Beginning with our Advent Study on December 3, we will be reading through the entirety of the Gospel of Luke. This will take us through April 22, the first Tuesday after Easter. I have attached a preliminary schedule of the readings. Beginning with Advent, the Church will be in Year C of the lectionary where the Gospel readings will be from Luke as well, so hopefully Tuesday night will help us better understand Sunday morning.
As we have discussed previously regarding Mark and John, the first story in each Gospel after the calling of the disciples, sets the tone for how each gospel writer answers the question of “Who is Jesus?” For Luke, Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophets, and Luke opens his story with Jesus reading from the prophet Isaiah that “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. . . .” Luke 4:14-30.
Jesus’ reading is from Isaiah 61:1-2 and 58:6, and throughout his Gospel, Luke will use the themes of these prophecies found in the last section of Isaiah (Isaiah 56-66) to tell who Jesus is. Like Luke’s gospel, these prophesies are focused on Jerusalem and the corruption and oppression of its leaders. These verses, however, also speak of God’s mercy and rescue of not only Israel but the whole world, including the economically marginalized and even the Gentiles. This week we will read through selections of this portion of Isaiah which shape Luke’s understanding of who Jesus is. If you have time this weekend, please read these chapters.
Oppression by the Leaders:
As we read through Luke’s Gospel, Luke emphasizes and highlights Jesus’ various condemnations of the religious leaders of Israel, even more so than the other Gospels. See, Luke 10:31-32, 11:37-51, 18:9-14. Isaiah has this same condemnation. He calls Israel’s leaders blind watchmen, insatiable dogs, and oblivious shepherds who only seek to get drunk. Isa. 56:9-12. Because these leaders have abdicated their responsibility, Isaiah says that the righteous man perishes, and devout men are taken away. Isa. 57:1. For the prophet, God must necessarily intervene in history because his appointed representatives have abandoned their duties. Isa. 57:14-21. Jesus fulfills this expectation.
Righteousness and Justice:
Another emphasis of Luke is concern for the poor. In Matthew, Jesus says “Blessed are the poor in spirit” and “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness” while in Luke, Jesus only says “Blessed are the poor” and “Blessed are you that hunger.” Matt. 5:3, 6, Luke 6:20-26. Only in Luke do we have the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The gospel message itself is for the poor. Luke 4:18.
Likewise for Isaiah, justice and righteousness are for the economically marginalized. Righteousness means freeing the oppressed, sharing bread with the hungry, clothing the naked, and satisfying the needs of the poor. Isa. 58:6, 7, 10. God’s anointed is sent to the poor, the brokenhearted, and the captives. Isa. 61:1. Justice comes about when the tables come reversed, and it is God’s servants who eat, drink, and rejoice, and the evil ones who hunger, thirst, and mourn. Isa. 65:13.
Dinner is at 6. The menu is gumbo. Discussion about 6:45. Compline by 8. Hope to see you here!
But this is the man to whom I will look,
he that is humble and contrite in spirit,
and trembles at my word.
Isaiah 66:2
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