The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me

 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.  And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.  And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.  And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.  And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to he blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"  He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself!  Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'"  Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.  But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."  So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.  Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

- Luke 4:14-30

On Saturday, we read about Jesus' time in the wilderness, of fasting and of facing temptations:  Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"  Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,'   and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.  And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.   Just as Luke has told us that it was the Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness for the forty days of fasting and temptation, the Spirit returned Him to Galilee, and here His public ministry begins.  Luke is careful to point out that He was glorified by all; it is a successful ministry.

So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.  And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.  And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.  And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:  "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to he blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."  My study bible tells us,  "Isaiah speaks of the anointing of Christ by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of the LORD descended descended upon Jesus at His baptism.  Jesus will bring blessings long awaited by the Jewish people, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah." Cyril of Alexandria has written that "'Acceptable' is that year in which we were received, when we took kinship with him, having our sins washed away through holy baptism and becoming partakers of the divine nature through the sharing of the Holy Spirit. Or 'acceptable' is the year in which he revealed his glory through the divine miracle attesting the message"  (Commentary on Isaiah 5.5.61.1–3).

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"  My study bible says that they "marveled at His words, but could not believe that Jesus, a fellow villager, could be the Messiah."

He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself!  Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'"  Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.  But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."    My study bible says here:  "Jesus exposes their unbelief.  Through examples of God's mercy to the Gentiles, He warns them that their heritage alone will not save them."

So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.  Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.  Jesus has openly rebuked them for their unbelief, in some sense (as my study bible says) exposing what hasn't exactly been said, but was expressed through their exclamations of wonder noting His background.  The response is wrath:  they want to kill Him for His rebuke, His open stating of the truth about their response.

It's interesting to think about some of the words used here.  Jesus' fellow villagers of Nazareth marvel at His "gracious words."  These words are those of grace -- they are the things that come through His speech as a gift from God, a gift of grace.  It is linked to the sense which we spoke of in Friday's reading, of God's condescension, God's extension toward us.  It is God giving us joy, favor, a good gift, and these are the words proceeding from Jesus' mouth.  John's Gospel has told us that Jesus is the Word, Logos in the Greek.  What proceeds from Him as Son therefore are the words to live by, as in "every word of God" as Jesus quoted to His tempter in Saturday's reading.  Some dictionaries tell us that this word we translate as grace also indicates a "leaning toward" (as in condescension).  In other words, Jesus comes to them, bearing gifts, favor, and another word truly rooted in the Greek χαρις, translated as "grace" - and that is joy.   But how do His fellow villagers of Nazareth react?  They respond to His extension to them by retracting into their own thoughts, pulling back:  "Isn't this the son of Joseph?"  The implication is that they are refusing this gift, this grace, by pulling back, retracting from the extended hand of God, spoken through the words of Jesus.  They turn to a limited perspective, limiting therefore the capacities (which are infinite) of God's grace.  They decide that it cannot be.  They prefer their own reality, outside the sphere of the unlimited capacities of God, even to extend God's grace through this human being.  How can the son of Joseph the carpenter be the One through whom this gift is extended?  It is a strange paradox to consider that God has been made one of us, that the Spirit anoints each one in capacity to be "like Him" through adoption, and that grace offers to us a gift that we cannot possibly qualify for but must instead simply accept, with love.  Can we make that great leap that these people fail to make?  Can we get outside of our own limitations to realize the great love that extends toward us?  Let us remember that we cannot put limits on God, that God's love is infinite and surpasses anything we can understand, especially on "worldly" terms.  A free favor of grace requires our freedom of us, the freedom to love in return, and to have our own limitations expanded beyond measure.