Luke 4:14-15 is a summary of the preaching of Jesus, giving an overview of the Galilean ministry of Jesus. Mark 1:14-15 may inspire the summary. 14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, suggesting one form Trinitarian relationships will take in the life of Jesus of Nazareth as the Son,[1] returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
Luke 4:16-30 is the story of the visit of Jesus to Nazareth. The source is Mark 6:1-6a, with its parallel in Matthew 13:53-58. Luke has lengthened the story from material other parts of Mark to create a summary type of passage. Luke has made this summary relate important theological themes in his plan for the Gospel and Acts. The incident shows the teaching of Jesus as a fulfillment of the Old Testament. Luke identifies how he sees the mission of Jesus in his ministry through Old Testament prophecy, offering us a way to reflect upon our mission in life as individuals and the mission of the church. It also reveals the evil that can come into the hearts of people due to their resistance to the truth. We can discuss whether religion is by its nature violent. It also provides an opportunity for me to reflect upon some contemporary political divisions.
16 When he came to Nazareth,[2] where his parents had brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. We should think of the return of Jesus to Galilee primarily as a return from those events. However, Jesus himself refers to a previous ministry in Capernaum (verse 23), indicating that his return to Galilee was not as direct as his account suggests on the surface. He clearly had done ministry in Capernaum before this event in Nazareth. He stood up to read, 17 and the attendant gave the scroll of the prophet Isaiah to him. The text is not clear as to whether this passage was the assigned reading for the day or whether chose it for its content. He unrolled the scroll and found the place in Isaiah 61:1-2 where it says: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, referringback to verse 14, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. One can reasonably conclude that the relationship of the Spirit to the baptism of Jesus is part of the original core of the Jesus tradition and as such is the fulfillment of prophecy.[3] The fulfilled prophesy relates to God laying the divine Spirit on the servant of the Lord, and in this case, Jesus has fulfilled the prophecy.[4] He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free (imported from Isaiah 58:6), 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor (the Jubilee year of Leviticus 25)." In quoting from Isaiah, Jesus is saying that what the prophet pronounced among the exiles finds fulfillment in the ministry of Jesus. Thus, this text foretells the very activities that Jesus' Galilean ministry is about to undertake--release, and recovery. The reading from Isaiah relates God’s promise to rescue and care for the downtrodden Israelites who are returning from exile in Babylon. The message of this passage coincides with the content of the news brought by Jesus. This day, the acceptable year of the Lord, has dawned. This day the message of peace sounds in their ears. This day takes place the liberation that Isaiah proclaims. The reason is that Jesus is present as the One anointed and sent by God, who has the authority to declare liberty with his word and accomplish it with the act of the Word, to bring in the new age in the person of Jesus. He accomplishes it as he speaks. What Jesus proclaims becomes actuality the moment Jesus does so. The proclamation of Jesus is the blast of the trumpet that inaugurates the new year of the Lord. The time that Isaiah proclaimed is the time of Jesus.[5] 20 He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue fixed on him. For Luke, the anchor of the ministry of Jesus is in his Jewish roots in the synagogues. Early religious historians holdup Luke's rendition of this event as the earliest record we have a typical first century synagogue service. The tremendous popularity Jesus immediately begins to garner suggests that there was more than just "teaching" going on. For Luke, this incident is not an excuse for Jesus to move outside of Galilee or outside of Israel to preach his message. Rather, that encapsulating event reveals Jesus' identity, provides a scriptural basis for the scope and focus on his ministry and provides an anticipation of all the various types of responses Jesus' message will evoke. 21 Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." A theme of Luke will be the fulfillment of Scripture. Jesus is so bold as to suggest that the prophetic words of liberation spoken by Isaiah find fulfillment in his own person. For Jesus to assert that the jubilee year has inaugurated with his arrival is to focus on the forgiveness for all debts, all sins, that the Messiah brings. Jesus' pronouncement is clear -- those present have just heard Isaiah's prophecy spoken by the very one his words sought to describe. He, Jesus, is the Messiah and the one who will bring about all Isaiah had promised. This “today” heralds the coming of Jesus as a fulfillment of prophecy.[6] The prophet proclaims salvation through the breaking in of the lordship of God. Since the figure of the messenger of eschatological peace still had a role in Jewish life in the days of Jesus, we cannot rule out the possibility that Jesus understood his message in these terms. He proclaimed the reign of God to be imminent, breaking in already in his own work and with acceptance of his message, and accompanied by the deeds of salvation to which the prophet referred.[7] This today, with its fulfillment, with its intimate connection with the name and history of Jesus, is the content of the apostolic message and the meaning of the life of the apostolic community. The today of the church is the acceptable year, the great Sabbath, the fulfilled time of Jesus.[8]
In saying such extravagant things about Jesus, Christians can only mean that he fulfills this passage of scripture in a provisional, proleptic, and anticipatory way. He fulfills this passage in during his ministry. As readers of the story of Jesus, we need to pay attention to the ways in which the words and deeds of Jesus demonstrate his embodiment of the prophesy. The church needs to see itself as a continuation of this ministry. The truth of the nature of this fulfillment rests in a redemptive future for humanity and the rest of creation, anticipated in the resurrection of Jesus. Sadly, certain political agendas have embraced this passage as a way of saying that Jesus embraces their liberal or progressive agendas. On a personal and social level, however, people will differ as to which political ideas best serve these emphases. Thus, one could say that the society of liberty, oriented toward a more libertarian political philosophy, will best serve the interests of those who hurting in society. One could argue that the spread of capitalism has done more to push back poverty than any other single economic system.
I invite you to reflect upon the power of perspective. We shape perspective by words. Think of how much words shape our lives. “I now pronounce you husband and wife” introduces a new reality for a couple. “Your cancer test has come back and it is negative” is a powerful word that will shape perspective for a long time. Even a heart-felt “I love you” at the right moment can change your perspective on the day. Words have the power to shape our perspective of the world in which we live. Those who study language will suggest that at least to some degree, language shapes what we will notice in the world.
If Jesus has truly fulfilled the scripture from Isaiah, then that fulfillment continues to take place. We still live in the “today” Jesus pronounced. Jesus did not appeal to what the attendees in the little synagogue in Nazareth already knew. They needed to hear gospel or good news from outside their experience. They needed to hear the good news before they could know it and respond to it. The same is true today. We need to hear the word of scripture as gospel before we can know it and respond to it. The sermon Jesus gave that day did not conform to their experience. It challenged their presumption that they already knew what the scripture meant. Jesus could have accommodated his sermon that day to the views of the rabbis and his listeners. Instead, he offered the challenge that he himself, in his own person and ministry, is the fulfillment of messianic hopes. What would happen if we lived with that perspective?
There is a book entitled Mindfulness, by Ellen Langer. She writes of how our own perspective can trap us. We go through life on "automatic." We act out of a single perspective. Mindfulness is constantly creating new categories, welcoming added information, being able to see from more than one perspective. It is the ability to adapt to new realities, rather than being stuck in old ones. Now, there was a time when all of us did that, she says. When we were children, we did it all the time. We constantly had to receive the latest information, to re-think our attitudes and behavior. As we get older, we fix or set our ideas and perspectives in an increasingly rigid way.
Therefore, I offer a few stories that involve the power of words shaping the perspective of some individuals.
An architect said he could take the newest building, built by the finest builders anywhere in the world. Yet if you give him a camera and the ability to focus various lenses, he can make that building look as if it is about to fall because he will find five or six minor imperfections. He will focus on them and convince you that the entire structure is about to topple. We live in a time when it is easy to focus the lens of a camera. However, it has always been easy for some people to focus upon the negative, the warts and blemishes and shortcomings of us all. If we allow that perspective to shape our view of ourselves, we will always be disappointed and miserable.[9]
A man bumped fenders with the woman driving the other car. Both stopped, and the woman surveyed the damage. She was distraught. It was her fault, she admitted. This was a new car, less than two days from the showroom. She dreaded facing her husband. The man was sympathetic, but he had to pursue the exchange of license and registration data. She reached into her glove compartment to retrieve the documents that were in an envelope. A piece of paper tumbled out, written in her husband's distinctive hand: In case of accident, remember, honey, it is you I love, not the car.[10]
William Wilberforce was a member of the English Parliament at the young age of 21 in 1780. When he was younger still, he had what he then called a childish flirtation with Methodism, but now he was cynical about religion. However, he talked with a man by the name of Isaac Milner about religion, and this got him studying the New Testament in Greek. Slowly, he realized that he needed spiritual counsel, and he sought out John Newton, the writer of the hymn Amazing Grace. Wilberforce wondered if he should leave Parliament, but Newton said he believed God was rising this young man up for the good of the nation. As he talked with other Christians and as he read the word of God, it became clear to him that God was calling to him to one great objective, and that was the end of the slave trade. He worked long, hard hours against this evil, but the forces arrayed against him were powerful. There were two houses of parliament. In 1792, his bill passed the lower house, and it looked as if success was within his reach. Hopes were high as the House of Lords took its vote, only to have the bill defeated once again. Wilberforce, beginning to have physical problems, wondered if he should give up now. He says he went home that night, and sat down at his desk with that question on his mind. He leafed through his Bible. A thin letter fell out of the Bible. It was a letter from John Wesley, undoubtedly one of the last letters he would ever write. It stated:
... I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise, in opposing that execrable villainy, which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils, but if God be for you who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Oh, be not weary of well-doing.
With that scripture on his mind and heart, he went to bed for some rest. He had a long fight ahead of him. It was not until 1807 that his measure passed.
There is a little parable attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. about a man who was relaxing beside a stream one day. He looked up and noticed a severely injured man floating down the water toward him. Of course, he waded into the water and pulled the man out, bandaging his wounds. Then another wounded man floated down to him, and then another. It became apparent that some evil people upstream were beating and robbing these innocents and casting them into the stream. What is the most faithful response to such evil? Martin asked his listeners. To keep on pulling the victims out of the water one by one and treating their wounds, or to hike upstream and fight the injustice?
I also offer a brief reflection on the mission Jesus identifies as good news to the poor, release for captives, recovery of sight to the blind, setting the oppressed free, and proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord.
Christian disciples have spearheaded many of the great social-reform movements of past years. The abolition of slavery is a notable example. Public-school history textbooks — all too often scrubbed of all religious content — will not always say it, but the abolitionist movement would never have succeeded were it not for people of faith. England’s William Wilberforce, who labored for decades to convince Parliament to ban slavery in the British Empire, was a devout evangelical Christian. So were the Quakers and others who operated Underground Railroad stations. So, too, was Presbyterian minister Elijah Parish Lovejoy whom someone murdered as he defended his printing press from a mob that did not like his anti-slavery publications.
People often dismiss the early 20th-century Prohibition movement as ineffective because its constitutional ban on alcoholic beverages did not last, but in fact, this deeply religious movement was concerned not with impeding anyone’s enjoyable time, but rather with the welfare of children and families whose lives alcoholism shattered. Although the outright ban on alcohol proved unsustainable — because it unintentionally boosted organized crime — it led to permanent awareness of alcoholism as a pressing public-health problem.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s own civil rights movement is the most notable example in recent memory of people of faith rallying to fight social ills.
Novelist and activist Elie Wiesel captures this prophetic imperative in these words from his December 10, 1986, acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize:
“As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them; that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours; that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs.”
The Spirit of the Lord is upon us. The Spirit of the Lord has anointed us to servant ministry.
[1] Systematic Theology Volume 1, 266.
[2] Matthew 4.13 and Luke 4.16 agree in using the relatively rare name Ναζαρα (Nazara) for Nazareth. Mark 1.14-15 lacks this name. A major agreement. However, the parallel gospels will direct us to Mark 6:1-2 and Matthew 13:53-4, where they refer to Jesus coming to his own country and Luke uniquely refers to Nazareth. Understood in this way, it becomes a case of Matthew and Mark agreeing against Luke, which is one of the reasons for the Q hypothesis.
[3] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 3, 280.
[4] (Jeremias 1971), 54-5.
[5] Barth CD, IV.2 [64.3] 197, 205, I.2 [14.1] 51.
[6] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 1, 306, Volume 3, 10.
[7] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 456.
[8] Barth, CD, III.2 [47.1] 468-9.
[9] (Coca-Cola CEO Donald R. Keough, 1993).
[10] (Paul Harvey's for What It's Worth, 1992).
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