Epiphany 3 2025

Research “The Year of the Lord’s Favor”.

Bible History Commentary: New Testament Jesus’ Message Favorably Received—at First

In the last member of this prophecy, Isaiah used a picture that does not fit in with that of the Babylonian captivity. It is: “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Here the picture-language is taken from the Year of Jubilee. This occurred every fiftieth year. In

Bible History Commentary: New Testament Jesus’ Message Favorably Received—at First

Luke Jesus Preaches in Galilee / 4:14–15 / 30

4:14–15 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. After the temptation narrative, Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit and freshly victorious over Satan, returned to Galilee, where a report about him [had] spread. Luke did not yet mention anything that Jesus did in his ministry, but the other Gospels reveal much that had happened in the interim. Jesus already had his followers, he had turned water into wine (

It doesn’t happen very often in our church (maybe two or three times a year). But every once in awhile we have a guest preacher. Usually it is planned several months in advance when I am on vacation or we are celebrating Mission Festival or during our midweek Lenten services. At the end of last year we had a “surprise” guest preacher because I was sick and had to contact someone to fill in for me. Normally it is me sharing the Word of God with you. And you know what to expect after six years.

But consider for a moment the news that you will be having a guest preacher and your anticipation of that occasion. Such as at our Mission Festival last September when Pastor Fred Berger preached here. You may have some information about him . . . or almost none at all. You may have even heard him preach before but it was so long ago and not all that memorable. I find it interesting that some of our members at Grace undoubtedly heard me preach about 40 years ago when I vicared at the congregation they were members at in Wauwatosa. They don’t remember me. That is O.K. I have forgotten a lot about that year as well. Of course, in today’s information rich society, you can investigate a guest preacher beforehand by Googling them and reading about them and perhaps even listening to a sermon or two beforehand. They may even be “famous” if they hold a well known position in our synod and are invited for a Mission Festival as we have done in the past.

The reason I mention this today is not because I have immediate plans to invite a guest preacher or anticipate a medical emergency (which could happen). But because it gives us a point of view of what the members and visitors at the synagogue in Nazareth may have been anticipating when Jesus preached at his home town of Nazareth. We consider Luke’s account from Luke 4:14-21.

Luke 4:14–15 (NIV84)

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

When you read Luke, he does not seem to put much time between the temptation of Jesus and this event. He summarizes this time period in this way. Luke 4:13–15 (NIV84)

13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. 14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

But when you compare this to John, there is a time gap between verses 13 and 14 which includes a lot of activity recorded by John in chapters 2 through 4 including the miracle at the wedding of Cana we reviewed last week. So the news that spread about him was the result of almost a year of activity that Luke does not tell us. He has become a well-known Rabbi, preacher, and teacher who does miracles. In a day when word of mouth was the primary means of news, he was a hot topic of conversation.

So when he preaches at Nazareth, there must have been much anticipation as to what he was going to say.

Luke 4:16 (NIV84) He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.

Aside. It amazes me at times the amount of trust members of the congregation have when they come to a worship service. Aside from the major festivals, do you know beforehand what I am going to preach about? I mean, you probably would not go to a movie theater to see a movie not knowing anything about the movie beforehand. Would you go on a trip not knowing its destination? (Some people do. Some travel companies do “mystery tours”. You know you are going somewhere overnight . . . so within a couple of hundred miles, but you don’t know what you will see or do. I recall a number of years ago that members of mine from Watertown,SD went on such a tour and came back and told me that they had gone to Wausau. But the reason they told me that they had gone to a church to hear an organ concert and the organist was a class mate of mine from NWC. Mark Hoenecke.) Anyway, I don’t usually announce ahead of time what the sermon will be about the next Sunday and yet you come faithfully trusting that it will be an important message for you faith and life because it is based on God’s Word.

So the people in Nazareth were watching Jesus as he was given the scroll of Isaiah. They watched him as he unrolled it to a passage he wanted to speak on. What did he read? It was a familiar prophetic passage filled with Messianic hope.

Luke 4:17–19 (NIV84)

17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Luke 4:20 (NIV84)

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,

What did they expect? Perhaps he was going to review Israel’s history. And remind them of the difficulties their ancestors had faced because of their departure from the worship of the Lord. Perhaps he would recount how they were spiritually poor, imprisoned by their sin and guilt, blinded to the truth, oppressed by punishment for their sins. Maybe he was going to tell them how time and again God had delivered them in his grace. Maybe a wonderful description of the freedom that came with what was called “the year of the Lord’s favor”. The Year of Jubilee which happened every 50 years and brought freedom and property restoration to the people.

We don’t have the transcript of Jesus’ sermon that day. I don’t think he wrote out his sermon ahead of time and then memorized it and preached it word for word from memory.

It has been quite some time since I have done that. When I learned how to write a sermon at the seminary, I was required to write out my manuscript (type it out on a typewriter) and submit it to my homiletic professor. I was then to memorize it word for word and deliver it to the class for a critique. I remember how adamant I was when I was the reviewer for a fellow student and he did not preach what had been written an approved. But I have become “that guy”. I still type out my sermons, save them to computer, and print them out. My manuscript is right here. But if you tried to follow along with this as I was preaching, you would notice that it is not word for word. I do not say everything the same way from one worship service to the next. But you can have an accurate history of what I preach by watching the video from Grace.

We have no video of Jesus preaching. We have not manuscript. We do have a summary of his message which is enough for us on this occasion. We know what he read from Isaiah. We know his application which would bring about a strong reaction on the part of the people.

“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

What does this mean?

Bible History Commentary: New Testament Jesus’ Message Favorably Received—at First

How shall we explain that all eyes were riveted upon Jesus? The fame that had preceded him had something to do with it. But no doubt his whole appearance and bearing helped to arouse the most intense anticipation as to what he would say.

“And he said to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’” (v. 20). It would reflect the original Greek more accurately to translate: “And he began saying to them, etc.” Then it would be clear that Jesus’ address was of some length but that Luke is not reporting all of it. The words: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” give us only the main point or the gist of all he said. He developed this theme: “In me all that was foretold of the Messiah has been fulfilled. You hear me speak as the Messiah who has the Spirit upon him. Your ears bear witness that I am saying exactly what Isaiah prophesied. I am the oft-foretold and long-expected Savior. As such I am now preaching the gospel to you.”

This has to be one of the most amazing statements ever made by a preacher about himself. There is some debate about how much a pastor should speak about himself in his sermons. After all, the people don’t come to learn about him but what he knows about the Savior. But when the Savior himself speaks, he has every right and responsibility to speak about himself. He reveals that this well accepted prophecy about the coming Messiah was being fulfilled right in front of them.

This is a third way in which Jesus is revealed as the Messiah.

1.Baptism

2. Miraculous Sign

3.Fulfillment of Scripture.

How did the people respond? In a break from the norm in which you aren’t told ahead of time what next Sunday’s sermon is going to be about, here is the cliff hanger. Stay tuned. Next week we will consider how people respond to the claim by Jesus himself that he is the Messiah and how people still respond to him today. Amen.