Epiphany 3

Preparation

    Please begin by reading Luke 4:14-21 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided that text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--Proclaiming Release to the Captives
   
   Nobody should have been surprised about how Jesus lived out his life. He was clear from the beginning that his focus was not on maintaining the status quo, but upon God breaking into history to set things right.

"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."

    It goes without saying that Jesus is history’s premier instructor in the very deepest spiritual truths, but he is also deeply concerned about the human condition and bringing in freedom, dignity, and justice.

    Jesus here equates his ministry with “the year of the Lord’s favor,” a reference to the biblical year of Jubilee when property was restored to its owners and slaves were freed. He tells us that he not only came to bring good news, he came to bring it first to those who needed it the most — the poor and the captives. He came with healing and with a message of delivery from oppression.

    It is true that the freedom Jesus brings is a freedom from spiritual oppression, but we miss much of his ministry if we stop there. Freedom of the spirit helps all of us to recognize ourselves as God’s beloved who are worthy of freedom from oppressive systems.

    We in the United States have just celebrated the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; one who was a living embodiment of God’s concern with delivery from oppression. These words from Dr. King also challenge us, as the body of Christ, to live out our lives together as witnesses to Jesus’ mission of freedom:

    “The church is challenged to make the gospel of Jesus Christ relevant within the social situation. We must come to see that the Christian gospel is a two-way road. On the one side, it seeks to change the soul of people and thereby unite them with God; on the other, it seeks to change the environmental condition so that the soul will have a chance after it is changed.”

    We Christians have work to do.  There is no better time than now to being doing it!

revclay

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Luke 4:14-21 (NRSV)
   
    Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

    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."