Such temptation often arises when we come to Luke 4:14-21. Here Jesus returns to the synagogue in Nazareth, where he had grown up. As Luke recounts, Jesus “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 God is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of God’s favor.’”
Is Jesus talking about real people crushed by the cruelty of real poverty, real captivity, and real oppression?
Could Jesus be saying that he—and perhaps we—are called to be part of God’s liberation of everyone from this living hell?
As biblical scholar Dr. Warren Carter declares, “Unconvincing are readings that restrict the passage’s significance to religious meanings and spiritualize its language as descriptions or metaphors of human sinfulness (poor in spirit, bound by sin, blind to God’s favor, etc.) from which Jesus is to save.”
Rather, Jesus is getting real about God’s action to release people from the devastating bodily struggles of being poor. Carter points out that “70-90 percent of inhabitants in Rome’s world can be classified as ‘poor’ to varying degrees, struggling either permanently or sporadically with food insecurity and subsistence existence.”
Jesus calls people to join in “God’s work of healing the damage inflicted on the poor by Rome’s imperial rule through limited resources, poor nutrition, low immunity, and abundant stressors.” Though God’s healing work is underway, it “remains incomplete, as a glance at the world, ancient and modern, makes clear.”
As Henri Nouwen, twentieth century priest and prophet, reminds us, “God calls everyone who is listening.”
Dr. Warren Carter is Professor of New Testament at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas. His reflections on Luke 4:14-21 may be found in "Connections: A Lectionary Commentary," Year C, Vol. 1, p. 205-206.
Henri Nouwen's exploration of God's call to us may be found in "Seeds of Change: A Henri Nouwen Reader," edited by Robert Durback, Bantam, 1990.