First Impressions

I think we all know that first impressions are important. Sometimes those first impressions tell us everything we need to know about someone and sometimes they were just an unfortunate introduction to someone. It’s hard to know if our first time meeting someone and how they act is really how that person is or if it was the result of other things going on in their life. Bekkah and I have been watching a number of romantic comedies and some sitcoms that revolve around romantic relationships and what usually makes them great is that their first impressions of the other person set up the tension for the rest of the show, episode or movie.

On a more real life level I remember one time a few years back when I was at a game night with a local gaming group and we were getting ready to play because it was 6 o’clock and that was the start time even though a new person that was joining us wasn’t there yet. We were just about to start our games, or we had just begun our first round playing each other when the new guy walked in and didn’t say ‘hi’ or any kind of introduction, instead he said ‘well bleep the bleeping new guy is bleeping late his first time here.’ The guy hosting the game night then introduced him to everyone in our group and when it got to me he introduced me as Brian and then someone else in the group who was I knew was Catholic said, ‘yeah and he’s a Lutheran pastor.’ Luckily both he and I both took the cursing and the discovery that there was a pastor in the room in good measure. It was awkward and probably one of the weirdest first impressions of someone that I had ever had, but even though this guy could be rough around the edges I got to know him pretty well and we had a great time playing games together at the game nights and some other times when we got together to play at each others houses.

It seems that Jesus was having some good first impressions in the various synagogues that he was preaching at because we see Luke tell us that he was praised by everyone when he would go and peach there. We don’t have any indication what it was that Jesus was preaching at the other synagogues but we do hear what Jesus had to say in the one in his own hometown. In Jesus’ own home town we have Jesus reading from the scroll of Isaiah and he chooses to read specifically from Isaiah 61:1-2. This is the first impression he gives the people he grew up with. To help us understand what the people might be hearing we need to understand what is happening in this part of Isaiah.

Isaiah 61 is a part of the book of Isaiah that has to do with the restoration of Israel and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. This is a prophecy for a time when everything will be restored and some say that it won’t just be restoration to its former glory but to something even greater than what it was before. This specific opening of chapter 61 speaks of a person, a prophet who has been anointed by Yahweh. With the way the passage speaks it has often been associated with and viewed in the same vein as that of the servant texts of earlier prophecies of Isaiah. These servant texts connect this speaker to having the role of a prophet. It also connects to even more parts of Isaiah which speak of the return of the line of David. The reason for that connection is that the protection of these groups of people we hear Jesus read is often a part of the royal family to enforce and look after. So this person that Isaiah talks about and Jesus quotes has both the role of prophet and royalty linked together.

The role of this prophet-king that has been anointed by the spirit is to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind and to let the oppressed go free, as well as proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. All these roles Jesus tells us in his one line sermon is that all of it has been fulfilled in the hearing of the congregation that day. What we have to understand is that at this moment Jesus hasn’t done any of those things, and as readers of the good news we know that he will do them, but that they will happen through Jesus. Jesus will bring good news to the poor through his preaching and his caring for those who are without. He will bring good news to those who are captive to sin and those things that bring them down or away from their relationship with God. He will cure many who are blind and in similar fashion to the captive he will make sure those who are being brought down by the systems of the world will be freed from them. That all these people will live lives that allow them to be in full communion with their society as well as their faith.

The impression that we hear about Jesus in his first recorded message to people is that he is claiming the role of the prophet-king that Isaiah spoke about. The role of the person who is to restore Jerusalem and Israel not just to its former glory but to something even greater than it was before. What is incredible about all of that is that it is no longer like what Isaiah talked about; a prophecy. Jesus says that this is happening. It is happening here and now. This is no longer a future time when you will look for or hope for something to happen or wait for the day when it will be fulfilled. That day is today.

That also means that not just are these incredible proclamations happening now but that also means that this prophet-king, this Messiah is also here, and now. Jesus is proclaiming himself the coming Messiah and that the words of Isaiah are the mission he is going to undertake. Which means that this is also the mission that we are called to undertake. We are called to bring the good news to the poor, the oppressed, the blind and the captive. We are called to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor which was in essence freedom for all. and known as the year of Jubilee. It was forgiveness of debt, release from servitude, and the return of lands.

Jesus came to release people from their sins, he came to return people to their places in the world so that they could fully be a part of the world. Most importantly he reconnected everyone with their God. This is the the work of Jesus and the good news that he brings to the whole world. This is the word that Jesus brought to the people when he spoke in the synagogue. This was the impression that he made on them. What impression did Jesus make on you and does he still make on you? How can you share that incredible feeling with others so that they too can know the love and grace of God? Jesus offers so much to this world and it is here for you and for me and this is something we need to let the world know. Live in the light of being in the year of the Lord’s favor and make it known to all who are living poor, oppressed, captive and blind. This is the good news of God. Good news for all indeed. Amen.