The Third Sunday After The Epiphany - January 26, 2025

Summary

Mother Suzanne examines Jesus's inaugural sermon in Luke's Gospel, where he reads from Isaiah 61 and declares "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." She emphasizes that the same Spirit that empowered Jesus to bring good news to the poor, release to captives, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed also empowers us to continue this mission in our own lives and communities.

THE GOSPEL                                                                                                                         Luke 4:14-21

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

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, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

"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 let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

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. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." 

Artwork: Christ in the Synagogue of Nazareth, 14th-century fresco from the Visoki Dečani monastery in Kosovo, dating to approximately 1350

Transcript

Mother Suzanne:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord, my strength, my redeemer. In the name of the Triune God, father, son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Please be seated. Certainly fortuitous and miraculous. The text cited from Isaiah, by Jesus in the synagogue, sets into motion the ministry of Jesus and the gospel of Luke. The reading of these prophetic words tell us why Jesus has come and exactly what his purpose will be. 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, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppress go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

So Jesus, as was his custom, was in the synagogue that day, probably the same synagogue he grew up in, surrounded by everyone who knew him. They'd watched him grow up, probably joked with him. Certainly these folks were in relationship with him. So Jesus gets up to speak, was handed the scroll of Isaiah. Now remember, scrolls weren't like bibles or books in that we just opened the page up and find what you want to read. No scrolls required, lots of unrolling. They were a whole other ball game. There was no flipping of a scroll open exactly to the 61st chapter of Isaiah. Remember, scrolls had to be unrolled. I can imagine finding the 61st chapter of Isaiah when you're unrolling. Scrolls would require a lot of work. Or perhaps Jesus, full of the Spirit comes up to speak and is handed the scroll exactly where it needs to be. Since this is his inaugural speech in Luke, remember, this is where it all begins for Luke. After this, Jesus is in full swing. His ministry has begun. There will be no let up until the cross.

So Jesus knows why he has come, but he has to let others know why he has come. And so in typical Jesusy fashion, when Jesus speaks, he says the words of those who have come before him, always, always the prophets. And knowing this, it should be no surprise when Jesus chooses to share why he has come and what he has planned to do. And this comes straight out of the book of the prophet Isaiah. And before he begins, Luke tells us that Jesus in the power of the Spirit, that is Luke's favorite verbiage. It's heard again and again and again in the gospel of Luke. It's not heard one time in Matthew, mark, or John. It is Luke's favorite way speaking of Jesus.

So the spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Jesus at his baptism. And this is the same spirit empowering him as he begins his ministry that day in the synagogue, the words from Isaiah are made manifest in Jesus. It is Jesus who has come for the benefit of the poor, the oppressed, the blind, the captives. It is Jesus who will set them free. It is he who will set all of us free. And the mind blowing thing for me is that we too are given this same spirit that descended on Jesus in the form of a dove at our baptism. We get it to the same spirit that empowered Jesus is the same spirit that empowers us to continue the mission that the prophet Isaiah lays out, which is caring for the poor, the oppressed, the blind, the captives, and most of all to enable God's mercy to prevail and never end.

It is no accident that these prophetic words from Isaiah are at the first part of Luke's gospel. There's a purpose. And the purpose is so that it is clear that Jesus is carrying this mission all throughout his ministry. He is being guided by this prophet. So when Jesus, he finishes what he has said, rolls up the scroll, hands it to the attendant, Jesus concludes by giving what is perhaps the shortest sermon ever. 10 words. Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears. No other words needed by saying all of this is now fulfilled. Jesus is saying that in and through him, the mission and the words of Isaiah have been fulfilled through him.

This may not astound us in the way it did, those seated in the synagogue that day, but it should think about it for just a moment. A local hometown boy standing up in front of everyone that he knows, quoting from an ancient text and then saying, all of this is now going to happen through me, y'all. That's huge. So the lectionary stops conveniently before we learn how angry and how enraged the people become with this sermon. These 10 words make people mad. Before he spoke, he was praised, he was lauded. But after he said, it's been fulfilled through me, the mob wants to hurl him off a cliff. They want him dead.

Exactly. Reflecting the life of the prophets who had come before him. The words of Jesus are not just important for what they say, but also from where they come in the gospel of Luke. And we're going to spend a lot of time in Luke this year. This is central to this gospel. We have to know where the heart of Jesus resides because we will see it play out again and again and again. And it resides with those who are forgotten, those who are unwanted, who are castaways, those who aren't seen and don't want to be seen, and those who are taken for granted, he will always be on the side of those that the world doesn't value. And so should my faith and my life has been transformed by this church, trying my best every day to live into these words for so long, most of my adult life. And certainly as a teenager, I read about Jesus and his call for us to love those he loves. But not until I came to Grace.

Did I understand it? Maybe in the way he meant it. Having a ministry that takes care, encounters those who struggle, those who are lost, those who are forgotten, those most don't want to see. It's changed me from the inside out. As followers of Jesus, we are called to look at the brokenness in the world around us. In our own lives. We are all broken. I'm broken, but the hope of it. And as Christians, we are always to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. We are called to speak words of healing, liberation, and grace for a world that sometimes doesn't seem ready for them, but we are called to speak them.

So as I've thought about this scripture this week, and I have held it very close to me, this question just kept coming up inside. So I'll ask of it to you now. How might we live our lives differently if we regularly remind ourselves and one another, that the spirit of the Lord is upon us too. That God has anointed you and me to bring the good news of God's love to a world that desperately needs it. When we make sacrifices of our time and gifts by praying for others, supporting the good works that we have entered into committing and helping in our food ministries, lifting up those who are weak.

By doing those things, we are fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah. And if this seems too big to enter into, that's a good place to start. Because you know what? It is big, but it is also beautiful and good. So for a challenge, I would say, if it feels too big, dip your toe in. Make one step towards this mission, this mission today. Go in the name of Jesus to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free. And lastly, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, never forget the same spirit that empowered Jesus is the same spirit that will empower you. Amen.