He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21).
Jesus sat down after speaking these words to his hometown congregation in Nazareth who had just heard him read the passage from the prophet Isaiah. Jesus proclaimed that he was the one to whom Isaiah was talking about. Luke chose to place this event as the starting point of Jesus’ public ministry, of bringing glad tidings to the poor, proclaiming liberty to the captives, recovering sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, and proclaiming a year acceptable to the Lord (cf. Lk 4:18-19).
This is a message of universal healing for all of humanity. Restoration and reconciliation would come and Jesus would be the vehicle to bring all the nations, all people, back into communion and relationship with his Father. The poor mentioned were not just in reference to those experiencing material poverty but to those finding themselves on the margins of society, the outcasts, those on the peripheries. The captives were not only those imprisoned for debts or crimes but those bound in the chains of their own sin and addiction. The blind were not only those who could not physically see but those who experienced the spiritual blindness of pride and arrogance. The oppressed were not just those under the iron fist of totalitarian and dictatorial regimes but those pressed down through their own self imposed anxieties and fears.
In what ways are we in need of Jesus’ healing and restorative power? What is keeping us on the peripheries, apart from communion and fellowship? What sins and addictions keep us bound, what fears and anxieties keep us oppressed? Jesus invites us in today’s Gospel to be healed and to align ourselves with his will and ministry of loving service to others. The same words he spoke to his own hometown he is speaking to each one of us today.
Even though initially moved by the words of Jesus, they could not see past the boy and humble man of Nazareth they had or thought they had known. How could he be the Messiah? They also rejected his universal message that God was inviting Gentiles into the party. Jesus held up as models of faith, the widow of Zarephath who trusted Isaiah with her last bit of flour and oil and Naaman who trusted the advice of a slave girl and the prophet Elisha. Both, Gentiles, and both blessed by God through their trust in him. His own people chose to hold tighter to their biases and prejudices instead of let go and receive the freedom and healing Jesus offered.
How will we respond to Jesus? Will we follow the hometown crowd or ponder his words? Life is too short to allow our pride to get in the way. Examining our conscience and coming to Jesus with a contrite, sorrowful heart for what we have done and what we have failed to do helps us to be more open. Instead of rejecting, let us welcome Jesus and experience his healing hands on our bowed heads and the warmth of his love pouring through and purging us of our sin and pride so that we may participate with him in bringing the invitation of healing, reconciliation, and love to others and help to bring about an “acceptable year of the Lord” (Lk 4:19).
—————————————————-
Photo from freebibleimages.org
Spiritual Stepping Stones 