Christ Revealed

‘Today this scripture has
been fulfilled in your
hearing’ Luke 4:21
4. The Public Ministry of Jesus
Read: Isaiah 61:1-4
Synagogue last Sabbath ended
awkwardly. The folk from Nazareth
almost killed one of their own. They
were trying to throw him off a cliff but
it didn’t work somehow.
It all started when Jesus, a local boy,
was asked to do the Scripture reading.
He picked up a passage from the book
of Isaiah. Beautiful words described
the ministry of the ancient prophet.
Isaiah was anointed by God’s Spirit to
bring good news to his downtrodden
contemporaries: comfort to those who
grieve, healing to those who hurt, liberty
to those who were in bondage.
Jesus read the passage quite well. After
he finished reading things went wrong.
Jesus wasn’t content simply to present
those inspiring verses and let us enjoy
their beauty. He claimed, out of the
blue, that this Scripture was fulfilled
today in our hearing. Those who are
now captives can enter freedom. Those
among us who are broken-hearted can
experience wholeness.
Those of us who are filled with sorrow
can find joy today. It was startling
to hear someone with whom we had
rubbed shoulders these past thirty years
speak in such a way. We were outraged,
naturally.
It is strange for someone who offers
healing, freedom and joy to provoke
such a reaction. Why are people
angry when faced with the offer of
restoration? Is it just too good to be
true? Is faith really so difficult?
The Son of God comes to us in the
everyday reality of our lives. He seems
both strange and familiar, as if we grew
up with him on the streets of Nazareth
but never realised who he really was.
The mundane tries to blind us so that
we cannot recognise him. Our prisons
and our broken hearts feel so real. Pain
makes sure of that. But his voice pierces
the veil of pain, familiarity and doubt:
‘The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to you. Today’.