The Beginning of a Spirit-led Ministry—Lectionary Reflection for Epiphany 3C (Luke 4:14-21)

Luke 4:14-21 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹⁴ Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

¹⁶ When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

                ********************

                The season after Epiphany begins with the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. During the baptismal event (or shortly thereafter in Luke’s version) the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus and a voice from heaven claims Jesus as the Beloved Son (Luke 3:21-22). From there the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness where he is tested by the devil (Luke 4:1-13). It is only after this event, at least in the Synoptic Gospels, that Jesus begins his ministry. This week, the Third Sunday after Epiphany, we pick up the story in verse 14 of Luke 4, which states: “Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone” (Luke 4:14-15). In other words, according to Luke, Jesus successfully launched his ministry in Galilee. He was the talk of the region as he taught in the local synagogues, with everyone praising him. Many of us would love to start a ministry like that. But then he decided to return home to Nazareth. Things were different there. Perhaps the adage is correct, you can never go home!

                The reading for the day is really a two-parter, with verse 21 being the hinge text between this reading and the one for the week following. By the time Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth, the townspeople would have heard all about his exploits. Since Nazareth was a small village of no more than a few hundred people, everyone knew everyone, that would have included Jesus and his family. Since the Gospels don’t tell us much about Jesus’ life before the start of his ministry, anything we put forth is speculative. Nevertheless, we have to wonder if Jesus had left town long before this, perhaps to gain employment or to escape rumors about his birth. Had he gone off and joined one of the religious communities, such as the Essenes? Is it possible that Jesus was a disciple of John the Baptist? If so, did the beginning of his ministry coincide with John’s arrest? I find James McGrath’s suggestions concerning the relationship between John and Jesus compelling, even if not fully convincing (Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist). Again, piecing together Jesus’ life before the start of his ministry is challenging. However, if any of this is true, Jesus may have been away from Nazareth for quite some time, perhaps a decade or more.  

Since this was a Jewish community, everyone belonged to the synagogue. That meant that unless you were a newcomer, and there were likely few of them (unlike nearby Sepphoris), you would remember Jesus as a boy. You may have heard rumors about his parentage. You would also have heard about his preaching exploits, which means you would want to hear him speak. Just as in other synagogues, when Jesus showed up on the Sabbath, he was asked to read the text for the day and offer a few words of interpretation. So, he stood up to read from the scroll, landing on a reading from Isaiah 61:1-2. The focus of the verses found in Luke’s account focus on the coming of the Spirit, who anointed the prophet. What we read in Luke would have been taken from the Septuagint (Greek translation), but Luke gives us the gist of the passage from Isaiah.

As we read this, we might want to assume that Jesus would have read more than two verses. But what we have here speaks of the anointed prophet bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming release to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, setting free the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor (Jubilee). The version found in Isaiah 61 (NRSVUE) has a few differences, worth noting: Here the anointed one is called upon to “bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Whereas Luke speaks of recovery of sight, the translation from the Hebrew in Isaiah speaks of binding up the brokenhearted.” The version in Isaiah speaks of liberating captives and releasing prisoners, which could simply be a poetic doublet. While Luke stops there, perhaps because this is sufficient to define Jesus’ calling, Isaiah adds quite a few more elements to the calling. The text speaks of the day of God’s vengeance along with comfort to those who mourn in Zion. The larger message in Isaiah is directed to people who have experienced exile along with the destruction of their homeland. You can understand why the original audience would embrace the larger message of vengeance along with comfort. Jesus’ ministry, of course, is directed at people who feel oppressed and seek God’s favor.

After Jesus finished reading the passage (perhaps the whole of Isaiah 61), he rolled up the scroll and gave it to the attendant, the person responsible for taking care of the scroll. Then he sat down to teach. At that moment everyone’s eyes focused on him. This young preacher was one of their own. They had heard great things, but they wanted to see for themselves whether all the hype was true. The hometown folks can be the most critical audience, especially if they know your background. While Luke does tell us that as Jesus grew up in Nazareth, he increased in wisdom and in “divine and human favor” (Luke 2:52). In Luke’s account of Jesus’ youth, he had a good reputation. So, the people wouldn’t necessarily harbor ill will toward him. Even though Luke records Jesus discussing theology with the religious leaders in the Temple at age twelve (Luke 2:46-47), did he do the same in Nazareth? Perhaps, but we don’t know for sure.

We have already discovered in the reading for Baptism of Jesus Sunday that Jesus was a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led prophet and teacher. In Luke’s Gospel, as well as the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit figures prominently. It’s a calling that is rooted in earlier prophetic callings, as seen in Isaiah 61.  As such, Jesus is given a mandate that has strong political overtones. While too often Jesus is portrayed as concerned only with the afterlife, this passage offers a very different take on his sense of call. Unless we spiritualize this passage, it has important implications for this world. He proclaims good news to the poor, offers sight to the blind, releases captives, sets the oppressed free, and proclaims the Lord’s favor. This is supposed to be good news for people who struggle with what is happening to them. Martin Luther King, Jr. understood this. So have others, who have caught Jesus’ prophetic vision.  Grace Ji-Sun Kim captures this vision:

As a poor Jewish peasant teacher from Nazareth, Jesus’ teaching would have been heard as hope for the poor, while being a threat to the Roman Empire. Jesus understands his identity and mission as a continuation of the prophets of Israel (Mark 8:27-28; Luke 234:19; Luke 13:33-4). While the Hebrew prophets anticipated God's coming reign of righteousness, Jesus announces that God's reign is here and now, and is manifested when people treat the deepest needs of the disinherited as if they are holy [Embracing the Other, p. 123-124].

This is Jesus' calling and message, but as history has shown, Jesus is too often coopted to serve the interests of the powers that be.

Finally, we come to the hinge verse, the cliffhanger. We need to attach “to be continued” to the end of this verse so that everyone knows they need to return the following week to hear “the rest of the story.”  The closing verse, the verse we start with next week, states: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” You can only imagine what the congregation heard in this statement. In what way was this scripture fulfilled in their hearing? Did Jesus mean he was the fulfillment? Or is something else going on? Therefore, the question the passage poses to us is this: how was his message received by the home folks? For an answer to that question, we have to wait a week! Yes, this is where that “to be continued” comes into play.