Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Luke 4:14-21
Year C
“Start as you mean to go on.” I often think of this old adage while beginning a new ministry. Starting as I intend to go on means the way I conduct myself in the beginning sets the groundwork for future actions — good or bad habits follow initial motive.
In our passage from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus begins his ministry as he means to go on — with the power of the Spirit. In these first few chapters of Luke, Jesus’ possession of the Spirit is mentioned three times (Luke 3:22 and twice in Luke 4:1). In today’s reading, we learn it is the Spirit that moves Jesus to go to Galilee and begin his ministry.
Once in Galilee, Jesus goes to the synagogues and receives praise for his Spirit-filled teaching. But then he turns to Nazareth, his hometown, where he begins his ministry by reading Isaiah, connecting his work with the prophets who have gone before. Jesus is inaugurating his ministry. It is a beginning, but it is also a fulfillment of God’s salvific work.
What must it have been like to hear Jesus say those words, “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 starts as he means to go on — by declaring that he is with and for the poor, the blind, and the oppressed. He will bring good news and release and recovery. He comes to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
And when will these wonderful things happen? Now. They happen even as the people of Nazareth hear those words, because Jesus is with them. Jesus is the fulfillment of those words.
Just on the other side of this pericope, we learn that Jesus’ words are met with amazement — and suspicion. The people of Nazareth, his people, challenge Jesus and become enraged when he doubles-down on the truth of who and what he is.
Several years ago, it seemed every church was pondering its mission statement. Taken from the world of business, mission statements seek to sum up all that a particular church believes about its mission in the world. Mission statements can be helpful in identifying a church’s values and communal purpose.
I wonder if this, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, is the church universal’s mission statement. Jesus lays out, using texts from Isaiah, his desire to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, to help the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. We see Jesus living into this “mission statement” in his welcoming the outcasts and sinners, helping the poor, and caring for those captive to their sin, their old ideas, and their material possessions. We see Jesus living out this mission statement in the ways he heals and continually proclaims God’s love.
It is a beautiful mission – and it is overwhelming. We could spend our whole lives trying to live into it. Doesn’t it seem a little “too much?”
Yes. And it can only be done, we can only work toward these goals, if we, too, are filled with the Holy Spirit. We can only hope to proclaim, release, recover, and free if we are so rooted in Jesus and the Spirit. Perhaps the church’s mission statement is as big and as simple as loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Jesus gives us all a start to our particular ministries in these words from Luke’s Gospel. Yes, we should define what it means for our particular church communities. But let us also remember that Jesus states plainly what he brings to the world in his presence. Let these words, and the work of the Spirit, fill and guide us.
Questions for reflection on Luke 4:14-21
- Jesus begins his ministry by proclaiming a mission rooted in justice, healing, and liberation, as foretold by the prophet Isaiah. How can this mission shape the understanding of your personal vocation or your church’s calling in today’s world?
- Why do you think Jesus’ mission provokes both amazement and anger? In what ways might churches or individuals experience similar reactions when committing to a radical expression of justice and compassion?
- How does reliance on the Holy Spirit transform the way we pursue justice, proclaim good news, and love our neighbors? How can your church community or personal ministry cultivate deeper dependence on the Spirit in practical ways?
View the corresponding Order of Worship for Luke 4:14-21.
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