January 24th Reflection by Bill Lynch

Luke 4:14-21
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

 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.

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

 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 favour.’
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.’

Reflection
Picture the scene. Jesus returned home. He had been teaching and was healing in the surrounding country. It was the Sabbath day and Jesus was handed the scroll of Isaiah. Passages would have been read slowly over a few years during the service. Isaiah would be a well known text to those present at the synagogue. Jesus unrolls the scroll and begins to read a familiar passage.

The passage Jesus reads reflects what he had been doing in the surrounding countrysides of that day. Jesus likely sat down to preach and tells the people that the scripture has been fulfilled. How do you take that? Does Jesus mean that he has fulfilled this scripture? Does he mean that God has fulfilled the scripture some time ago? Is this hometown boy saying that he is the Messiah? Or is he telling each of us that when we were anointed our task was to take the good news of God's favour to them? If you could have heard all of the questions in the minds of those listening that day, how many and how wide a variety of questions would you hear?

Today when we read through the Bible, look for Jesus. Look for Jesus in the Old Testament, in the Law, in the Prophets, in the Songs. Look for Jesus. This hometown man is present throughout the Bible. Jesus is present in the words of these writers. Jesus is on the minds of all of us as we pass through time and space towards eternity. We ponder a God that would come so close to us. We are amazed that God would care enough to be with us in the cycles of life. And it's hard to believe that Jesus is present in our lives with us, just as he was present to those people in that day at Nazareth.

It is amazing and it does raise questions of doubt. Ask the questions and go for the answers. You will find Jesus close and involved in your everyday life. You will find Jesus in your doubt. You will find Jesus in the ordinary and the extraordinary. You will realize that Jesus is present in Word and Sacrament and in your life.


 Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

Prayer
Jesus, I feel you standing in the temple of my heart telling me, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." May I always hear and see you on every step of my life... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen