Title: “This Man Jesus”

Scripture: Psalm 19, Luke 4:14-21

1/25/04 Third Sunday after Epiphany

Rev. Joy R. Haertig

I would like to invite you to do something with me this morning.  In your bulletins in the area next to “Today's Word” you will find some of the words from the Gospel of Luke.  These are the words which, according to the author of Luke, Jesus read in the synagogue from the prophet Isaiah.  I would like to invite you to read them out loud with me.  (Read words)

“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 let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

Now I would like to invite you to stand up and say them again, and this time put some emotion behind the words - project your voice as if you are needing to be heard in a crowd.  (Recite the words again)

What happens for you when you read the word “me” in these words?

These words from Isaiah were originally spoken some 500 years before Jesus, identifying Isaiah's prophetic ministry to Israel during a time of restoration.  According to the author of Luke, after Jesus read them to the crowd at the synagogue, he rolled up the scroll and said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

It is one thing to recite the words, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”, and it is quite another thing to experience it, to say “me” and mean it.  I hope that this exercise may have helped you begin to grasp the difference.

In this season of Epiphany after Christmas we are given a lot of opportunities to talk about Jesus, to explore who he was and what he did before his crucifixion and resurrection.  A few weeks ago Pastor Ron shared some stories of what Jesus childhood was possibly like and pondered the possibility that he grew up in the temple in Jerusalem.  Last Saturday 22 of us gathered with the Rev. Bob Fitzgerald to talk about the Historical Jesus and explore our own beliefs as well as what scholars in the Historical Jesus movement are claiming.  Most of the time we end up with more questions than answers and Bob helped us reaffirm how liberating it is to be a part of a church that allows us to ask questions.

Whenever we study the scriptures, seeking to understand whom this man Jesus was, it is important for us to remember that in scripture we will find a blend of the historical Jesus and the Jesus of the early church.  A blend of what he actually did and said, and the Jesus of faith, how his actions and teachings were shaped and reshaped as the community sought to form their own identity as his followers long after he was physically gone.  

Some find it interesting to try and discern the difference between the two, while others find it ridiculous, even heretical.  The search can lead to good conversation and differing conclusions, it can strengthen faith and it can also challenge it.  

I personally find it stimulating and honest, for in the building of any faith you will find a colorful tapestry of the historical/factual, woven together with the strivings of men and women seeking to understand such things as “Meaning” and “Truth”, in which human description will always fall short.

This morning I would like to share with you some of the things I have gleaned about both the historical Jesus and the Jesus of faith, from the passage in Luke.

The reading begins with Jesus returning to Nazareth after his baptism by John and entering the synagogue “as was his custom”.  I believe that Jesus was raised in Nazareth and not Jerusalem, (I respectfully differ from Ron on this one), that he went to school in the synagogue there and learned to read and write as well as study scripture in his hometown.  From research I have read, Nazareth and its surrounding area was more cosmopolitan than we have pictured it and there was easy access to other cities nearby so Jesus was exposed to a variety of people and experiences.  (Borg)  

Sometime in his late twenties, I believe that Jesus began to spend time with the man we know as John the Baptist.  A radical PK (priest's kid) that was also Jewish but was discouraged by the “institutional synagogue”.  John felt the religious leadership was ignoring the people on the edges of society and was compromising too much of its integrity in order to keep the peace with the Roman government.  

John struck a chord in Jesus.  Jesus underwent a “conversion experience” through John, which caused him to understand his faith in a new way and after John was killed, I believe that Jesus stepped in to fulfill what John had begun.

However, neither John the Baptist or Jesus intended to start a new religion. Though they were willing to talk with anyone that might listen, in or outside of the synagogue, I believe that Jesus would be shocked to learn that a different religion has been formed in his name.  

Author Marcus Borg, a man of deep Christian conviction and a Historical Jesus Scholar, describes today's reading as an “inaugural moment”.  He believes that it is a summary of Jesus for the author of Luke and is not in itself a true, historical moment.  For me, perhaps the moment is not historically true, but what it points to is what I have come to believe as true:  

Jesus' calling was something he grew into.  When he was young, he no doubt heard Isaiah's words many times as he read and studies in the synagogue, powerful words, but spoken by a prophet long before his time.  As he grew in wisdom and experience, witnessed injustice and sorrow, Jesus began to hear Isaiah's words in a whole new way.  What were once just words on a page, became a way of life and a call to action.

While this particular moment in the synagogue may not be “historical”, I believe it is true to Jesus' understanding of himself.  That as a man, he was a “Spirit-anointed social prophet whose activity was directed especially to the poor and oppressed.”  (Borg) His motivation came from his relationship with God which enabled him to see the equal value of all humanity, all creation.  In these short lines from Isaiah he is affirming his commitment to what is known in Hebrew Scripture as the “Jubilee”.  

The Jubilee was a social and political vision that would require, in short, “the limitation of growth, earning, accumulation, and speculation.”  It would provide debt relief to the poor and rest for a land that was weary from over use.  If Jesus were to promote “the Jubilee” in a campaign speech today, while it would be good news to some, it might cost him his life once again.

Is today's reading historical?  Some parts of it, yes, others, no.  Does that make it any less true?  No.  In my reading of it, it tells us at least two important truths about Jesus: 1) He had a transformative relationship with God that was intimate and part of the fabric of his daily living.  And 2) This relationship had religious, social, and political implications for Jesus (and in turn for his followers).

To seek to discern the difference between the Jesus of history and the Jesus of faith is to engage our selves in the stories of our tradition rather than ignore them or accept them, hook - line and sinker.  I believe that the search for the Historical Jesus can enrich our faith as well as challenge it.  We are not meant to become so comfortable or disinterested in our scripture that it loses its transformative power.  

Coming full circle - in closing, the question I want to leave you with today is, if the words of Isaiah became definitive for Jesus, then what might they be for us today, as the Body of Christ?

I invite you to stand and read the words of Isaiah and of Jesus, once again and consider the difference between reading the words and being them:

“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 let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”