Patrick Comerford
26/1/25
Epiphany 3
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Luke 4:14-21
O God, we give you thanks because, in the carnation of the Word, a new light has dawned upon the world, that all the nations and peoples may be brought out of darkness to see the radiance of your glory.
Today is the final Sunday of the Epiphany season. You may be relieved to know that there are still a few threads to pull! Over the last three Sundays we have been looking at some key moments in Jesus’ life: the arrival of the Wise Men with their gifts, his baptism as an adult in the Jordan River and the wedding in Cana where bath water became a Grand Cru. The meaning of each event remains significant; the Wise Men proved that the message of Jesus is for everyone (not only the Jews), in his baptism Jesus was revealed as the Son of God. The wedding in Cana that Jesus comes when no one is looking and provides more than enough.
What does Epiphany mean? ‘A moment of great or sudden revelation or realisation.’ I am not sure if you have had an epiphany moment but they are quite extraordinary. Those moments when some new idea, knowledge or thought blows through your mind and you suddenly and sometimes drastically see the world, people, and a situation in a totally new way. Epiphany moments can cause a fundamental change in one’s life.
Epiphany moments are not always dramatic affairs. They can happen in a quiet moment and you know that something has changed in your mind or heart. However they come to us, these moments are significant. The Epiphany experiences of the people we meet in our Bible readings are the stories of revelations and realisations of God the Father and Jesus the Son.
In our Gospel reading for today the whole synagogue in Nazareth has something of an epiphany when Jesus stands up to read the scroll from what we know as Isaiah 61. It could have been a normal sabbath day, worship as usual in the Nazareth synagogue. What is the big deal?
Luke has Jesus returning to Nazareth after being away for an unknown amount of time; maybe months or even years. Jesus returns differently to when He left. Jesus comes back after being baptised and tempted in the wilderness for 40 days and stands at the cusp of his ministry which boldly begins in the synagogue in front of the home side. A bold start that gets even bolder. Jesus is handed the scroll that not coincidentally was Isaiah, the Old Testament book containing more prophecy about him than any other. He is about to begin fulfilling some prophecy.
Like the guests at the wedding, the congregation in the synagogue was not looking for anything that day. The Jewish people had long been waiting for the Messiah to come; this is what the people being baptised with Jesus expecting. The good people in the relative backwater of Nazareth were waiting for Messiah too; but not expecting him that day in their midst. Not only that, how could Messiah be from the family of a local poor carpenter?!
But He was and is.
If you replace me in verses 18 and 19 with Jesus, it is difficult to see how anyone else in all of history fills this position.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me (Jesus),
Because he has anointed me (Jesus)
To bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me (Jesus) 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 favour.
This is Jesus’ chosen description of his mission; this is what He came to do. When Jesus said, ‘today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’, the meaning of ‘fulfilled’ here is ‘to fill a vessel or hollow place’. How many of us know what it is to have that hollow place? He wants to fill it now; not tomorrow or next year or when we feel better or life is back to normal. Jesus means now.
Preach the good news to the poor. This is not referring to the financially poor. These poor are those in ‘utter helplessness, complete destitution, the afflicted and distressed.’ This has wider implications than finances alone. Jesus does not want us only to subsist but thrive. Until we let Him fill our cups daily, we will only subsist.
To heal the broken-hearted. Broken-hearted means ‘to break, strike against something, to break the strength or power of someone’. This is more than a little romance gone wrong or love unrequited. This is a big break; when everything appears to be taken and hope is dwindling.
The Hebrew translation of heal ‘to mend by stitching, repair thoroughly, make whole’. Total breakage needs total healing. One stitch follows another, it takes time and can be painful.
To proclaim freedom for the captives. Notice that Jesus proclaims freedom, he did not impose it. The door of the cell may be opened but we have to walk through it. This is not just people in a physical prison; this is anything: addiction, behaviour, situation that prevents healing and captive to it.
Recovery of sight for the blind. There are many incidents of Jesus physically restoring the sight of many blind people. This is a different kind of blindness, a more serious kind of blindness. Blind here means ‘to envelop with smoke, be unable to see clearly.’ This is about clouded vision; not being able to see the light of gospel or the glory of God. Jesus came to clear our vision so we can see him clearly.
To release the oppressed. To be oppressed is to be treated harshly or unfairly by someone in authority. This release is about breaking the chains of unhealthy attachment.
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. That day in that year and at that time, those gathered in the Nazareth synagogue witnessed the embodiment of the Lord’s favour. His blessed gift of grace and love, Jesus. Year here means ‘any definite time’ and not a calendar year.
Paul is also responding to the needs of now. The first letter of Corinthians is Paul’s reply to the letters sent to him from members of the Corinthian church. They are contending with things like: a church divided over its leaders, what it is to be an apostle, how to deal with incest, lawsuits among believers, sexual immorality, married life, food sacrificed to idols, how to conduct communion, spiritual gifts, love, worship and resurrection of the dead.
Paul is making an impassioned plea to get the church to think in a completely new way. Paul wants them to move from only thinking about themselves and their individual needs and rights to thinking of themselves as one entity, one body, whose health and life depends on cooperation and connection.
Paul is reminding us that we are the body of Christ and we have been called to take up our roles. We may have different gifts and calling but all are as important as the other. All are needed just as all parts of the body are needed. We are part of the one Spirit, one baptism and we all have gifts to share; things to strive for.
There is an urgency in both of these passages. The invitation to what God is offering is available now. Right now. As it is an invitation it can be refused. We might decide to wait until things get better by ourselves or we just need to try a bit harder. Maybe we like struggling under our own steam. Or we can go to him now. This applies to us as individuals but also to us as the church.
Maybe this is our epiphany moment this morning: we do not have to wait until things get better or the stars align. In the Nazareth synagogue of his childhood Jesus proved that was the fulfillment of the old scriptures. He came with the Spirit of the Lord upon him to bring the good news to the poor in spirit, proclaim release to the prisoners and freedom to the oppressed who want it, recovery of sight to those who had lost vision of God and to usher in the time of the Lord’s favour. Available to all until He comes again. This day is holy to the Lord. Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. May it be so.
