TEACHING

SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2022
10:30 AM (in-person + communion & prayer)
LENT 2022 - THE JOURNEY OF JESUS
In the 40 days before Resurrection Sunday/Easter/Pascha known as Lent, we are following the journey of Jesus from Baptism, to Wilderness, to Public Ministry in Luke 3-4:30.
LENT 5, PUBLIC MINISTRY
​SHOCK AND JUBILEE
For the final two Sundays in our Journey of Jesus Series leading to Easter, we turn to Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus reintroduces himself to his hometown crowd at a worship gathering and sheds new light on what the business of God and the church is to be about. He kicks off his public ministry with a “shock therapy” campaign aimed at the religious with hints of Jubilee (an ancient word that speaks to emancipation and celebration). We learn that shock and jubilee go together— the truth will set you free, but first it will make you angry. What's next is up to you!

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TEXT:  Luke 4:14-30

CONTEXT
Luke 4:14 Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the surrounding countryside. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by all.

• Already preaching in Judea, Galilee, and now the return to his hometown
• “[at the start of our Lenten series, John the Baptist], the one sent to announce that “all  flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6), preparing the way by  proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the release (aphesis) of sins. This Sunday Jesus begins his public ministry by proclaiming release (aphesis)  to captives and the oppressed. He announces that today—in his hearers’ presence—the prophecy of Isaiah has been fulfilled, and the  year of the Lord’s favor has come" (Judith Jones).

THROUGH THE TEXT
Luke 4:16 Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

• Elements of the scene
• “As was his custom”
  • “That’s the kind of animals we are, first and foremost: loving, desiring, affective, liturgical animals who, for the most part, don’t inhabit the world as thinkers or cognitive machines...we pray before we believe, we worship before we know—or rather, we worship in order to know” (Smith, DTK, 34).

 

• Order of worship
  • The reading was prescribed for the Torah, but Jesus would have chosen which part of the scroll for the reading from the prophets.

Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.

• Isaiah 61:1-2 and phrases from 48:8-9, and 58:6.
• “This passage plays an important role in the Gospel of Luke. It sets the tone for the entire book, much as the passage from Joel that Pete quotes in Acts 2 on the occasion of Pentecost sets the tone for the entire book” (Luke, 64).  –Justo L. González
• “His text from Isaiah combines the prophet’s declaration of the year of Jubilee (Isaiah 61:1–2a) with “to let the oppressed go free,” a single line from Isaiah’s description of an acceptable fast (58:6). In God’s eyes, what is an acceptable year? What is an acceptable fast? Good news for the poor. Release for captives. Sight for the blind. Release for the oppressed. Jesus preaches more than forgiveness. He preaches freedom and transformation.”  –J. Jones
• ἄφεσις This word is prominent in the text
• Leviticus 25:10 LXX And ye shall sanctify the year, the fiftieth year, and ye shall proclaim a release upon the land to all that inhabit it; it shall be given a year of release, a jubilee for you; and each one shall depart to his possession, and ye shall go each to his family.
• Luke 1:46-55 in Mary’s song is echoed here.

Luke 4:20B The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.” 22 All were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

• Two responses
• “they were astonished that he was speaking about God’s grace—grace for everybody, including the nations—instead of grace for Israel and fierce judgment for everyone else.” (NT Wright, Everyone series, 48).

Luke 4:14> To jump back for a second, Luke emphasizes that Jesus’ preaching was “in the power of the Spirit”.

Luke 4:23 Jesus said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ and say, ‘What we have heard that you did in Capernaum, do here in your hometown too.’” 24 And he added, “I tell you the truth, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up three and a half years and there was a great famine over all the land. 26 Yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 

• Truth will set you free, but first it will make you mad.

Truth #1 - Israel often rejected its own....

Truth #2 - God expands Israel beyond ethnicity. 

Luke 4:28-30> 28 When they heard this, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, forced him out of the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But he passed through the crowd and went on his way.

• Irony, what the Devil tempted Him to do, the people, HIS people(!) attempt TO DO to him!

In the Church and World

What is Your Next Step With Jesus in Life?

For Reflection and Discussion

1. Did you ever go to a family gathering and it went VERY differently than you might have expected? What happened?
   
2. Have you experienced an unexpected gift that allowed you to do something you didn’t expect to be able to do as soon?
   
3. Jubilee: The law had built-in economic resets to make sure no one was enslaved (financially or physically) by long term debt. E.g., it could not go beyond one generation (or less), and had protections to keep land from being accumulated by the few vs. the many. What do you think of this? In what ways do our economic relationships mirror this old ideal. In what ways is our society in profound opposition to these ideals of non-concentration (in anyone’s hands, including govt)?
   
4. Jubilee speaks to spiritual bondage. How would you describe spiritual bondage to someone not familiar with the concept of personal or social sin?
   
5. Jesus tells them Israel has missed the mission and now God is going to accomplish it through Him. What is the mission of Jesus?
   
6. How is the idea of grace for all people, even those we disagree with or fight against, a challenge to our interests and agendas today?
   
7. What else do you see in Luke 4:13-27?
   
8. Finally, at what point is it right or even necessary for teachers and pastors to provoke hostility by challenging entrenched prejudices? What should we be teaching more on in our church in Vancouver?