Luke is the New Testament writer whose narratives emphasize the activity of the Holy Spirit. Thus, Luke’s account of the life of Jesus, and the mission of the early Church are linked to the Old Testament witness of the creative and inspirational Spirit of God: The Spirit of God that swept over the waters in creation (Genesis 1:1-2), the Spirit who inspired the craftsmen who made the sacred objects for the tabernacle (see, for example, Exodus 31:1-6), who inspired the prophets. Luke is making the implicit claim that this same creative, energizing Spirit of God is at work again in the life and ministry of Jesus. Luke will also make this same claim about the expanding mission of the early Church — in his record in the book of Acts.

Luke 4:14, 15
Καὶ ὑπέστρεψεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ πνεύματος εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν. καὶ φήμη ἐξῆλθεν καθ’ ὅλης τῆς περιχώρου περὶ αὐτοῦ. καὶ αὐτὸς ἐδίδασκεν ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς αὐτῶν δοξαζόμενος ὑπὸ πάντων.

“Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.” (NRSV).

This is Luke’s brief account of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. Jesus has emerged from the time of temptation (vv. 1-12) and has returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit” (ἐν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ πνεύματος).

The temptation of Jesus must have been part of the plan, too. Luke lets us know that Jesus was spiritual led into the wildness too. “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness….” (Luke 4:1 NRSV). From this temptation, Jesus emerges in power. Adam Clarke (1762-1832) remarks:

Having now conquered the grand adversary, he comes in the miracle- working energy of the Spirit to show forth his power, godhead, and love to the people, that they might believe and be saved. He who, through the grace of God, resists and overcomes temptation, is always bettered by it. This is one of the wonders of God’s grace, that those very things which are designed for our utter ruin he makes the instruments of our greatest good. Thus Satan is ever duped by his own proceedings, and caught in his own craft.

Verses 14 & 15 summarize what must have been an eventful period in the life of Jesus. This is some kind of preaching campaign. Synagogues were evidently open to Jesus to preach and teach — as they would be later to the apostle Paul, as he spread the message of Christ in the Jewish diaspora. It is interesting how this openness of the synagogue became a launching pad for both the ministry of Jesus and the mission of the early Church. I gather from this, that these synagogues were not under the strict control of the religious leaders. It was this freedom from religious control that allowed the message of Christ to spread.

The results of this preaching mission of Jesus were: “a report about him spread through all the surrounding country” and he was “was praised by everyone.” Jesus had a good vibe going. People were talking about him favorably, and they wanted to hear him for themselves. This early Jesus movement had some momentum behind it. This sets the stage for the rejection which will eventuate in Nazareth (vv. 22-30).

Luke 4:16-19
Καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς Ναζαρά, οὗ ἦν τεθραμμένος, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν κατὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν καὶ ἀνέστη ἀναγνῶναι. καὶ ἐπεδόθη αὐτῷ βιβλίον τοῦ προφήτου Ἠσαΐου καὶ ἀναπτύξας τὸ βιβλίον εὗρεν τὸν τόπον οὗ ἦν γεγραμμένον· πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐπ’ ἐμὲ οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέν με εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς, ἀπέσταλκέν με, κηρύξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν, ἀποστεῖλαι τεθραυσμένους ἐν ἀφέσει, κηρύξαι ἐνιαυτὸν κυρίου δεκτόν.

“When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’”

Jesus is on a Spirit-inspired mission and is anointed by the Spirit of God to speak. He reads from the prophet Isaiah. This is not just one passage: Isaiah 61:1 is here combined with Isaiah 58:6. Daniel Whedon (1808-1885) remarks:

The passage describes, in terms of beautiful figure, the office of the Messiah, as in the Messiah’s own words. The words are mostly quoted from the Septuagint version. The phrase bind up
the broken-hearted in this place is of doubtful genuineness,…. The clause to set at liberty them that are bruised, is from Isaiah 58:6, and was probably made by our Lord a part of his text for preaching. The beautiful passages combined show that the jubilee, when the bondmen of Israel were to be emancipated, was held by him to be a type of the Gospel dispensation. Freedom is the spirit of the Gospel; emancipation from the bonds of slavery on the limbs, of ignorance on the mind, of sin upon the soul.

People are inspired by all kinds of things. People make differing claims about what they were spiritually inspired to do and say. But, here is what it means to be inspired by the Spirit of God — it means to proclaim:

• good news to the poor.
• release to the captives
• recovery of sight to the blind,
• to let the oppressed go free,
• to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

It means freedom. It means that all people are valuable, and their best interests are to be sought. It means freedom from oppression. It means freedom from all that limits or binds people.

You can recognize the wind when it blows the leaves on the trees. You can recognize the Spirit of God by the effects it brings: forgiveness, freedom, hope, reconciliation. The Spirit of God may help me recognize my errors and sins — in order to find new direction — and a new beginning. So, guilt (older preachers would have said “conviction”) is often part of the Spirit’s work on us — but not shame. The Spirit corrects us to lift us up — inspire new ways of living, new direction, new hopes. The Spirit of God inspires us to care about other people. The Spirit of God impels us to seek justice and fairness in a world full of unfairness and inequality.

The phrase “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” should be taken as” “proclaim the year of Jubilee.” The year of Jubilee is described in Exodus 23:10-11, Leviticus 25, and Deuteronomy 15. Whedon comments on verse 19:

“The acceptable year of the Lord “— The year of jubilee, which by the Mosaic law returned every fiftieth year. In this year the debtors and bondsmen were to be released, possessions to be restored, and oppression to cease. To this the gospel day is compared as being acceptable to the Lord.

Luke 4:20, 21
καὶ πτύξας τὸ βιβλίον ἀποδοὺς τῷ ὑπηρέτῃ ἐκάθισεν· καὶ πάντων οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἐν τῇ συναγωγῇ ἦσαν ἀτενίζοντες αὐτῷ. ἤρξατο δὲ λέγειν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὅτι σήμερον πεπλήρωται ἡ γραφὴ αὕτη ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ὑμῶν.

“And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

This appears to be more than just a matter of Jesus being a lay reader of Scripture, then putting the scroll back. He brought scriptures together and drew a moral. The following verse says: “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” So, it appears there was a sermon of some sort here — two passages from Isaiah are brought together with an application to Jesus’ ministry.

He spoke gracious words. He spoke words that brought alive the ancient words of the prophet Isaiah. He spoke in the inspiration of the very same Spirit of God. The work of freedom and new beginnings was already being inaugurated in Jesus’ ministry. It was for others to sign on — to trust what the Spirit of God — was doing in and through him — and also learn to speak gracious words to the world.

As it turned out, the people in Nazareth were not willing to trust Jesus and sign on to this mission. They had already pigeon-holed him and were not willing to accept him in the role of prophet. Communities can have their own favorite sons/daughters, but in Jesus’ case, the people of Nazareth were unwilling to accept him in this new role. It conflicted with whatever they already thought they knew of him.

For many of us, it is hard to believe that God could come in human flesh — from someone of lower socio-economic class — from someone subject to the same characteristics and tendencies and drives that we are. Incarnation is a mind boggling doctrine — but one that brings hope. Here is a human life — even a life looked down-upon by others — comes the God of justice and love — to meet us where we are.

God has come in Christ — Christ has spoken, in the power of the Spirit. Christ’s Kingdom of Hope has been inaugurated. Are we ready to sign on?

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FOR PREACHERS: Here is a PowerPoint (PPTX) file you might like to look at and play around with if you are planning to preach on this passage: The Word Fulfilled. You may use this, edit it, or change it any way you wish — or (of course) not use it at all — as you see fit.