Today this Scripture has Been Fulfilled in Your Hearing
Prayer for Illumination
Lord Jesus, Take our lips and speak Your truth through them.
Take our minds and fill them with Your wisdom.
Take our wills and align them with Yours.
Take our hearts and ignite them with a deep love for You and all Your people.
For Your name’s sake, we pray. Amen.
When my daughters were younger, it was fascinating to watch them grow into unique individuals. I gave them the same food, dressed them in similar clothes, and raised them in the same environment.
But as they grew into their preteen and teenage years, their personalities, fashion choices, and even their friend groups became so distinct.
It made me think about high school life—maybe you can relate. Picture a school cafeteria: students naturally form groups. There are:
- The popular kids—sometimes called the Queen Bees.
- The athletes—the Jocks or Ballers.
- The academic stars—the Nerds or Geeks.
- The in-betweeners—the ones who don’t quite fit a category.
- And then there are the outcasts—the Misfits or Rebels.
But there’s another group, one we don’t talk about as much — the ones who seem invisible.
The kids who sit alone, who don’t belong to any group.
Sometimes, they’re cruelly labeled “nobodies.”
It’s heartbreaking, isn’t it?
Now, think about this for a moment: Have you ever been part of one of these groups?
Perhaps you were the popular one, surrounded by friends and admirers.
Or maybe you felt like an outsider, unsure of where you truly belonged.
Did you ever worry about who your kids hung out with, wondering how those connections might influence their lives?
But here’s a question for you:
Who did Jesus choose to hang out with?
He didn’t spend His time with the popular or powerful.
He sought out the overlooked, the broken, the outcast—the very people the world labeled as “nobodies.”
Jesus didn’t just notice them; He loved them, valued them, and gave them a place to belong.
Today, as we dive into Luke 4:16-21, we’ll see how Jesus boldly declared His mission: to bring good news to the poor, freedom to the oppressed, and sight to the blind. And that has so much to teach us about how we see and treat others.
Today is the Third Sunday of Epiphany, a season in the church calendar when we reflect on how Christ is revealed as God among us. It’s a time for “aha moments” about who Jesus is, His ministry, and His call to us.
Before we explore today’s Scripture, let me briefly explain the liturgical calendar and how I choose the passages we study.
The liturgical year is a cycle of seasons like Advent, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost, each focusing on a specific theme in God’s story.
Most denominations, including our Presbyterian Church in Canada, follow the Revised Common Lectionary, a three-year cycle of weekly Scripture readings.
Each Sunday includes readings from the Old Testament, Psalms, Epistles, and Gospels.
These readings create a rhythm, guiding us through the Bible and connecting us with the broader Christian tradition.
When I preach, I often follow these readings, weaving together their themes to help us grasp the bigger picture of the Bible.
Two Sundays ago, we reflected on the baptism of Jesus. Remember how the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and the Father’s voice declared, “You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased”?
Last week, we reflected on how the same Holy Spirit who descended on Jesus at His baptism also empowers each of us with unique gifts to carry out God’s work, uniting us as one body in Christ.
And today, we shift our focus to the ministry of Jesus. After His baptism, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, where He fasted for 40 days and faced intense temptations from Satan.
Once that time of testing was over, Jesus began His ministry, starting in Judea. But after John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus returned to Galilee.
That’s where we find Him in today’s passage. Jesus has gained a reputation for His extraordinary teachings, and word about Him has spread quickly.
Now, He’s returned to His hometown of Nazareth — a place where everyone knew Him as “Joseph’s son.” It’s one of those classic “hometown hero” moments.
But as we’ll see, His message would challenge, inspire, and surprise His audience—and perhaps us as well.
Verse 16 tells us that Jesus, as was His custom, went to the synagogue on the Sabbath.
This indicates that Jesus, like other faithful and observant Jews, regularly participated in weekly worship. This was a rhythm of His life—a place of teaching, prayer, and Scripture reading.
In the synagogue, it was common for the teacher to stand while reading the Scripture and then sit down to teach from it.
On this particular Sabbath, Jesus steps forward, and the attendant hands Him the scroll of Isaiah.
Now, unlike our modern Bibles, divided into chapters and verses, ancient Scripture was written on long scrolls without any such divisions.
Yet, when Jesus receives the scroll, He unrolls it and finds the exact portion that contains Isaiah’s prophecy about the Anointed One.
This wasn’t a random selection; it was intentional. Jesus deliberately chooses these words to read aloud.
The passage He reads comes from what we know today as Isaiah 61:1-2. It speaks of the Anointed One bringing good news to the poor, healing for the brokenhearted, and freedom for the captives.
These are words of restoration and liberation—words that would have stirred the hearts of those listening.
Jesus also mentions "the year of the Lord’s favor," a direct reference to the Year of Jubilee described in Leviticus 25.
The Year of Jubilee was an extraordinary time in Israel’s calendar that occurred every 50 years.
It was a year when debts were forgiven, enslaved people were set free, and the land was returned to its original owners.
This system ensured social equity and prevented long-term poverty, embodying God’s provision, mercy, and justice. It was a time of hope, renewal, and restoration—a glimpse of God’s kingdom on earth.
Imagine the scene in the synagogue. These ancient words, full of promise and hope, resonated deeply with the people.
The prophecy spoke to their longing for liberation from the oppression of the Roman Empire, their hunger for justice, and their desire for God’s intervention in their lives.
You can almost feel the intensity in the room—all eyes are fixed on Jesus, their hearts filled with anticipation.
What would He say about this prophecy?
We’ve all felt this need—the deep longing for hope and renewal. Sometimes, when we open the Bible, there’s a holy silence, a sense of God’s presence that surrounds us, especially when we are desperate for a word of hope.
Then, Jesus breaks the silence with a statement that changes everything: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
It’s as if Jesus drops a bombshell, and the room is left hanging on what this might mean.
While this wasn’t the only thing Jesus said that day, it’s the only part of His message that Luke records. Why? Because it’s enough.
In this single statement, we are given everything we need to know about who Jesus is. He is the Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, accomplishing all that is necessary to proclaim the year of Jubilee.
When Jesus says this Scripture has been “fulfilled,” He uses the perfect tense.
This means it’s not just a one-time event; it’s something He has accomplished with ongoing, lasting effects. His work echoes through time, extending to us today.
It’s as though Jesus is saying, “What Isaiah prophesied has come true—right now, in Me—and it continues to be true for you.”
In this passage, Jesus reveals five purposes of His ministry:
To preach good news to the poor. The message of Jesus is good news—it touches and transforms lives. It’s hope for those who feel forgotten, broken, or left behind.
To proclaim freedom for the prisoners. Jesus offers freedom from every prison that holds us captive—sin, addiction, depression, or life-dominating habits. Whatever your prison, Jesus has the key.
To bring recovery of sight to the blind. This includes both physical and spiritual healing. Just as Jesus gave sight to the physically blind, He also opens our spiritual eyes to see the truth of who God is and who we are in Him.
To release the oppressed. Look around, and you’ll see people burdened by sin, sickness, injustice, and the evils of society. Jesus came to lift those burdens and bring liberation.
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor — the year of Jubilee, where all debts are forgiven, a new start is given, and the broken are restored.
Each of these purposes reflects the heart of Jesus’ mission, not just for the people in the synagogue that day but for all of us.
His message is timeless, personal, and deeply transformative.
What is even more important is that, just as Christ offers us hope through these words, He also calls us to carry that hope into the world.
He calls us to be the ones who bring good news to the oppressed, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and announce the Lord’s favor and grace — freely available to all.
So, in light of this calling, we are faced with these challenging questions once again: Who are the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, and the oppressed around us? Who are the marginalized in our community waiting to hear the proclamation of God’s love and favor?
Is it seniors in nursing homes;
single parents trying to make ends meet;
the lonely and grieving, who long for comfort and companionship;
Indigenous communities seeking justice;
or migrant workers laboring far from home?
Is it refugees searching for safety,
persons with disabilities longing for inclusion, or
children and youth in care looking for love and stability?
What about those battling homelessness, addiction, mental illness, or systemic injustice?
The word gospel means “good news.” Yet, in our current culture, where the gap between abundance and scarcity continues to grow, the good news can challenge us.
Good news for the poor might mean difficult news for the rich.
The Year of Jubilee sounds amazing if it means your land is restored after decades of loss—but not so much if you’ve built your wealth by acquiring that land.
Let’s reflect on our lives here in Canada, in this beautiful city of Vancouver. Many of us live privileged lives—comfortable, blessed, and full of opportunities.
While each of us faces our struggles—challenges that can feel overwhelming at times—we cannot deny the countless blessings we have been given.
And because we are so richly blessed, we are called to share those blessings with others.
Instead of fixing our eyes solely on ourselves, let’s lift our heads and look around.
Let’s see what Jesus sees. His gaze is fixed on the marginalized, the overlooked, and the so-called “nobodies” of society.
This calling isn’t for yesterday, and it’s not something we can put off until tomorrow. Today is the day.
What we do—or choose not to do—today matters.
It will shape the lives of our children and grandchildren.
It will determine what tomorrow looks like.
Today, the Spirit of the Lord is here.
Today is the day of anointing.
Today is the day to bring good news to the poor.
Today is the day to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.
Today is the day to let the oppressed go free.
Today is the day to declare 2025 as the year of the Lord’s favor.
Let’s not miss this moment.
Let’s embrace the calling to live out the good news in tangible ways—starting now, starting here, starting with us.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, we were once the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.
Yet You came to us with freedom, healing, and restoration.
By Your sacrifice on the cross, You saved us and gave us new life.
As we have received Your grace and mercy, fill us with Your Spirit so we may live as agents of Your love and declare the year of Your favor in all we do.
In the name of Jesus, the Anointed One, we pray. Amen.