If you have been following the church lectionary over the
last few weeks, you have read that Jesus was a pretty extra-ordinary person. He
was born of a virgin, was baptized in the Jordan River Jordan, whereupon the
sky opened, a dove descended upon him, and the voice of God spoke proclaiming
him as the beloved Son. Last week we read about his first miracle—turning water
into wine-- the first great sign, which proclaimed that the Messiah, the
anointed one of God, had arrived, and was on the scene. Today the story of
Jesus continues in the Gospel reading, but the story takes a bit of a different
turn.
In today’s passage Jesus performs
no miracle. Instead, he enters the synagogue, which was, and is the centre, of
any Jewish community. Yes, the
temple which stood at the heart of Jerusalem was very much the focal point of Jewish religion.
This was the centre where sacrifices were offered to Yahweh, one of the names
for God in the Old Testament. But there was only one temple. The law stipulated
that if ten Jewish families were present in any area, there must be a synagogue.
So there were synagogues in every town and village. Synagogues were the
teaching centres, where God’s law was taught and learned, where the Holy
scriptures were read and interpreted by Rabbis. You might wonder, how Jesus, as
a layman, was able to walk into the temple pick up the ancient, sacred,
scrolls, hand them back, and make a proclamation concerning them. This might
think this akin to a parishioner getting up out of the pew, walking up the
isle, kindly asking the pastor to step down from the pulpit, and taking over.
How many people do that? I know some folks might want to do that, but how many
actually do? Not many. But you see, the Jewish synagogue in the first century
had a specific order, similar too, but also different from what we might expect
in a contemporary church. There were three main parts. The first was the prayer
part. The second was the reading part, and the third was a teaching part. In first
century Jewish society, there was no such thing as a professional ministry.
During the teaching part, the president of the congregation would ask any
distinguished person to speak, and discussion and talk would follow.
So you see, in speaking in the temple,
Jesus was following perfect protocol. There was nothing outlandish about what
he was doing. Yes, there may have been some slight eyebrow raising about a
young, rugged looking, carpenter speaking up on a Saturday service, but it was
not so much that he was speaking which would have got people’s attention, but
rather what he was saying. Quoting from Isaiah, Jesus was proclaiming that he
was the one. He was the one who was anointed by God. He was the one who has
been sent to proclaim release to the captives. He was the one to recover the
sight of the blind. He was the one to let the oppressed go free. He was the one
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Imagine the reaction to hearing
that! The people to whom he was speaking took Scripture, the Old Testament,
very, very, very, very seriously. Imagine the reaction to hearing the news that
all that they were waiting for, all of God’s promises, which they carried
around in their hearts, had been fulfilled. For their entire lives, they had studied scripture, heard it
read, and pondered it. The word of God was central to their lives. Now it stood
before them, and was encountering them nose-to-nose. The Word of God stood
breathing, and speaking, and proclaiming right before them. Here those 1st
century people in that Galilean synagogue encountered the Word of God, not as
words upon a page, but as the Living Word, the Word made flesh. And the Word
made flesh made clear his mission, to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim
the release of captives, to recovery the sight to the blind, to let the
oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. The Word of God
spoke to those people a Word of liberation and of healing.
The Word of God is unlike any
other kind of word. Words are descriptors of things of ideas. God’s Word
describes and tells. But the word of God is defined not so much by what it
describes or tells, but by what it does.
When God’s word speaks, things happen. When God spoke the Word, “let there be
light”. There were no ifs or maybes about it. There was light.
So when Jesus, God made man, spoke those words from Isaiah, he was not
only telling the congregation, on that day, who he was, but, as equally
important, what he does. Jesus brings good news to the poor; Jesus released the
captives; Jesus recovers the sight of the blind; Jesus lets the oppressed go
free. And make no mistake brothers
and sisters, as we read this gospel lesson today, we are not simply reading an
historical account about what Jesus said to that congregation some two thousand
years ago. But we are hearing God speak to us now about what God does now. As
we hear these words read from a page we hear the Living Word spoken to us at
this moment in this place. And if that Living Word, who is Jesus Christ, is
heard in our ears, it is bound to do something. It is bound to change us. It is bound to give us comfort; it is
bound to liberate us. The same word, which spoke reality into being, is the
same word, which speaks to us today. The same word, which created the stars and
the heavens, is the same word, which transforms us now.
That Jesus Christ is the Living Word
ought to change our perspective of scripture. Since the Living Word is spoken
to us through the pages of scripture, it cannot be treated as any other kind of
literature. The Bible is not simply an historical record or interesting
literature. It is special because it speaks the Living Word. This is why
Christians who have read the Bible cover to cover many times over continue to
read it. They read it because they know that the Living Word of God continues to
speak, continues to liberate and comfort. The Living Word of God moves the Holy
Spirit to work gifts within us, which are meant to be gifts to the world. So if
you have not begun studying scripture, I would strongly encourage you to do so.
Encounter the Word, and be guided by it.
But the Word is not encountered
just in the individual reading of the Bible. We encounter it together, here in
this place. In a moment Jesus will feed us with his special meal of bread and
wine, and in that meal proclaim God’s forgiveness of your sins. What an incredible gift to us! But the Word of
God is not meant to be contained, it is to be proclaimed! You, all of you,
every single one of you are called to be a proclaimed of the same Word, which
has claimed and liberated you. Amen.
