Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.
St. Luke 4:16-30
Proclaiming the Year
of the Lord’s Favor
Third Sunday after the Epiphany, 27 January 2013
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
(For an Elder to Read)
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
Epiphany continues.
Jesus is revealed as who He truly is, again and again. The manifestations
continue. Jesus has been revealed as the King of the Jews, the Father’s Beloved
Son, and the Creator. Today, in Luke chapter four, we are given another
epiphany. God in flesh, Jesus, is made manifest as a great teacher when He
visits Nazareth, His hometown, and His home congregation.
The same spirit that
leads Him now had been poured out on Him at His Baptism in the Jordan River.
Jesus returns from the desert where He had been had been led by the Spirit. He
returns after forty days and forty nights, and after resisting the temptations
of the devil Himself. He now returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.
This is the same Holy Spirit we are promised and given. St. Luke links Power
and Spirit throughout his Gospel account and the book of Acts.
News about Him
spread. The emphasis is clear. Jesus is the focus of the news that was
spreading. The people of Nazareth know
about miracles done in Capernaum. We will focus on healing and Jesus as miracle
worker next week.
Galilee is of prime
importance. We see the beginning of Jesus ministry. By the end of Chapter 6,
Jesus will have completed His roster of disciples—in Galilee. Galilee is
mentioned at His trial during Passion Week. And following His Resurrection,
Galilee is an important mission field.
He taught. The
accounts St. Luke gives us show Jesus as a great teacher and a miracle worker.
Jesus is not merely a great teacher and a miracle worker, but as we will soon
see, these two roles are significantly important components of Who He is and
what God gave Him to do. The rest of today’s Gospel lesson focuses on Jesus as
teacher. Next week we will finish this text and see Jesus as miracle worker.
Everyone praised
Him. At the beginning of His ministry He is already a well-known teacher filled
with the Spirit. The praise lavished on Him and the news concerning Him is so
significant He was invited to preach back home.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought
up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day…
Nazareth—the home of
Mary, His mother, and Joseph, His step-father and protector. We hear nothing of
either of His parents in this text. Mary does show up later in several passages,
but Joseph is not mentioned after the Christmas and Epiphany Day accounts. It
is likely that He has since passed away, since he was probably much older than
Mary.
Nazareth. These
people gathered in the Synagogue saw Jesus grow up. They know, or think they
know, all about Him. They are in for a surprise.
On the Sabbath, our
Saturday, the Jewish people gathered for worship. They gathered at the
Synagogues, heard from the books of Moses, of the Prophets, and the other
writings. Between lessons they chanted Psalms. And there was an exposition of
Scripture much like a sermon, following the lessons.
…and [Jesus] 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 proclaim good
news to the poor.
He has sent me to
proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of
sight to the blind,
to set at liberty
those who are oppressed,
19 to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back
to the attendant and sat down. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah. In ancient
times the Scriptures were written upon long rolls of parchment or animal skin.
The whole Old Testament was much too long for one scroll, so it was divided
into several section. The books of Moses would be on one. Larger prophetic
books like Isaiah or Jeremiah may have their own scroll, possibly sharing it
with other shorter books. There was one copy present. They were not blessed as
we are to have bulletin inserts or additional copies of the Scripture in the
pews.
The verses Jesus
reads are from Isaiah 61:1-2a. These verses, part of our Old Testament lesson
appointed for today, tell about the coming of the Christ, the Messiah, and what
the Messiah would do.
The Messiah would do
a lot of preaching and teaching. Look at the verbs! To proclaim, to preach, to
send, to preach! Three of the four main verbs in the Isaiah text deal with
preaching: proclamation of the Good News, the Gospel, to the poor, the
preaching of release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and
the preaching of the acceptable year of the Lord. The other verb, to send,
refers to setting free those who are oppressed. This is the appointed work of
the one who is anointed, that is, the Messiah, the Christ.
The people of Israel
have been waiting centuries for the Messiah to appear. He has arrived. Do they
connect what Jesus read to Him? Their eyes are looking right at Him, but do
they see the Messiah?
20b And the eyes of
all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And
he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your
hearing.”
One could hear a pin drop as they awaited Jesus’ words of
comment on the text. No one could have imagined that He would say, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your
hearing.” Jesus was revealed by Isaiah to be the Messiah. And He confirms it
Himself! An Epiphany! God in flesh made manifest as a great teacher! A
manifestation of who Jesus really is!
And what He does.
Jesus preaches. Jesus teaches. He proclaims the Lord’s Word.
The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me. This verse refers to the Trinity, to Jesus’ baptism where this
prophecy was fulfilled. The Holy Spirit of the Father is on the Son, the
Christ. Jesus was baptized and then came to Nazareth specifically to read
Isaiah 61 and declare that the age of salvation begins now, in Him. It
continues to this very day. What Jesus began and did, He continues and does!
The essence of the
proclamation is release. The word for release is translated as forgiveness
elsewhere in Luke. Jesus preaches forgiveness of sins, release from spiritual
bondage, spiritual prison, and spiritual oppression. Just as Moses led the
people out of Egyptian bondage, Jesus releases us. The unholy trinity of sin,
death, and the devil are vanquished.
Jesus releases you.
That is the whole point of absolution, forgiveness, release. We no longer have
to be locked in the jail cell of sin. We no longer have to drag around the ball
and chain of guilt for sin. The door is open the chains are loosed. You are
free!
The Good news is
preached to the poor, both those financially poor and spiritually poor. Both
will be blessed. Both will be given daily bread. Jesus cares about physical needs
and nurturing faith.
The blind recover
their sight. We hear more about miracles in the second half of this chapter,
but He gives us spiritual eyes to see Him as Messiah even when those in
Nazareth were spiritually blind to His presence.
The year, the time,
the age of the Lord’s favor, the time of salvation has come. We enjoy its rich
benefits yet today, two thousand years later. The message of Jesus remains the
same. Release. Forgiveness. For You!
A homecoming is
something special in one’s life. It happens after being away from home for a
while, having new experiences, learning new things, meeting new people. To sum
up, we know we have changed. We suspect little, if anything, has changed back
home. And we are often right if we come from a small town. We come home and
look around the town, our house, our old bedroom. Everything seems so small.
There’s a sense of history. The past permeates our entire visit.
Sometimes, people we
see at home think we’re the same as we always were. We remember embarrassing things
done as children, and some done as young adults. They still remember. Jesus had
no embarrassing stories, but the people thought they knew Him.
Jesus is still at
home in Nazareth, where we left Him last week, in the middle of a sermon to His
home congregation. I doubt He had the butterflies I have had. And they were not
as welcoming as my home congregation was, either.
21 And he began to say to them, “Today this
Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” So far, so good.
22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the
gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this
Joseph’s son?”
The amazement is
positive at first. They were proud of their famous young traveling rabbi. They
loved to claim Him as Nazareth’s own, “hometown boy makes good,” and all that.
They still didn’t have any idea who He truly was.
“Isn’t this Joseph’s
son?” Well, Joseph did marry Jesus’ mother Mary and took her home (after that
trip to Bethlehem) to be his wife. He was Jesus’ protector, taking Him to Egypt
for safety until Herod the Great had died. He was Jesus’ step-father, and
raised Him as his own, even though he and Mary knew Jesus was not his, but the
very Son of God. No, this is not Joseph’s son. Just as they were wrong about
Jesus’ true identity, especially His true father, they were wrong in what they
expected Jesus to do for them.
23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will
quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you
did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.”
The four Evangelists
record much about the Lord’s ministry, but they do not record everything that
He has done. This is one example. The people in Nazareth have heard, in detail,
about what miracles Jesus had done in Capernaum. St. Luke gives us no such
detail before Jesus’ visit to Nazareth, other than the brief verses we heard
last week: “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. And a
report went out throughout the whole surrounding countryside concerning Him.
And He was teaching in their synagogues, being glorified by all.”
Nain, Tiberias,
Cana, Capernaum, and Nazareth are all cities in Galilee. Word spread fast. The
miracles Jesus did in one place travelled before Him to the next. His teachings
moved quickly as well. And the crowds began to follow.
Last week, Isaiah
taught us who Jesus is. The epiphany then was that Jesus was a great teacher.
The Nazarenes have heard that He is also a Miracle Worker. Cana is much closer
to Nazareth than Capernaum. Perhaps they have also heard about the wedding
wine. They appear to be paying attention to His words, secretly hoping that He
will manifest some great wonder. They don’t really want to hear words. They
want to see! “! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in
Capernaum.” They want a show, not the teaching of the Lord.
Faith comes by
hearing (and reading) the Word of God. That is precisely what Jesus has been
preaching and teaching. Our Lord calls them to faith! An answer to a specific
prayer in a concrete situation can be an incredible boost to faith, but faith
is trusting in what we do not yet see. Blessed are those who have not seen and
yet believe. Jesus wants them to believe in Him based on what He says, based on
what the Word has to say, based upon the testimony of the news of what He has
said and done elsewhere—even Capernaum. They want signs and wonders. This is
not the time and place to be entertained. Jesus is there to teach them.
We can run into a
similar spiritual danger, trying to manipulate God. He calls upon us to pray
boldly, but also according to His will. All too often we pray for ourselves,
our families, our loved ones, our concerns. We get disappointed when our will
is not done on earth and heaven. Forgive us, Lord for such selfishness! Let us
pray for the gift of faith upon hearing and reading the Word so that we might
see Jesus as the Miracle Worker even if we do not personally witness such a
sign with our own eyes.
Even if some in
Nazareth recognized Jesus as the Messiah the prophets foretold, He was not
necessarily the kind of Messiah they wanted or expected. For this reason, Jesus
knew that His own people would not accept Him. We see that in Nazareth now, a
foretaste of His bitter rejection by the whole Jewish people.
24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet
is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But
in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah,
when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine
came over all the land, 26 and
Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to
a woman who was a widow. 27 And
there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of
them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When God’s Old
Testament people wouldn’t listen or wouldn’t believe, His prophets went to
Gentiles, especially the ones who had faith in God. Jonah didn’t think this was a good idea. He
ran off in the opposite direction. Eventually, God did get him to Nineveh. And
thank God He did. My pedigree is not of the house of Israel, and I would be
bold to say that yours isn’t either. We are all Gentiles, non-Jews, whom the
God of Israel wanted to bring into the fold with His people Israel so that they
would be one flock with one shepherd, Jesus, the Christ, the Great Teacher and
Miracle Worker.
Jesus recounts the
visit of Elijah to the widow of Zerephath, a gentile woman living in a gentile
land, Sidon. Elijah’s successor was sent to another gentile, Naaman the Syrian.
God loves Gentiles, too. Bringing the Gentiles into fellowship with Himself was
part of the plan from the beginning. Israel was blessed so that they would be a
blessing—to the Gentiles! But even when Israel fell into Idolatry, they didn’t
want anyone else to have their God. Remember? Jonah was upset that the gentiles
in Nineveh would be shown mercy. He was angry. Not unlike the Nazarenes.
28 When they heard these things, all in the
synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And
they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the
hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the
cliff. 30 But
passing through their midst, he went away.
The time had fully
come for Jesus to go home and preach and announce the coming of the age of
salvation. The Messiah was here, beginning His ministry. But it was not time
for Jesus to die. The people were not going to be able to throw this
“disappointing” native son off a cliff. He has more preaching, teaching, and
healing to do. So He simply walks through the crowd to safety. And He was soon
on His way back to Capernaum. The people of Nazareth would have to wait until
they heard new reports of good news about the Miracle Worker, Jesus.
31 And He went down
to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And He was teaching them on the Sabbath, and
they were astonished , and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, for His
word possessed authority.
Jesus, the Great
Teacher and Miracle Worker, continues His teaching and healing.
The teaching is our
down payment on salvation. That is our possession here and now in 2012. The
accounts of healing in the Gospel according to St. Luke are a foretaste of the
new creation that has begun in Christ. This is the new creation that has
already begun in you who are baptized.
We know another
crowd came for Jesus. It was on the night in which He was betrayed. He would
not walk away through that crowd. No, not that time. The Messiah that Isaiah
foretold was a suffering servant who would be crucified after all of His
preaching, teaching, and healing. Jesus did not walk through the crowd, but He
did walk through death and conquered it, so that death is no longer something
that the Christian must fear. He who did many miracles and raised the dead—He
Himself was raised. He gave us His sacrament of the Altar to proclaim His death
until He comes. Let us do that now. And let us also proclaim that He who once
was dead now lives. And because He lives, when He comes, we will rise and live
as well. Amen.
In the Name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
