Luke 4:16-21
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.”
First things are important. First words. First steps. First accomplishments. Many of these things are rather happenstance, when you think about it, but we give them value because they make an impression and are memorable simply because of the very fact they happened first.
Other times, however, the “firsts” of our lives are not at all happenstance, but quite intentional. The first speech you give as captain or coach of a team. The first meeting you run in a new position. The first lesson you prepare as a teacher with a new class of students. The restaurant or movie you choose for a first date. The first sermon you give in a new congregation.
Luke relates in these verses one of those intentional “firsts” in the ministry of Jesus. And even Luke’s choice matters. From the brief transition he offered in the verses just before these, we realize that this is not, actually, the first time he has been in the synagogue, but it is the first sermon Luke reports to us. And it is in his home congregation. So we know that it is important. In a sense, Luke reports Jesus first sermon as a kind of mission statement, an identity statement. You want to know what Jesus is all about? Luke almost asks. Then listen up. Here it is.
And so we do well, as did Luke’s first audience, to attend to Jesus’ “first” sermon for a clue to who he is and what he is about. This collection of verses from Isaiah combine to give us a clear signal that Jesus has come to keep God’s promises. And not just promises in general, but God’s promises to heal, restore, comfort, free, and release, all as a sign of God’s love and favor.
God’s favor. Think back, for just a moment, to the words Jesus heard at his baptism. “You are my Son, whom I love. With you I am well pleased.” That is God’s favor. And Jesus has come to tell everyone that, and not just tell it but show it by the various acts of mercy and healing Isaiah describes.
We, Jesus tells us, are the object of God’s desire, the recipients of God’s love, and the children with whom God is well pleased. This is what Jesus is saying, and it is what he will fulfill in his life and ministry and, as we’ll see, in his rejection, death, and resurrection. Truly, it is the year and age of God’s favor.
Prayer: Dear God, let us hear your words of grace, love, and favor and believe them. But not just believe them, also live them by sharing them with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I still remember my first preaching date – I was a teenager giving a message at the Episcopal congregation during a community Thanksgiving service. I was petrified – but was able to say the word given to me that day. I still feel the energy and fear that comes with preaching after 25 years of ordained ministry and look forward to proclaiming with the fear of God and energy of the Spirit the words of Jesus – words of hope for hopeless and challenge for the powerful. God help us all in our proclamation – both in the pulpit and on the street – both ordained and lay.