Can You Imagine If Any Old Sunday, Anybody Could Wander In and Preach?

     Jesus comes into town, like a gunslinger in the Old West, more a bibleslinger in this horribly overloaded metaphor.  Sunday morning, wanders into church, opens the Bible to some apparently random passage in Isaiah, and tells the people who are gathered.  "See, this is me!"

    Okay, so Jesus doesn't exactly say, "This is me."  Rather, he shares and then tells them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

    Okay, so this is not exactly the old west.  It's not some random church that Jesus picked while cruising along Rt. 130, it is Nazareth, his home town.  And unlike our region, there was the synagogue, not the large number of churches and denominations (or not-denominations) that someone could choose from.  The central religious location was in Jerusalem, and all the communities around it had their satellite synagogues for the folks to meet between festivals in the capital.

    So Jesus was known in town.  This was also his practice.  Jesus was filled with the Spirit, was in the region of Galilee, and building up a fanbase as word got out.  "He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone."

    Jesus is telling them, and us, something amazing.  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me."  We know this from Our Story, Jesus was baptized FOR US.  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me."  Pronouns, what is it with the pronouns?  He who?  Me, Jesus...okay. 

    Jesus is reading from Isaiah 61.  In those verses, the prophet is saying that the Lord anointed him with the Spirit.  (So 'he' is the Father, pronounically speaking...)   Again, this is what happened at the Jordan.  God sent the Spirit, anointed Jesus (not literally with oil, but transcendently, as God on high).  But what is written in Isaiah, Jesus is now lifting from that context and placing upon himself.  

    Thus, we have the mission of our Lord Jesus:

    I am "to bring good news to the poor."

    I am "to proclaim release to the captives" (as he has been sent to do).

    I am "(to provide the) recovery of sight to the blind."

    I am "to let the oppressed go free."

    I am ""to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

    Good news, redemption, miracles, salvation, and the Lord's favor.

    This is the agenda of the Spirit-anointed Jesus.  We too are Spirit-anointed, because what Jesus has done is for us and, well, Pentecost.  If Jesus said "This is me" in Nazareth, can we say "This is us" in Merchantville?  Something to pray on.

Peace,
Pastor Pete