Reflection on Luke 4:21-30

Imagine for a moment that you are in church and you sit down in your pew and start to get yourself settled, taking off your coats, thumbing through the bulletin and announcements, and stretching your legs to stand for the first song, when someone comes walking into the church. This person has been a part of the church since the beginning, yet we have never seen him before. He comes to church more often than just Easter and Christmas…in fact he is a regular attendee, yet none of us has ever gotten to lay our eyes on him. No, he is not the phantom of the pew (which by the way is the third one back on the left side). Your eyes pop out of your head and your jaws drop as Jesus…our very own Jesus comes walking down the aisle.

The singing sort drops off as people slowly come to recognize and see who it is. It is Jesus! The choir keeps going, wondering what is wrong with the congregation this morning…must be a lot of flu…but eventually even they see Jesus coming to the front of the church.

Our very own, beloved Jesus reaches the front, turns around, searches for the Bible, and soon he has it in his hands. He opens the scriptures and begins to read,

"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."

He puts the Bible back, and sits down right in the middle of the floor. The eyes of everyone are glued to him. We wait for some words of wisdom. We wait for some words of life. And, finally we get what we were looking for, sort of. He says to us, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

We smile kindly at him. Someone in the back says, “That’s very nice.” Another is heard, “I’ve always liked that one.” Yet another, says, “I always thought that He had blue eyes, and what’s he doing wearing jeans to church?”

Jesus looks around at our adoring faces and says, “I have to be up front with all of you. I have to be straight up. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that those who have been suffering are soon going to find their relief; those who are poor are going to find that they have enough to be filled; those who are held back in life because someone more powerful than them is holding them down are going to find their freedom; those who are in debt will find their debt swept away; and those who are imprisoned by their sin, will find their freedom.”

Then he leaves us hanging.  He simply gets up, and leaves through the left rear of the sanctuary. We stare at each other. “Is he done?”

No, he is not. He comes back in with a cup of water in His hand. “Sorry, I got thirsty,” He says as he takes his seat back on the floor.

Dave pipes up, “Hey Jesus, you said that their was bad news, I hope that this isn’t some joke…well actually I do hope that it is a joke.”

Jesus smiles and continues, “the bad news is that all of those wonderful things are not for you.”

We face him, confused; some of us are hurt, some of us are plainly baffled.

“Remember,” he continues, “the story of the widow in ancient Israel and her son who did not have any food? Only she and her son received food from God through the prophet Elijah. And, remember Elisha who was sent to Israel? He did not heal anyone in Israel, rather he healed a foreigner. So, I repeat two things. One: it is the year of the Lord’s favor. The oppressed will go free. You have heard my words.  You can live my words.  You can be a part of my words. Two: because of this, my words are not for you. They are for someone else. The gift is for others.”

And, so, we stare at Jesus…trying to make a decision. It is the same decision that those in Nazarene had so long ago. Do we sacrifice our own desires and strive to be a part of Jesus…to be a part of the year of the Lord’s favor when the blind see and the oppressed are set free; or do we simply take Jesus down to the river and drown him or on top of the hill and throw him off? Are we here for ourselves, or are we truly here to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor; when everyone will see the love of the Lord? What is our choice?


All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.