Luke 4:14-21
“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.” Lk 4:18-19a
It's kick off time!
Ironically today is the day when Salvation Army Officers are officially welcomed (installed) into their new appointments in my area of the world. It is their first official Sunday, even though they began their responsibilities during the week. Today's reading marks a 'formal' commencement of Jesus ministry in the Gospel of Luke.
Context:
Jesus has been baptised (3:21-22), tempted (4:1-13) and begun to teach in the synagogues around Galilee (4:14-15). The verses prior to our text are a summary statement. It is worth noting these in Luke's writings (especially the Acts of the Apostles). They are a reminder that the gospels are not a complete record of all that took place, and an indication of the sort of activity that was taking place. Here we see that the arena of Jesus' activity was Galilee, and his main activity was teaching. (4:15) Returning to his hometown he was invited to open the Scriptures in the synagogue.
Content:
Here we find what amounts to a 'mission statement' from Jesus (18-21), and a response from the people (22,23-29). While the text under consideration only includes 14-21, it is instructive to remember that there was a response to Jesus' words. While the initial response was positive the mood quickly turned as the message became less 'acceptable' to the hearers. The boy who grew up in Nazareth and found favour with 'God and man' (2:52) slipped out of favour very quickly!
The reputation built in his short Galilee tour no doubt led to the invitation to read the Scriptures in his home town. We see that the people were amazed at his 'gracious words' of the carpenters' son. It is difficult to understand what those gracious words were, since Luke only offers us the words that were read, and one short sentence. The 'gracious words' could refer to the text that Jesus read (Isaiah 61:1-2), and the omission of "the day of vengeance of our Lord" (2b). It could also refer to other comments he made about the text that are not recorded in the Gospel.
It is interesting to note that John Nolland (Word Biblical Commentary Vol.35A Luke 1-9:20, 196) offers a somewhat different translation of 61:1b. His translation reads "To evangelise the poor her he sent me" in contrast to "he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed" (NRSV). While Nolland observes that the extent to which this should be spiritualized is a "vexing question" the link between the historical context of the quoted text, the quoting of the text and today points to a more holistic reading of this phrase. Evangelize in our context carries strong spiritual/other-worldly overtones. The words of Isaiah are in the context of the restoration of Israel and reflect a present experience, and immediate salvation evidenced in the day to day experience of the Jewish people. Jesus' miracles freed those oppressed by sickness, and exclusion from the community because of 'sin'. Release from political oppression was in view in Isaiah, but this is not so evident in Jesus' ministry. While it is difficult to imagine a political system operating on the basis of Jesus' teaching, such a system could not be oppressive.
The quotation of Isaiah points to a ministry that was all-encompassing, and brought physical, emotional, relational and spiritual salvation. To share in the mission of Jesus is to be concerned that people might experience the God-life in every area of their existence. To focus on the spiritual alone is a failure to embrace God's creation, and to ignore the spiritual is offering only a temporary "fix". We must strive to share the fullness of the good news that is salvation through Jesus Christ.
Other readings:
Neh 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10;
Psalm 19;
1 Cor 12:12-31a;
Luke 4:14-21.
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