Lk 1,1-4; 4,14-21
(3 Ord. C)
Significance and structure. – Why this odd literary grouping for the Sunday liturgy? Perhaps because each of these two passages forms a prelude: one to the gospel, the other to the ministry of Jesus?
The book begins with a prologue, in the manner of the Greek writers of Luke’s time it is written in excellent literary Greek. He mentions his predecessors, his concern for accurate information and literary coherence, and he dedicates his work to an important figure.
v.1: many: Greek writers very frequently begin a formal speech or preface with the use of polus, alone or in compound form. This does not imply that the statement itself is not true to fact, but there might be here a slight rhetorical exaggeration; perhaps “several” would be a better translation than “many” (RSV).
- the things which have been accomplished: The object of this book is the whole life and mission of Jesus – as accomplished by God; this is discreetly suggested by the verb in the passive voice (a divine passive). That is the reason why this narrative is a gospel.
v.2: just as they were delivered to us: The whole subject-matter of the book comes from tradition (oral and written).
- by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word: a reference to the “disciples” taken in the wide sense of he term.
v.3: having followed all things closely for some time past: Since Luke himself was not an eyewitness (otherwise he would certainly have said so), this means that his investigation has been conducted over a long period.
- to write an orderly account: a chronological by and large, a continuous narrative, but also a literary and didactic order.
- excellent (kratistos): an epithet of courtesy, usually reserved for someone of good social standing.
- Theophilus: perhaps a Christian who has already an incomplete version of the church’s catechesis – or a pagan to whom Luke would present an apology of the Christian faith. The name Theophilus was quite frequent since the 3rd century B.C. This Theophilus is probably a real person (in spite of the highly symbolic character of the name Theophilus = beloved of God or loving God). He might have been the patronus of Luke, who was to see to the copying or publication of his work.
- v.4: that you may know the truth concerning the things of what you have been informed: Like a conscientious historian, Luke means to present reliable information.
We now pass on to the second part of this Sunday gospel. It is borrowed from chapter 4 and relates the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth. The real function of the whole narrative (1.e., vv. 14-30) is to introduce the main theme of the Gospel and Acts: the Gospel to the poor is preached by Jesus in his own town and rejected; this rejection foreshadows the rejection by the Jewish people and the subsequent, universal mission of the church.
v.14: in the power of the Spirit: Once again the Spirit is mentioned. Luke insists on the fact that the whole ministry of Jesus will be conducted under the guidance of the Spirit. This notation probably prepares the mention of the Spirit in the quotation from Isaiah 4 verses later.
v.17: and found place where it was written: Contrary to the opinion of many authors, there is no need to think that a minor miracle occurred here and that Jesus “providentially” came on the very passage, which best suited the occasion. Luke probably wants to say that Jesus found the place in the scripture after having searched for it. If, at the age of 12, Jesus astonished exegetes with his scriptural acumen, one does not see why he would need a special intervention of God to find an important passage in Isaiah.
v.18: No doubt this quotation of Is 61,1 evoked the consecration of a prophet (see for example the anointing of Elisha by Elijah in 1 K 19,16).
v.19: the acceptable year of the Lord: This expression “year of the Lord” is a reference to the Jubilee Year fixed by the Law at every 50 years (Lv 25,10-13).
This translation of the: RSV is quite noteworthy, for the same passage of Is 61,2 is translated differently in the Book of Isaiah itself: “to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” This is a much preferable translation because 1) it renders perfectly the meaning of the Jubilee Year, which was precisely a year during which Yahweh extended his favor to Israel in a particular way; and 2) it Is not biased, like the one of this verse 19, by the questionable interpretation of the crucial v.24. The difference between these two translations is that the first one (“the year of the Lord’s favor”) acknowledges the active meaning of this expression (in Greek eniautos dektos = a favorable year, a year which favors Israel), whereas the second one (“the acceptable” only has a passage meaning). Unfortunately, this distortion has had far-reaching effects throughout the whole history of the exegesis of this passage: because of it, very few critics have understood the correct significance of this whole episode of the rejection at Nazareth. This will be shown in the next pericope.
v.21: Luke often emphasizes the actuality of salvation (2,11; 3,22; 5,26; 13,32; 19,9; 23,43).
In short, we see here Jesus presenting his coming as the advent of the eschatological era of grace and favor announced by the third Isaiah.
The knowledge that we have of Jesus and which was handed down to us by the leaders of the Church, by our parents and our educators, goes back from generation to generation and takes its source in the gospels. These, as Luke the evangelist tells us in the first verses of his gospel, have been written either by eyewitnesses of the events or by conscientious men like Luke who have collected solid material before undertaking their task. This means that our faith does not rest on old wives’ tales or on imaginary myths. Our faith essentially rests on historical facts attested by witnesses who shed their blood rather than deny those facts. This confers on the religion of Christ a particular character, one unique in human history. The fact that Christianity is essentially based on the intervention of God in history distinguishes it from any other religion or system of thought. Our God is a God of fact, of real and actual fact; he is not an idol or a mere idea. And that God, who is so interested in man that he enters into man's concrete history, is the who addresses us today through Jesus, the concrete carpenter from Nazareth.
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In addressing one of his first public messages to his small village of Nazareth, where “he had been brought up" (v.16), Jesus shows the delicacy of his heart. He who is already famous throughout the whole of Galilee (vv.14-15) does not forget the patch of land where he grew. He has set his heart on imparting to his neighbors, his relatives, his townsmen, the Good News of salvation, that "year of favor" which in his person Yahweh grants to Israel and to the whole world. While being Son of God, born of the Holy Spirit, Jesus does not disown the human ties, which bind him to Nazareth. Grace does not destroy nature, it makes it perfect: a fully Christian life, far from detaching us from our compatriots, brings us closer to them, enables us to love them with a greater fidelity and tenderness.
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Even though he is the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus continues to attend the synagogue service regularly, "as his custom was" (v.l6). He made himself "under the law" (Ga 4,4), as the infancy narrative has shown us. He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it by bringing it to its perfection. When we become disciples of Jesus, we choose this path of obedience and of submission to the will of the Father expressed in the commandments of God and of the Church.
Jesus came first of all for the poor, the oppressed, and the blind. His entire public ministry shows his concern for alleviating the miseries he meets on his path. But he concentrates most of all on the miseries of the soul. For the miseries of the body are only an effect and a sign of the miseries of the soul. That is why, while healing the sick, raising the dead and multiplying the loaves, he endeavors mainly to free the hearts of men from sin, to cast out demons, to open the eyes of faith. His merciful activity continues lastingly in the church and through his church. By means of the sacraments, Jesus continues to liberate those who are the slaves of sin to feed them with his body, to strengthen them by his grace. By the preaching and the teaching of his church, Jesus continues to impart his light to those in darkness. And so, each one of us, inasmuch as he can, must in turn enable others to benefit from the merciful activity of Christ, which he himself has experienced so richly. Each one of us has to prolong among those around him the action of Christ by spreading his joy and his light, by alleviating physical and moral miseries, by freeing them from paralyzing fears, by delivering them from ignorance, by appeasing resentments, by relieving loneliness, by manifesting through his whole behavior the active presence of Christ among men. If we are thus faithful and responsible disciples of Christ, today the prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled, today a year of God’s favor will be proclaimed, today the kingdom of God will dawn upon men.