“The Epiphany response to Christmas—part 1: Sitting on the edge of their seats.”
Well, dear sisters and brothers, imagine this—you have heard that Jesus is coming to town. News has spread about him throughout the whole region, and you hear reports that as he taught in the synagogues he was glorified by all—this guy is some preacher!
Now this renowned teacher is coming to the synagogue you are sitting in, in your hometown—Nazareth. He is there, right in front of you. As Jesus stands up to read, you see that an attendant hands him a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. There is an air of anticipation and excitement in the place. You find yourself leaning forward supporting your chin with your hand, shuffling towards the edge of your seat, and you notice that everyone else is too.
As Jesus unrolls the scroll, there is silence so thick you could hear a pin drop. Then Jesus begins reading:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
because he has anointed me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor,
He has sent me to preach deliverance to the captives
and that the blind will receive their sight
to free those who are oppressed
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
Then rolling the scroll up, and handing it back to the attendant, Jesus sits down. And the eyes of all in synagogue—including yours—are fixed on him—as everyone awaits his sermon, expectantly, in hope. Jesus begins: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.
Wow! This is the One whom Isaiah spoke of all those centuries before. He is the One upon whom the Spirit of the Lord God rests—when he was baptised the heavens were opened and the Spirit descended upon him in bodily form. And that Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan and to overcome him. And having overcome Satan, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.
The Saviour bringing freedom and rescue is there with them, in the present moment. They no longer have to wait. Jesus is declaring that this scripture is about him—not one who will be coming later, or even soon. He is there, the One anointed by the Spirit of the Lord to proclaim the Good News to the poor, to preach deliverance to the captives, and that the blind will receive their sight. The one who will free those who are oppressed and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
He will do this through proclaiming the Good News—that by his presence, the year of the Lord’s favour has arrived! Jesus doesn’t just say that it is coming, but that it is actually here and has been fully completed.
The Old Testament book of Leviticus speaks of a year of the Lord’s favour—the year of Jubilee—a year every 50 years where slaves were liberated, debts were forgiven, people returned to their homes and labour ceased. But Jesus won’t just bring the Lord’s favour every 50 years, he will bring it continuously. Through his preaching of the Good News, he will bring faith to people to trust in him; it will be as though they were blind but now see for the first time—that they who were captive by Satan’s power see Jesus as the one who has defeated him, bringing deliverance for them so that they share in his own victory.
In recent weeks we have emerged from the Christmas season to Epiphany Sunday, and now, the Sundays after Epiphany. The word ‘Epiphany’ means to show plainly. Since his birth in the stable at Bethlehem, Jesus has not just been revealed as the Saviour to Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the people of Bethlehem—he has been shown clearly to the whole world as its Saviour. In recent Sundays we have heard how wise men from the East made a considerable journey to follow the star, guiding them to see the Christ child. Last Sunday, we heard in John how at the wedding at Cana, Jesus’ miracle of turning water into wine was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory. In this Sunday’s Gospel Luke tells us that Jesus was glorified by all as he visited the synagogues.
And he continues to be shown plainly as the Saviour to peoples of all times and places, even you here, now. The word ‘Today’ is what makes this text the sweetest Good News. We don’t have to imagine being there in the synagogue of Nazareth that day—what it would be like to sit in front of Jesus, as he reads God’s word and preaches to us. Because he is doing that for you every Sunday. The living, risen Christ says again this morning: “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
The Christian faith is not only looking back at the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem like a historical event. Nor is it only looking forward to the promised blessings we will finally see in heaven. But God wants us to be concerned with him and what he is doing in the present.
Epiphany moves us beyond the image of Christmas as a historical event which we construct with our nativity scenes and pictures on Christmas cards, to look at how the living Christ of Christmas is at work through the power of the Spirit in his church and world today. In the Person of Christ, he proclaims the same favour, bringing deliverance from the captivity of our sinful selves, death and hell, and the powers of the kingdom of darkness as he did for the people in the synagogue at Nazareth.
With Epiphany and the Sundays after, the plain showing of Jesus as the Saviour of the world calls for a response. When the wise men saw the Christ child they gave away their costly gifts for him, presenting their earthly treasures to the Treasure from heaven. Before Jesus changed water into wine at the wedding at Cana, his mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you”—a call for us to obedience too. After this miracle, his disciples believed in him. And in the synagogue at Nazareth, the eyes of everyone were fixed on Jesus, waiting in anticipation for what he might say.
Their eyes were fixed on Jesus because they wanted to hear Good News. They were hoping for deliverance and freedom.
Who are the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed, that Jesus proclaims he has come to help and free? We might think of the poor as the homeless lying out the front of the Bayside Village Shopping Centre over the road. The blind as the vision impaired we see and know with aids such as guide dogs and canes. The captive and oppressed as our Christian brothers and sisters suffering in places like Kenya, most of which fails to make the mainstream news. Indeed Christianity Today reports that 13 Christians across the world are killed each day for their faith[1]. That kind of puts the problems we might grumble about at St Paul’s into perspective.
Jesus proclaimed these words to the people at Nazareth because they were the poor, the captive, the blind and the oppressed, We shall see more of how this is so in part 2 of the sermon, next week. But Jesus came to bring deliverance and release at a much deeper level than the people expected—not politically, but spiritually. He came to break the bonds of sin, death, and the power of the devil when he went to the Cross to take away the sin of the world. By his holy and precious blood Jesus won forgiveness for all people, to free us from the prison of death and hell, to open blind eyes to see him as the Saviour from God to bring life to the world, all the poor, all sinners like me and you.
May this text lead us not to look outside of ourselves to others as the poor, blind and captive. But may we see ourselves in this way—spiritual bankrupts helpless to help ourselves. Then we shall know how much we need to treasure the Gospel of Christ. In the words of Augustus Montague Toplady from Rock of Ages: “Nothing in my hand I bring/Simply to Thy Cross I cling/Naked come to Thee for dress/Helpless look to Thee for Grace/Foul I to the fountain fly/Wash me Saviour, or I die.”
Then Epiphany and the texts over these Sundays are readings that are not just about Jesus being shown plainly as the Saviour of the world some 2,000 years ago, but what this means for us, today—and what our response to this will be. As we gather here each week in worship, like the people of Nazareth did at their synagogue, what is it that we anticipate or expect? What is it that we listen to and are a part of? Why are we here? Of the 10, 080 minutes in every week that God has given us, what is it that makes these 75 minutes in worship every Sunday the most important thing that we can be a part of and participate in? Are our eyes fixed on Jesus, sitting on the edge of our seats soaking up every single word he has to say?
May it be so—because in Christ we are not poor but we are richer than kings, because we have received the gospel of salvation. Jesus comes to free us with his absolution in the word of forgiveness and his true body and blood he gave on the Cross so that you receive all the benefits of his saving death in bread and wine through faith. Through these means, here and now God in Christ pours out his Spirit and shares his love, here and now God forgives, here and now God cares for the broken, the outcasts, the sinners, the poor and oppressed—you and me. As Jesus serves us in the power of the Holy Spirit through his word and sacraments, bringing favour and freedom from God, he continues to fulfil the Scripture from Isaiah for us.
At this moment, whatever the guilt in your conscience, whatever the pain in your heart, whatever the heavy load you are carrying, whatever fears you have, whatever you need, Jesus is here with the favour of God to bring this reading alive for you today. So may you sit on the edge of your seats, with your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, as he invites you to trust in his promise in the present; in the now, that he has again fulfilled this reading for you in your hearing. His ministry has done all that was required to free you for life with him and his Father on earth now, and in Heaven, forever. Amen.
[1] Rebecca Abbott https://www.eternitynews.com.au/world/seven-christians-killed-in-terroist-attacks-in-kenya/ January 5th, 2022, last accessed 22 January 2022 10:55pm
