On the Back Porch
Reading, pondering and studying God’s Word is sometimes best done “on the back porch.” Each week we will try to offer something for you and your “back porch time.”
3rd Sunday, Year C | The Spirit of the Lord
What We Celebrate
The gospel is actually a combination of two different parts of Luke’s gospel. The reading begins with the opening verses of Luke’s gospel. It promises to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us that has been passed from the eyewitnesses from the beginning and the ministers of the word that handed the accounts onto Luke’s generation (ca. 85 CE). This is coupled to the start of Jesus’ public ministry which began in the synagogue in his hometown. “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 17 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’”
What is about that particular Old Testament passage? This is not the first appearance of the Spirit in Luke’s gospel. The anointing? What is its purpose? Is it for a role, a mission, or other purpose? Jesus tells the people that in their very hearing, this prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled! He then announces “a year acceptable to the Lord.” What might that mean?
There is a lot to unpack in these verses, so grab your favorite beverage and take some time on the back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary on the Gospel
Eleventh century fresco of the Exorcism at the Synagogue in Capernaum | Wiki Commons | PD-US
The Rest of the Story
One thing that is evident when you look at this Gospel reading (4:14-21) is that the narrative really continues on to v.30. It is as though the story has been cut in half without knowing the reaction of the people in the synagogue. As it turns out Luke 4:22-30 comprise the Gospel reading for the following Sunday (4th Ordinary, C). The video below from the series “The Chosen” covers the entirety of the events at Nazareth.