Advent Passage: Luke 4:14-28, Isaiah 61

When Mary sings of God’s justice and righteousness in Luke 1:50-53, she heralds the earthly ministry of Jesus. Indeed, Jesus will use similar language from the book of Isaiah to describe His mission.

In today’s passage, we meet Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. He has been travelling throughout Judea, teaching and preaching in the synagogues. On the journey, He returns home to Nazareth, where He grew up.

In Nazareth, Jesus attends synagogue and stands to read the Torah portion. The text that day is from Isaiah 61, so Jesus recites today’s verse:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4:18-19).

After reading, Jesus sits back down. Luke states, “The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’” (4:20-21).

Can you imagine being in the synagogue that day? Many people were amazed. This was Jesus’ hometown, after all. These people knew him as Mary’s oldest son, born in a manger in Bethlehem during the census. He was the son of Joseph, the carpenter. He was just a local boy.

Jesus continued to speak, predicting their rejection of Him. Jesus’ words made some of them so angry that they immediately did just that. They even tried to throw Him off a cliff. However, Jesus escaped unharmed. He left Nazareth for Capernaum, where He taught good news, healed many people, and released others from spiritual oppression. In sum, Jesus did exactly what He proclaimed in Nazareth.

The violent response to Jesus in Nazareth seems shocking, but these were faithful Jews. Their aim was to protect the synagogue, to maintain their posture of waiting faithfully for the Messiah. In their zeal, they attempted to destroy the very One they were hoping for.

It makes me wonder, church, do we do the same? When we hear the earthly mission of Jesus—to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to declare the year of the Lord’s favor—do we follow Him or try to hinder Him? In our zeal to protect what we have, do we miss out on what we are hoping for?

Every year at Christmas, we have the opportunity to behold our Messiah in the manger and make a choice. Church, let this be the year we declare in favor of Jesus.

© 2025 Lori Myers Berry

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