Ken Overberg, S.J.

Third Sunday, January 21, 2007

With Advent, we began a new liturgical year, the year for proclaiming the Gospel of Luke. Christmas and other feast days, along with John’s story of Cana last week, interrupted our proclamation. Now we return to Luke, beginning with his preface and then skipping to Jesus’ keynote address in Nazareth.

Many scholars date Luke (and his second volume, “The Acts of the Apostles”) around 85. More recently some have suggested that Luke comes from early in the second century. Whatever the date, it was many years after the life and death of Jesus. Luke, of course, was not intending an exact historical account but rather a proclamation of faith rooted in Jesus. So he felt free to rearrange his primary source, Mark’s gospel, by moving today’s scene to the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

Luke’s creativity is also found within the text itself, as he weaves together selections from several different chapters of Isaiah. As it stands, the quotation we will hear would not be found on a synagogue scroll. Luke acts as artist in order to be preacher.

To prepare for Luke’s passage, we first hear from Nehemiah another scene of people responding to God’s word—in this case, the Torah, proclaimed in Jerusalem long after the rebuilding of the Temple in the 500s BCE. We also continue our reading of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, reminding us of our unity through baptism.

Let’s listen to God’s word!

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This marvelous and powerful scene is rich with statements about Jesus’

identity and mission, and full of implications for our lives as disciples of Jesus. This passage is truly a keynote, establishing the basic themes of Luke’s gospel. Jesus, the anointed one—that is, the Messiah, the Christ—teaches and heals and proclaims the presence of God’s reign. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises: for “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them” (Lk

7: 22-23). God’s reign is breaking into the world through Jesus!

And it continues to happen today—through us. As Luke was creative with Mark and Isaiah, let us be creative with Luke: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon us, because the Spirit has anointed us to bring good news to the poor. The Spirit has sent us 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…. Today this scripture is being fulfilled in our hearing.”

Amazing, isn’t it? And absolutely true! We have been anointed by the Spirit in our baptism. We have been deeply loved by our gentle God. So we gather today and throughout the liturgical year to remember and celebrate our identity, rooted in the life and teachings of Jesus. We want to hear again our call to follow him. We want to find renewed courage and wisdom in order to teach and to heal and to free. For that is what we do in our amazing variety of ministries and with our own families and friends and colleagues. And all this in very ordinary ways, with day-to-day details, sometimes even with opposition (Luke will say more about this next week).

Luke’s text speaks of “the year of the Lord’s favor,” tapping into those special feelings of the Jubilee when people returned to their homes, debts were cancelled, and slaves were set free. Even the structures of social and economic life must reflect God’s reign.

Take some time this week to ponder these glad tidings of healing and hope. And ask yourself: who are the poor, the blind, the captive in your life?