Saturday, January 2

Scripture: Luke 4:16-21, 23-24 & 28
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, and 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 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, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”. . . 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.”. . . When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.

GOOD NEWS FOR THE POOR AND THE DOWNTRODDEN 

In this inaugural sermon of Jesus's ministry, we find Him reading from the Book of Isaiah, a prophet He often quoted, whose writings He clearly loved and had studied deeply.

The Book of Isaiah depicts a future time when Yahweh's rule will be felt, experienced, and recognized by all. And when that day comes, says Isaiah, some deeply good things will happen:

There will be justice: wherein all have access to the basic goods of life, all are treated in accordance with their dignity as image bearers of God;

There will be healing: God will heal us, physically, psychologically, socially, spiritually, and wipe away every tear of suffering from our eyes. And in consequence

There will be joy: we will delight in each other, in our lives together, in our work, in the glories of creation.

Israel's writers had a term for this future time of God's rule, when the above-described blessings would flood the earth: shalom, a communal state of wholeness or well-being in which the whole community experiences justice, healing, and joy. When God's rule comes, says Isaiah, there will be shalom.

Return now to our text for today, in which Jesus opens the scroll and reads from a part of Isaiah (a part we now call Chapter 61) that describes the arrival of eschatological shalom as good news for the poor, the enslaved, the blind, the downtrodden. It is good news, in other words, for the economically and socially marginalized of the ancient Near Eastern world. When shalom comes, Isaiah predicts, it will be good news for those on the margins because all will be included in its blessings—not just those powerful, rich, or clever enough to insist on it.

And now the words that must have come as quite a surprise to Jesus's hearers: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” It’s starting, it's here. Jesus inaugurates the shalom prophesied by Isaiah—its justice, healing, and joy—and over the course of His ministry, teaches His followers how to enter into and minister this shalom to others.

And it is deeply good news for the poor, the enslaved, the blind, the downtrodden. It's good news for those on the economic and social margins, because the shalom breaking into the world through Jesus and His followers seeks out the lonely, the poor, the broken, the old, the boring, the sex offender, the unsuccessful, the unwanted, the prisoner, the undocumented immigrant, the refugee: anyone who finds themselves on the margins. The shalom ministered by Jesus and his followers reaches out to all such people, drawing them into its justice (securing freedom, well-being, and dignity), healing (caring for the sick, dying, and broken), and joy (so that all are learning to delight in all). "Good news for the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, relief for the downtrodden."

PRAYER
Lord, help us this Christmas season to hear afresh Jesus' good news of shalom for the poor and downtrodden; help us to minister it to the tears and cries of a hurting world. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Tom Crisp, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy