Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
All the people gathered together into the square
before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the Law
of Moses, which God had given to Israel. Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought
the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with
understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it
facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the
presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears
of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. Ezra opened the book
in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and
when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the
great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up
their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped with their faces to the
ground. So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation.
They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. Nehemiah, who
was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught
the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept when they heard the words
of the law. Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat and drink
sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for
this day is holy to our God; and do not be grieved, for the joy of God is your
strength."
Luke 4:14-21
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."
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The synagogue was packed. The rabbis
and regular teachers hadn’t seen that many people in the synagogue, except
maybe at Passover. There wasn’t enough
room – and the hospitality committee was suddenly thinking how on earth were
they going to find enough refreshments following the service, and could some of
them run home and grab some more bread and fruit.
An itinerant teacher in Galilee, one
of their own in fact, was coming to the synagogue. The stories about the
incredible way he could open up and explain the texts had spread all over the
region. People were flocking to hear him. Everyone marvelled at his knowledge
and gifts – since he was one of theirs,
home grown in Nazareth, everyone had to come out to see and hear. Even the
youth, otherwise trying to avoid going to synagogue as much as possible, were
there. Nothing inspiring about the regular rabbis, they were looking for some
energy, something to get their teeth into in their spiritual quest.
As Jesus entered, the muttering and
background conversations stopped, and a hush descended over the whole of the
sanctuary. All eyes turned to him – Jesus, child of Nazareth, son of Joseph and
Mary, brother to James, John, and several sisters.
When it was time, Jesus was handed
the scroll, and with an incredible sense of timing, slowly unrolled it till he
found the words he was looking for –"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because I have been anointed to bring good news to the poor; 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, the Jubilee
Year."
He rolled up the scroll again,
everyone’s eyes still glued on him – not a sound or a breath – not a movement
from the congregation. Then he said “This has been fulfilled today in your
hearing.” He sat down.
All spoke well of him and were amazed
at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they
asked. Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me:
‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown
what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”
“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in
his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s
time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe
famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a
widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with
leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was
cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
The people were furious when they
heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of
the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But
he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
When we first read today’s text, it
sounds very simple. Jesus went to the synagogue and read from a scroll. It was
the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah, and he unrolled it and found the words he
wanted. But wait – was it all accidental, or did he know? Jesus was preaching
all over Galilee, and came to his home town. He came home to Nazareth after
being away for a long time, and went to the synagogue, with his whole family,
probably beaming because their eldest has returned – and when he arrives, an
attendant hands him the scroll of Isaiah. He opens the scroll and finds the
place of those exact words. The book of the Prophet Isaiah has 66 chapters – so
it had to be either an enormous scroll, or Isaiah was broken down into smaller
scrolls. Even so, that’s a heck of a lot of text.
If we go to Jeremiah, we get these words – consecrated,
appointed. Consecrated also means sanctified; appointed can also mean ordained.
Jeremiah protests, saying he is only a boy. God’s response is that Jeremiah
will go where he is sent, speak the words given to him – and then God says
“Don’t be afraid of them, I will be with you to ensure you are looked after.”
When Jesus read the passage from Isaiah about bringing good
news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, he meant
it. When he announced that this scripture had been fulfilled in their
hearing, he meant it. When he proclaimed the restoration of the just and
equitable society that God had intended, he meant it. Jesus wasn’t speaking in vague terms about some
nice idea put down in scripture years ago; he was bringing the scripture home
to them, up close and personal.
He heard them muttering amongst themselves; so then, he
brought up those awkward texts from their own scriptures, when God had blessed
people other than those who called themselves “chosen”. Elijah was sent to a
starving widow in Sidon rather than a starving widow in Israel?
Someone who was NOT Israelite, not one of theirs. Why was a leper from Syria
healed, rather than an Israelite leper? Not only not one of them, but a
foreigner altogether. These were stories the people in Nazareth probably
avoided, because their comfortable ideas of their special status with God would
be challenged. They didn’t want to think about the just and equitable society that
God intended, if it had to include people like that widow and that
leper. They wanted to avoid dealing with it because a truly just and
equitable society as God intends requires every person to make it a just
and equitable society. And those people didn’t deserve such treatment. They
had always believed God only comes to certain people. The others could take
care of themselves; the people of Nazareth, and of Israel, thought their own
should be looked after first. Why heal a sick Syrian when we have so many poor
and sick people right here? Never mind that those people were shunned by those
very same Israelites, for being unclean. Never mind that they weren’t allowed
to live in towns. We have to take care of our own first. God chose us,
right?
Except Jesus had other ideas. He wasn’t concerned with just one group of
people, he was beginning to realise who God’s people were, and that the notion of being ‘chosen’ above
others was foolish. He was called, sanctified, ordained into ministry to
people – all people. The Spirit of God was upon him, he was
anointed to bring good news to the poor – all the poor, not just a select
group. Release to all those captives – by life, circumstance, spiritual
and personal issues, prisoners. Recovery of sight to all those unable to
see – physically, spiritually, emotionally. To proclaim God’s Jubilee to
everyone. Suddenly that comfortable and familiar passage from Isaiah, read
by someone they had known since he was two years old, now required something
uncomfortable and unfamiliar. In reality they had lost sight of the
promise in those words, that they too were released from their captivity and
oppression, and that the year of the Jubilee year was for them too. He
was explaining the sense of the scriptures and they didn’t like what they
heard. They were uncomfortable. Faith, and synagogue, and church – are not
meant to be comfortable.
They had forgotten that each one of them was a child of God,
- named, gifted, called –consecrated and sanctified – that they also were
gifted by God and were called to live that piece of scripture. Instead they
focused on the anger and betrayal they felt when Jesus reminded them that God
comes to anyone God chooses. God doesn’t just come to one group of people, and
things weren’t going to happen the way they wanted it to. Jesus proclaimed new
sight for the blind; they realised they had chosen to blind themselves to the
truth of God’s
abundant love and grace through whatever channel God chose – even people who
didn’t believe the same way they did within their own faith, or who weren’t the
same religion or ethnicity at all. Recognising the truth of his words,
they chose rather to remain blind, and direct their anger at the prophet who
brought them the word – to shoot the messenger.
The Spirit of God is upon us; we are anointed to bring good
news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to
the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the Jubilee, to let
everyone know that God’s favour is given everywhere in the world, regardless of
faith, colour, gender. Today the scripture stands, and all of God’s
people regardless of faith or gender or orientation or colour, have been
anointed to fulfill it again for the building up of all.
Come, open the scroll and read the words: “The Spirit of God is on me because God anointed me to preach good news to
the poor, heal the heartbroken, announce freedom to all captives, pardon
all prisoners, to announce the year of God’s Jubilee.” Because we are loved by
God, gifted by God, blessed by God for ministry. All of us. May it be so.
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