The Gospel of the Poor, Captives, Blind, and Oppressed

Sermon Text || Year C: Third Sunday After Epiphany

What is the good news? Paul lays it out in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4—the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. In another place, though, Paul talked about preaching the gospel, but then, just a few verses later, he said that he was sent to “proclaim him” (Galatians 1:16). As my friend Dallas says, “gospel is spelled “J-E-S-U-S.”

But Galatians 1 reveals something else: we tend to add to the gospel. It can’t be that easy. God’s love must come with terms and conditions. So we come up with steps and sayings and systems that one must follow, affirm, or learn if they are to actually follow the gospel. Then the very people who prescribe such things turn to Galatians 1 to condemn others for preaching a different gospel, even though they have become embodiments of the ones described in Galatians 1!

But this is more than a theological problem; it’s an ethical one. Through complicating the gospel, some end up disenfranchising the original beneficiaries of the gospel: not the righteous, but the “sinners.” These people were generally considered sinners by the so-called righteous because their earthly predicaments seemed to suggest a corrupt heart, just as Job’s friends thought.

These people are the poor, the captives, those suffering from various ailments, and the oppressed. In the reading today, we will see how Jesus flips this idea upon its head by proclaiming that the year of Jubilee had arrived!

The Gospel of the Poor, Captives, Blind, and Oppressed

Who is God?

This season we are in is called “Epiphany.” It is the in-between time between Christmas and Lent. The texts deal with various times Jesus was revealed to be the Son of God, the Eternal Word. We’ll finish this series on Epiphany by standing on the Mount of Transfiguration with the disciples.

But why does all this matter?

If we consider the Hebrews writer, we’ll discover the answer:

He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. Hebrews 1:3

To see Jesus as he is reveals God as God is.

Thus, when we study a text about Jesus’s baptism or even Jesus turning water into wine, we learn something about Jesus, but we also learn something about the Father.

With that being said, let’s jump into the text.

Luke 4:14-21

Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

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 set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

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.” Luke 4:14–21

The Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah

The text Jesus reads here is Isaiah 61:1-2, but he does something interesting: he adds Isaiah 58:6. Here are both texts in the Septuagint, which is the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, on account of which he has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to heal those who are crushed in heart, to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord… Isaiah 61:1–2

If you look this passage up in your Bible, instead of “recovery of sight to the blind” it will say “release to the prisoners.”

Notice also that the line about “those who are oppressed” is missing from this text. Instead, it is found in an earlier part of this same context. In the translation of the Septuagint I use (the LES), this line is rendered “send the broken ones forth in forgiveness.”

Instead, loose every unjust fetter, undo the knot of violent transactions, send the broken ones forth in forgiveness, and tear every unjust contract asunder! Isaiah 58:6

Another thing to note here is that Jesus leaves off something interesting in his quotation of Isaiah 61:2. Here’s the rest of the verse in both the Hebrew and Greek texts:

Hebrew

to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, Isaiah 61:2

Greek

to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of repayment, to comfort all who mourn, Isaiah 61:2

I don’t want to read too much into these changes. I’ll let you have all the fun. I just wanted you to know where they came from and what (a few) of the differences were.

Good News to Whom?

Let’s return to our original text in Luke 4.

Jesus mentions four groups of people here in his creative reading of Isaiah:

He says that he has been anointed to bring goods to the poor, and this good news would release the captives, heal the blind, and set free the oppressed.

As we will see in Luke, Jesus rarely spiritualizes these ideas as he does in Matthew (compare the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 to Luke 6). In fact, many of his parables and teaching in Luke revolve around justice for the poor. These include the rich man and Lazarus, the widow and the unjust judge, and Jesus’s teaching on who to invite to banquets.

So when we read this text in Luke 4, we may be tempted to jump to a spiritual reading of Jesus’s words, but we should first slow down and think about the situation of those in the first century.

Under Roman oppression, who was rich and who was poor? Were the rich not generally those who had taken advantage of Roman occupancy to make a name and fortune for themselves, such as the tax collectors? This is why they are targets of both James in James 5 and John in 1 John 3:17. These two authors can’t see how someone could justify having excess while their brothers and sisters are starving.

And who were the poor? Was it not those who were oppressed by the rich, not allowed into social circles because of circumstances outside of their control (such as being blind), or simply born into the wrong family or city (can anything good come out of Nazareth)?

Thus, the crowds with whom Jesus had favor, see Luke 4:15, were these very people, and so Jesus does what we all should do: he stands up in the synagogue and gives them a voice. He uses what success he had to pronounce a grand reversal that would take place through his preaching.

Now, let’s ask a tough question. If we preach the gospel of Jesus as Jesus did, then we should look around our congregations and see the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed. If we don’t, are we preaching as Jesus preached? Are we preaching Jesus? Have we been anointed by the Spirit?

If the people in our congregation all look like us, are we more like the Christ or more like those who tried to throw him off a cliff in response to this very sermon?

Today this Scripture has Been Fulfilled

When all eyes were fixed on Jesus, he said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, this passage is about me.

But if this passage is about Jesus, is it not also about us as members of his body? Are we not also supposed to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to blind, and to set free those who are oppressed?

We’ve considered this literally; now let’s consider it spiritually:

Do we know someone who is spiritually bankrupt because they’ve tried their whole life to “be good” and are now just exhausted by their own perceived imperfection?

Do we know someone who is captive to the fear of death or to legalism or any such teaching that so downplays the love and grace of God so as to render it ineffective?

Do we know someone who is blind, and their blindness is a kind of prison (as the alternative reading of Isaiah 61 suggests)? Maybe they are blind to the true nature of God. Maybe they are blind to who God has called them to be. Maybe they are blind to the salvation that is in Christ? Maybe they are blind to the working of the Spirit.

Do we know someone who is spiritually oppressed by teaching that says that they aren’t good enough or aren’t worthy or aren’t yet where they need to be? A teaching that suggests that God doesn’t love them “just as” they are?

This is where we can proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. This is where we can say, “This scripture has been fulfilled!”

And if this is who Jesus is, whey would we expect anything different from his Abba? God has good news for the poor, offers liberty, offers recovery, and brings comfort to the oppressed. Amen.

Lectionary Reading: January 26, 2024 - Third Sunday After Epiphany

Old Testament: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm: Psalm 19
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Gospel: Luke 4:14-21