Read on Twitter
Jesus' reading from Isaiah 61 in Luke 4 at the beginning of his public ministry frames his mission as one of proclamation of good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, liberty for those oppressed. 1/5
And yet, immediately after reading this passage, he brings none of those blessings to his immediate audience: the despised people of Nazareth. If any people could claim marginalization by society, it was the Nazarenes, whose name itself was pejorative. 2/5
Jesus rebuked the people of his hometown for their lack of faith in him. The juxtaposition of his reading from the scroll of Isaiah and his rebuke of the marginalized people in front of him indicates that his mission cannot be framed in simplistic terms. 3/5
"God is on the side of the poor" doesn't really capture what is happening in Luke 4, unless we define "the poor" as Isaiah 61 does: as those who, destitute of hope in this world, rely on God in faith. The Nazarenes were poor, but they were not people of faith. 4/5
And because of their lack of faith, Jesus had no good news for them.
Beware of simplistic appeals to Luke 4/Isaiah 61 that domesticate Jesus to a modern political agenda rather than understand his mission in biblical categories. /END
Beware of simplistic appeals to Luke 4/Isaiah 61 that domesticate Jesus to a modern political agenda rather than understand his mission in biblical categories. /END
