Thursday after the
Epiphany
(I John 4:19-5:4; Luke 4:14-22)
Within two weeks President Obama will deliver the annual
State of the Union Address before Congress.
He will mention the challenges facing the country: millions of
undocumented immigrants in the United States, wars festering in Iraq and
Afghanistan, racial tensions mounting, to name just a few. Similarly, Jesus addresses the challenges of
his times in what may be called his inaugural address in the Gospel of Luke.
Interestingly, Luke has Jesus making his first
presentation in his hometown of Nazareth.
It is as if Jesus were a politician returning home to launch a campaign. He references the prophet Isaiah to announce
the issues on which he will concentrate.
He will lift the spirits of the poor, win amnesty for prisoners, relieve
the burden to the oppressed, etc. In
short, he will fulfill God’s promise of justice made after Judah experienced
the humiliation of military defeat and exile.
Of course, Jesus’ townspeople are edified by his speech. They know that what he says are not just
words but testimony to deeds already accomplished.
Still at the beginning of a new year, we should make some
resolutions about what we would like to see happen in our lives this year. If we are true followers, we will peg our
hopes to the Lord Jesus. We will ask his
grace to be more patient on the road and at home. We will also plead him to make us less
insistent on having things our own way. Like
him we will see our role as thanking God and serving Him by helping others.
