Well it's been way, way too long since I've posted anything on this blog - I'll try and post a bit more regularly this year - which should be easier now that I'm not trying to work and study.
I'm experimenting with using fewer notes when preaching - so they're not really great for publication any more. I thought instead that I might post the blurb I wrote for the church notice sheet instead.
Jesus announces his purpose…and ours.
Today’s reading (Luke 4: 14-21) marks the start of Jesus’ ministry. In modern terms, it’s like a campaign launch. What we learn from this reading sets us up for reading the rest of Luke’s gospel.
Jesus is in the Synagogue in Nazareth, his home town. He stands, unrolls the great scroll containing the Hebrew scriptures and reads from the prophet Isaiah: “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.”
Jesus’ audience that day in Nazareth was much like the one who heard Isaiah’s original proclamation. They are a captive people, living under Roman rule. Many are poor, many suffer from blindness, both physical and spiritual. This proclamation from the scriptures must have been welcome words indeed.
All eyes were upon Jesus. His mission statement is short and pithy: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Then Jesus sat down.
Jesus’ enigmatic statement is as much about who he is as it is about what he will do. Jesus is declaring that he himself is the fulfilment of the scriptures. In his life and death he will bring about the release of the captives. Through him the people will truly see. Jesus himself is the good news to the poor. In other words, it is not so much what Jesus does, the miracles and healings that he performs which matters, it is what they point to: the reality that Jesus is the Son of God, who invites us into relationship with him.
What a mission statement! And it is not the mission of Jesus alone. When we read of Jesus’ baptism a couple of weeks ago we learned that through our baptism we are called into Jesus’ mission: anointed by the spirit with Him to bring Christ’s good news to all people. What does this mean for your own personal ministry? What does it mean for your ministry in our community and beyond?
