Introduction
So, there are a number of ways to take a look at this text. Do we look at how things should have gone historically? Or do we try to take Luke’s point to heart?
So, let’s start by getting the troublesome details out of the way first.
The Troublesome Details
The first detail that many scholars argue about or wrestle with is “Could Jesus actually read?” Reading wasn’t common back then. Only about 10-15% of the population is literate at this point (and that is everyday functions literate, not necessarily academically/religiously literate).[1] So, scholars love to debate whether Jesus could have actually been able to read. And you will find every response under the sun. Now, is that a breaking point for this text?
To that point, I will respond the same way to people who say, “Why are there sounds and explosions in space in Star Wars???” Really, that’s the one thing you have a hard time believing? Not the Yoda flipping, or lightsabers and force powers, spaceships and hyperdrives?
If we believe that Jesus performed miracles of supernatural proportions, is it so unbelieve that he could know how to read? Additionally, I think Luke is trying to emphasize that, for his story purposes, yes, Jesus can read.
The second detail is that this passage from Isaiah doesn’t exist in this format. Unless Luke was using a relatively bizarre manuscript to copy from, this passage is actually a combination of four passages from Isaiah (Isa 61:1a; 58:6; 61:2a; 42:7). It would have been very unlikely that Jesus would have unrolled and rerolled the scroll to find each of these verses back and forth to create this reading in the synagogue. Now, is it a breaking point that Jesus is not reading a specific passage but is instead kind of cherry-picking verses in this moment?
How I would respond is that Luke is not using the passage in the same way that we would. Luke isn’t necessarily proof texting here, he’s giving Jesus a guiding statement, a Mission Statement of sorts. It’s the same message that we’ve been hearing in the first few chapters of Luke. In Mary’s song, in Simeon’s prayer/song at the Temple, in John the Baptist’s call at the river. These words and sentiments have been in Jesus’ heart and now, publicly he is claiming them as his calling (we’ll talk more about this in a second).
The final tension point is that people will focus on these promises from the Isaiah passages as being promises of the kingdom of heaven. They connect these with the beatitudes that these will be the fulfillment of salvation in the day to come (the Day of the Lord). But these are actions that Jesus will do throughout the gospel. He tells the disciples of John the Baptist, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them” (7:22).
Some commentators will say that Jesus does not release anyone from captivity, but I don’t believe that’s how Luke would interpret this phrasing and there are two ways to look at it. If you focus on “captive” or αἰχμαλώτοις it indicates captivity or prisoner. But “release” or ἄφεσιν can also be forgiveness, remission, or release. If you want to keep it close to the “prisoner” language, on the cross, Jesus will tell the 2nd criminal, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” There is a releasing and forgiveness angle here that grants promise to this other prisoner. But if you look at this more broadly, Jesus heals/exorcizes the Gerasene demoniac (8:26-39) who is living among the tombs and is bound by shackles and chains to protect others and himself. Jesus heals the woman who is hemorrhaging who would have been isolated and confined to her home because of her status of being unclean (8:42b-48). Jesus will call Zaccheaus down from the tree and proclaim to him that “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost” (19:1-10).
So, what do we do with all these troublesome details?
Luke’s Narrative
Luke is not writing to give a historical account. Luke openly admits that he is writing his own “orderly account” (1:3) – long after others have done so (see variance of 1:3)—so that it may make sense to Theophilus. Luke is giving is paving the way for us to know where all of this is going. This will be a gospel of liberation, release and forgiveness, mercy, grace, distribution of wealth, and healing. From Jesus’ very first words, we now know what Jesus will be all about.
It’s okay to take Luke at his word here. To go with this story. Not to fight every detail but instead to lean into what he’s trying to set up. In that way, we can then set up where Jesus is going and these beautiful stories that we will hear so much about.
Preaching Possibilities
Today…
Here’s the interesting thing about this particular word “today” in reference to the gospels. The word today is used very sparingly by our gospel authors. It is not mentioned at all in the Gospels John. Only once in Mark. It is only used a handful of times in Gospel of Matthew. It is really only Luke who uses it intentionally. 11 times. And a few times it’s with emphasis. First is the famous, “To you is born this day (today)” to the shepherds in the field. A declaration of Jesus coming into the world “this day.”
But Luke uses it in poignant moments of Jesus’ ministry too. Here in the synagogue, Jesus says “Today, the scriptures have been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Later on in the Gospel, Jesus is with the tax collector, Zacchaeus. And after Zacchaeus has returned the money that he exploited back to the community and repents of his actions, Jesus says to him, “Today salvation has come to this house.”
And in one of the most poignant moments of the Gospel, Jesus is on the cross with two criminals. One on his right and one on his left. “One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
In the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus uses the word today, is when the Kingdom of God, the promise of God’s love, grace, and salvation, are present and tangible right at that very moment.
Today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Today salvation has come to this house. Today you will be with me in paradise.
As people of faith, especially people who study scripture and learn of God’s love through the words that are shared in this book, the words and the word choices of the authors should matter to us. So, we should ask ourselves, why does Luke focus on this word “today” when no other Gospel writer does?
Luke is not writing a historical document but is instead writing for us to read it.
When we read the word today, it is not just a promise that was given 2000 years ago for one individual. But when we read the word today, we are being told that the promise is for us right here right now. Today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Today salvation has come to this house. Today you will be with me in paradise.
During the season after epiphany, we are reading stories about Christ being revealed to us. About seeing God in our midst. And today’s gospel text is reminding us that God is present here and now and that we are receiving the promises of God each and every day that we are alive. Today God is with us. Today God is acting in our lives.
Guiding Statement
Growing up in a Church family, it makes sense that we were named after Bible characters. But one of the beautiful things that my family did is that every year my parents would read the story or a portion of the book that we were named after. So of course, each year, I would hear from the prophet Micah. And yes, a lot of years it was Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
But sometimes it was from some of the lesser-known portions. “He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken (Micah 4:3-4).”
As someone who identifies as a pacifist, were these words some of the guiding principles that influence this stance and perspective? Did hearing these words impact me in some way down the line? Maybe not. But I do believe that scripture has the power to fill us and change us. I do like to believe that these words settled into my bones, the building blocks of my life.
If we relax on this Isaiah passage and realize that Luke/Jesus pick multiple verses for this first public address, then we can look at this as Jesus’ Mission Statement, his guiding principles for his ministry. What if these were some of the verses that he held onto? What if these were some of the verses that settled into his bones (maybe they were Luke’s bones too)?
Scripture is important because whether we 3 or 93, the words in the pages can resonate with us or unsettle us. They can push us or comfort us. They can guide us and lead us. The fact that Luke begins Jesus’ ministry with scripture tells us that we too should begin there. We should let these stories and words fill us. We should use them as our guiding statements, as our trust to fall back on in times of trial.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
[1] Thomas E. Boomershine, First-Century Gospel Storytellers and Audiences: The Gospels as Performance Literature (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2022), 49.
Micah Krey 
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