Today our Gospel begins a largely continuous reading from the Gospel of Luke at the weekday masses. Today’s Gospel is often referred to as Jesus’ inaugural or programmatic address. He attends the weekly synagogue service as a good Jew. After the reading of the Torah Jesus is given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah to read. He selects the passage from Isaiah 61:
“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.” (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 61:1-2).
Jesus’ homily is short and focused: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” His “program” or mission is to bring the gospel (“glad tidings”) to all but especially to the poor. He proclaims that “Today” is the inauguration of his mission and time of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s dream and vision. God has sent Jesus into the world to bring release to those burdened with physical and spiritual illness, thus healing and forgiveness. The rest of Luke’s Gospel will be the story of Jesus fulfilling his mission.
As we hear in today’s Gospel his words and works provoke a twofold reaction, one of acceptance and one of rejection:
“And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.”
“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.”
This same story will continue throughout the Gospel and in Luke’s second volume called the Acts of the Apostles. This second volume will begin like today’s Gospel. In today’s Gospel Jesus is filled with the Spirit and begins to preach. In Acts the apostles at Pentecost are filled with the Spirit and sent forth to preach and to witness:
“But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8; 2:1-41).
Through our baptism we too are filled with the holy Spirit. We are called to be witnesses and to continue to fulfill Jesus’ mission of release, of healing and forgiving.
Image: “31 Jesus teaching in the Synagogue” by fz1844 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.