The Word Fulfilled

Today we find Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry. Everything in Luke’s gospel until this point has been setting the stage for this event. Jesus reads from Isaiah and the pronounces that today, in the hearing of those present, that the word has been fulfilled. 

What does it mean to hear the word fulfilled?

Scripture: Luke 4: 14-21

Luke’s gospel spends the first three chapters setting the scene. First we read about Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah. Then we have the nativity followed by the presentation at the temple where we meet Simeon. Then the ministry of John the Baptist is introduced, all of this gives us clues as to how we should be reading Luke’s gospel and what we should expect from it.

All of these previous chapters point to Jesus, who we know from the first versus is the subject of Luke’s gospel account. As we enter into Luke’s gospel today Jesus has been baptized, spent 40 days in the wilderness where he was tempted. Now, filled with the Holy Spirit Jesus begins his public ministry  and he does so in Galilee. This is how our passage today begins, “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.” Luke has set the stage and now the drama unfolds.

The opening act of Jesus’ public ministry finds Jesus teaching in the synagogue of his home town of Nazareth. He reads a passage of scripture, and we should remember that whenever the New Testament refers to scripture it is always referring to the Old Testament. Jesus reads from Isaiah, a powerful passage about freedom in God, a release from bondage and oppression, a recovery of sight. After reading the passage, Jesus rolls up the scroll and proclaims, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

For us as modern readers we might give a hearty Amen! Or perhaps a fist pump! We might even react as if our favourite team just scored a goal or touchdown throwing our arms up in the air! Yes, we think Jesus has arrived, he has begun to teach and because we have the breadth of scripture to inform us and we understand the whole of the gospel narrative we know we should be cheering. But what did happen immediately after Jesus made this bold declaration?

The lectionary passage stops at this point, but if we were to keep reading we would find the exact opposite of our reaction! Instead of support for Jesus, doubt and questions arise. Is this not Joseph’s son? The resulting exchange has everyone in the synagogue enraged, Jesus has angered them! The crowd decides, enough with this heretic, the grab Jesus, drag him to the edge of town where there is a cliff with the intent of throwing him off of it! Wow! Now clearly, they were unsuccessful in the attempt to kill Jesus, but wow!

Here we have a passage that we as followers of Christ today can 100% get behind even if we are a bit iffy on exactly what Jesus means or how we might go about accomplishing it. But we can support it. But the people of the day were so angry they tried to kill Jesus right then and there. That’s all I’ll say about the attempt to kill Jesus today as we cover that section of Luke’s gospel next week. However, it is important for us to know what comes before and after the passage of scripture we are reading.

As we come to the end of this chapter of Luke’s gospel, the stage has been fully set for us. We know who Jesus is, we know the meaning and expectation that his birth carry. We know he will follow in the footsteps of the tradition his cousin established, we know what his ministry will be about and in a major event of foreshadowing we know that he will be killed for this ministry.

This is who we follow. The one who will bring good news to every child of God, the bound up, the oppressed, the broken in spirit, the impoverished, and all those who are so desperate for good news in their lives. And for doing this the world will turn on him and kill him. But the focus of our passage today is not on the end, not on the guilt of those who would kill Jesus, not on the message of his death and resurrection. Today the focus is on what Jesus said he would do. We don’t just follow Jesus for the promise of eternity, we don’t follow Christ simply to save our souls. That work is done. We follow Christ because the message he repeats from Isaiah, that Jesus declares has been completed in our hearing, is the work we are willing to take up and do ourselves.

As Jesus goes about his ministry, he will demonstrate what is required to fulfill that passage from Isaiah. When time and time again he heals people, sets people free from systems of oppression, and teaches a new interpretation of the law. Elisabeth Johnson writes, “The spiritual aspect of salvation in Luke cannot be separated from economic, social, and political realities. Jesus’ mission is to free people from captivity to sin and from captivity to the sinful structures and systems that diminish and destroy lives.” (Elisabeth Johnson).

What is fascinating about this passage is the focus on time. Jesus says, “Today … in your hearing.” That’s immediate for those that heard those words that day and for us today as we read them. Today, in your hearing of this passage this has come to pass. That is the authority of God at work. Gail O’Day writing about this passage states, “…in the reading and rereading of Scripture, something new is created. Scripture does not remain static while the contexts around it change. Scripture generates new life and meanings for itself in a community’s appropriation of it.” (Gail O’Day Today this Word is Fulfilled in Your Hearing. Word & World, Vol 26, No. 4 Fall 2006, 359).

This is true of this passage and all passages of scripture. This is the authority and power of scripture, the possibility of interpretation that is open to us as a community of faith. Rolf Jacobson adds this comment, “Scripture is read, it is interpreted, and an audience listens with the anticipation that something meaningful will be said—they create the potential for a sacramental moment in which the Spirit of God breaks into the now and brings with it a little piece of God’s preferred future.” (Rolf Jacobson)

Each time we read scripture together, God is creating a moment in time, fulfilling something in our presence. Inviting us into relationship and partnership with creation and the work of God. Today a passage on liberation, tomorrow a passage on healing, next a passage not to accept the status quo. In each moment we listen for God’s voice and how that word is being fulfilled for us in that moment.

What God is saying to us is part of the discernment process of a community of faith. How we feel led to care for one another and serve our community. What word is God speaking into your life? What word is being fulfilled in your hearing? Amen.