3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Jan. 24, 2010 (Lk 1:1-4, 4:14-21)
Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."
Jesus proclaims the beginning of His public ministry by setting the direction to which His ministry will lead. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me", He said, quoting from the prophet Isaiah. With these words, Jesus proclaims Himself to be the Messiah, the anointed of God who will bring joy and liberation to those who are in agony.
This liberation, of course, is understood by us Christians to be the liberation from the slavery of sin. Jesus was not the kind of Messiah the Jews expected. He was not a political leader sent to destroy the Jewish colonizers. He was sent to destroy the enemy that has conquered all mankind - sin.
"Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing", Jesus assures his listeners. Indeed, Luke verifies that it was in the power of the Spirit that Jesus came to proclaim that particular passage. Therefore, the passage Jesus was reading was literally being fulfilled as it was being read.
Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises in the Old Testament. He is the realization of numerous prophecies. Jesus also fulfills His own words, His own promises that have been actualized even in us today. This is why He is the Word made flesh. He is the promise of the Father who takes flesh, who becomes fulfilled before our very eyes.
Guided by the Spirit, we as Christians, must also set our direction to the path God anointed us to travel. Our mission should be clear to us, and we must fulfill God's purpose for us. He anoints us to a particular mission by giving us His Spirit, which gives us the power to fulfill that mission. The abilities which we have received from the Spirit are clues that give us an idea as to what path God wants us to take. This is what Saint Paul points out in saying that we are one body, as we are baptized in one Spirit, but we are also made up of different parts (1 Cor 12:13-14). Being individual parts of Christ's body, we have different ways of serving. Nevertheless, we have one common vocation, and that is to do the will of God.
This liberation, of course, is understood by us Christians to be the liberation from the slavery of sin. Jesus was not the kind of Messiah the Jews expected. He was not a political leader sent to destroy the Jewish colonizers. He was sent to destroy the enemy that has conquered all mankind - sin.
"Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing", Jesus assures his listeners. Indeed, Luke verifies that it was in the power of the Spirit that Jesus came to proclaim that particular passage. Therefore, the passage Jesus was reading was literally being fulfilled as it was being read.
Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises in the Old Testament. He is the realization of numerous prophecies. Jesus also fulfills His own words, His own promises that have been actualized even in us today. This is why He is the Word made flesh. He is the promise of the Father who takes flesh, who becomes fulfilled before our very eyes.
Guided by the Spirit, we as Christians, must also set our direction to the path God anointed us to travel. Our mission should be clear to us, and we must fulfill God's purpose for us. He anoints us to a particular mission by giving us His Spirit, which gives us the power to fulfill that mission. The abilities which we have received from the Spirit are clues that give us an idea as to what path God wants us to take. This is what Saint Paul points out in saying that we are one body, as we are baptized in one Spirit, but we are also made up of different parts (1 Cor 12:13-14). Being individual parts of Christ's body, we have different ways of serving. Nevertheless, we have one common vocation, and that is to do the will of God.
