they expected.

See, the passage from Isaiah is the story of God’s Messiah, the Anointed One. The one through whom God would liberate, not only Israel, but the world. And here’s Jesus telling the hometown crowd that he’s that one, God’s Anointed, the Messiah. “Today,” Jesus said, “this scripture has been fulfilled” (v. 21).

But not only is Jesus telling them (and us) that he’s the Messiah, he’s telling them (and us) that —

Today is the day and now is the time of “good news for the poor.”
Today is the day and now is the time to “release the prisoners.”
Today is the day and now is the time to “recover the sight of the blind.”
Today is the day and now is the time to “liberate the oppressed.”
Today is the day and now is the time of “God’s favor.”

Not tomorrow. Not next week or next month or next year. It’s not up to the next generation. No. It’s today. Now. At this very moment. There’s no more time left to wait or waste. The time in now.

That’s what Jesus is telling them and us.

But to get the reaction of the crowd we’ll have to wait. As Paul Harvey used to day, “Tune in next week for … the rest of the story.”

But what about our reaction? What do we do with that message? How do we live it out in our lives? Do we overlook at as a call of God’s will on our lives and the world and only see this passage as Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah? What would it mean if we took this passage as “gospel”? That is, what would it mean if the people who claim to follow Jesus took this passage to heart as God’s call on our lives? What would it mean for our world?



~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC


~~~
[1] Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.

[2] As we mentioned, Luke is the only one who uses the phrase, “in bodily form.”

[3] Wright, N.T., (2004). Luke for Everyone [Kindle version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com.

[4] The cleansing of the Temple appears early only in John’s Gospel. In the Synoptics, it appears late in Jesus’ ministry (Matthew 21.12–17, Mark 11.15–19, and Luke 19.45–48) and may have been one of the events that led to his crucifixion. The separation of these two events leads some scholars to believe this may be two separate events. I don’t really think so because they contain identical settings and statements. Whenever it occurred isn’t the important bit; the fact that it did occur and what it pointed to is of great importance.

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