Luke 4:14-21
Last week we heard John’s account of Jesus’ ministry kick-off with the Wedding at Cana and the turning of water into wine. This week, we get a simple sermon from the hometown boy in Nazareth: “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” That’s it. That was the whole sermon. While some in the pews might long for such brevity from the pulpit, Jesus, in his being and his ministry, has more to say. Hopefully, we do too.
The gospel writer Luke paints the picture of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry with one brush of regality and one brush of humility. The young Rabbi Jesus had been traveling and teaching and receiving praise from everyone, Luke reports. And then he pulls up in Nazareth, where they know him well. The hometown welcome will not last very long, however. In years when the Presentation of Our Lord falls during the week, the Sunday succeeding this one will include the Gospel story where Jesus is chased out of town.
"This is one of those simple ritual traditions that sounds (and maybe was) quite regal."
The way Luke tells it, the scroll is handed to Jesus. We don’t know if Jesus requested that particular scroll, or if Isaiah was what happened to be scheduled to be read in synagogue that day, but Jesus unrolls the scroll. This is one of those simple ritual traditions that sounds (and maybe was) quite regal. I love attending services (usually for a bar or bat mitzvah) with our Jewish siblings and seeing what care they take when handling the scrolls. There is deep reverence for what is contained within them, and celebration when the children follow in procession with bells as the scrolls are taken out of the ark and processed to the place from where they will be read. In today's gospel, Jesus takes the scroll, unrolls it, reads Isaiah (skipping around a little) and then sits to share, to teach, delivering a simple sermon, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
I’ve heard others call this part of Luke, “Jesus’ Inaugural Address.” The timing of this text in January near a presidential inauguration in the United States might find the preacher with some things to say about such a title given to this pericope. Jesus reads from Isaiah that the Spirit upon him compels him to consider the poor neighbors, the captive siblings, the people born or turned blind, and the oppressed of humanity as he proclaims the year of the Lord’s favor.
Looking at Jesus’ ministry, and especially how it is recounted in Luke, this is indeed what Jesus does: Jesus brings good news to the poor, to the lost, to those both outside of and inside systems of power. Jesus proclaims release to those captive to sin, to themselves, to harmful tradition. Jesus heals and restores health to many. Jesus teaches about letting the oppressed go free. He humbly is born and humbly serves, accompanies God’s people, and lives and dies on the cross and through the grave. God through Jesus does these things, providing and freeing, forgiving and loving, and calling us to participate too.
PASTOR KELLY FAULSTICH serves as Pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois. Before that she served as Pastor at Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Warren, Ohio and as Associate Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, Illinois. She grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago and attended Valparaiso University receiving degrees in English, education, and theology. Pr. Faulstich received her MDiv from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago where she served as student assistant to the Dean of the Chapel under Mark Bangert. She also received her DMin in preaching from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
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