[Propertalk] Fw: PREACHING RESOURCES FOR JANUARY 24 (1)

[Joe Parrish]

FREE PREACHING RESOURCES FOR JANUARY 24 (4 of the 68 plus preaching resources available at GoodPreacher.com for this Sunday):

EXEGESIS: Luke 4:14-21

One of the fundamental principles of biblical exegesis is to honor the literary integrity of a text. That is, the interpreter is to respect the natural beginning and ending. Unfortunately, the lectionary violates this principle by splitting Luke 4:16-30 into two parts­4:16-21 and 4:21-30. For Luke, these two excerpts form one scene that is so important scholars usually refer to it as the paradigm for understanding these two books. The preacher might combine these two passages for one sermon.

Luke's congregation lived during Roman oppression in a time of widespread poverty, taxation, social inequality, demonic possession, sickness, and violence. Many Jewish thinkers believed that to keep God's promises to Sarah and Abraham, God would replace the present age with a new world, the Realm of God.

Luke told the story of Jesus' birth and early life to establish that Jesus had unquestionable credentials as an authentic interpreter of the traditions of Israel (Lk 1:5-2:52). The preaching of John, the baptism of Jesus, the genealogy, and the temptation signal the reader that God has empowered Jesus as end-time prophet (Lk 3:1-4:13).

For Luke, geographical references have theological overtones. Galilee (Lk 4:14) is not Jerusalem (the center of Jewish power where Sadducees and priests had conspired with Rome). In Galilee, Jewish and gentile peoples lived alongside one another thus presaging an important goal of the gospel and the Acts: To show God's plan to restore community between Jewish and gentile peoples.

Well-regarded visiting rabbis were given the chance to teach. Luke underscores that Jesus had such a reputation (Lk 4:15). The crowds are ambiguous for Luke-Acts. In Luke 4:14-15, they welcomed Jesus. In just a few verses, the congregation in the synagogue initially cheers Jesus' preaching but then turn against him. Luke thus implicitly asks the reader, "Do you respond to the ministry of Jesus and the church with the imperceptivity of the crowds or are you more faithful?"

According to Luke 4:16, Jesus regularly attended synagogue services. This detail joins others in reinforcing the picture of Jesus as a fully practicing Jew. Luke wants readers to recognize that the gentile mission in Luke-Acts was not an innovation but arose out of the deepest traditions in Israel and under the leadership of Spirit (Lk 4:17a). Here we see with unusual clarity that for Luke, the Spirit leads people towards the Realm. What the Spirit does through Jesus in the gospel of Luke, the Spirit also does through the church in Acts.

The leaders of the synagogue in Nazareth asked Jesus to read and comment on Isaiah 61:1-2, a text that describes the vocation of Third Isaiah. Used here, it places Jesus in that prophetic line while also describing the calling of Jesus.

The excerpt from Isaiah contains five elements. For Luke, these notions are double entendres that speak of the transformation that will take place in both the larger world as a result of the coming of the realm and also among Jesus' own followers. The church thus partially embodies the community of the Realm.

In the world of Luke, the promise of good news to the poor meant the coming of a world of abundance for all and, obviously, an end to poverty. The book of Acts foreshadows such a world by showing that God provided for the poor in the church through the church's holding all material goods in common (Acts 2:42-47; 4:35-5:10; 6:1-6).

The captives are the imprisoned, including those who are otherwise harassed because of their witness to the Realm. In Acts, faithful disciples are jailed, and three times God releases them (Acts 5:12-26; 12:6-11; 16:25-40).

Blindness was a significant problem in antiquity. The blind often suffered not only from the ravages of blindness but poverty. Many blind people were reduced to begging. The physically blind do receive sight through the ministry of Jesus (e.g. Luke 7:21; 18:35). Beyond that, Jewish literature in antiquity sometimes uses the language of blindness for theological imperceptivity. In Luke-Acts, some leaders fail to recognize Jesus and the church as representatives of the Realm. The classic illustration of such blindness is Saul. Saul actually becomes blind as part of his call on the road to Damascus but is then made to see (Acts 9:11-13), thus proving the truth of Luke 4:18c.

The oppressed are those possessed by demons. Luke's subtle theological artistry comes into play as Luke portrays not only simple acts of demons possessing individuals but suggests that demons operate through aspects of the Roman Empire (Lk 4:33ff., 6:18f., 8:2, 8:26ff., 9:37ff., 11:14ff., Acts 5:16ff.; 8:7ff., 19:13ff.).

In Isaiah the acceptable year of the Lord ("the year of the Lord's favor") is the Jubilee, that occasion every fifty years when the land in Israel was to be returned to its original owner. This custom was intended to distribute the means of support as widely as possible and to prevent the concentration of power in too few hands.

This passage is both a mission statement and a promise. The mission is to bring good news to the poor, etc. The promise is that in the very act of doing these things, Jesus' followers will experience the presence of the Spirit and will find them coming true in the life of the church. The church will become a community of the realm.

When Jesus had finished reading, he rolled up the scroll "and the eyes of all in the synagogue were on him" (Lk 4:20). The eyes and ears of the reader are thus focused intensely on what Jesus says next: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." These words are a powerful statement that God is using the Spirit through Jesus to point to the end of a present evil age and to birth a new world­the realm of God.

The crowd responds with the same religious awe that they later feel in response to the miracles (Lk 4:20). If Jesus had ended at this point, the service in the synagogue would have ended on a high and joyous note. However, the crowd becomes unruly when the Lukan Jesus draws out the fuller implications of the coming of the Realm of God.
.
Ronald J. Allen


SCRIPTURE & SCREEN: Luke 4:14-21

Jesus' reading of Isaiah 61 and his brief sermon on it form a stunning moment of public reading and speaking that has reverberated around the world and across the centuries. Many films contain profound speeches and the like that are profoundly revelatory. Below are a couple examples that could serve well in a sermon without the movie from which they come overshadowing the sermon.

The Elephant Man (1980; dir. David Lynch), which was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, is based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the movie), a nineteenth-century Briton who was terrifyingly disfigured. Dr. Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins), a compassionate physician, rescues Merrick (played magnificently by John Hurt) from being a sideshow attraction. Treves keeps Merrick as a resident at the hospital where Treves works. At first, the doctor thinks that Merrick is probably severely mentally challenged but then realizes that the patient is actually intelligent and sensitive. Treves teaches Merrick some words to say to another physician (John Gielgud) as a way of showcasing Merrick's ability. After leaving Merrick and going to another room, the physician expresses to Treves that he is unimpressed, because he believes that Merrick is simply parroting what Treves has trained him to say. Then the two men hear coming from Merrick's room the recitation of the 23rd Psalm, which is extraordinary because Treves has not taught Merrick that passage. This recitation of Scripture, then, becomes a turning point in the film by revealing to both physicians that this hideous man is even more intelligent than they had supposed.

Jesus' reading of Scripture and subsequent epiphanic homily have a similar impact on his hearers. That luminous moment shocks Jesus' hearers. Of course, while their initial response is positive, shortly they will try to kill Jesus. In any case, The Elephant Man provides a similar moment that can underline the profundity of Jesus' worship moment in his hometown.

Moreover, the hideousness of Merrick also ties well with Jesus, not because Jesus is hideous, but because he identifies with the oppressed and afflicted, and because he is somebody who utters words far greater than what those in worship with him would ever expect. The Elephant Man is in part a film about the lifting up of the lowly, and so is Jesus' story.
     
Another film that features revelatory public-speaking moments is the magnificent Gettysburg (1993; dir. Ronald F. Maxwell), which is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. With a run time of over four hours, the movie tells with faithful detail the story of the battle of Gettysburg, a three-day fight of exceptional brutality that produced around 51,000 casualties and marked the beginning of the end of the South's defeat in the Civil War. While the movie relies a bit too heavily on dramatic speeches, those speeches are so well delivered that the viewer can easily forgive the volubility and related melodrama. 

One especially noteworthy speech comes early in the movie. The film's greatest hero is Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (played with Oscar-caliber brilliance by Jeff Daniels), a college professor who ran away from his teaching position so that he could fight in the Civil War. He has recently been promoted even though he is greatly lacking in military experience. Chamberlain is uncomfortable with the promotion, knowing full well that he is under-qualified. To make matters more challenging, he is presented with arrested, mutineering soldiers. He has been told that he can shoot them if he wishes. He also has orders to prepare for a confrontation with the Rebel Army at Gettysburg; the battle is about to start. Chamberlain needs to decide quickly what he is going to do with these mutineers. He decides to try talking to them.

His speech is humble and eloquent, and the writing and acting are beautifully convincing. He does not threaten, chastise, or intimidate the soldiers. He has heard a summary of their grievances from a spokesman and acknowledges that some of the grievances are valid. He goes on to explain that he cannot address the grievances now because he needs to prepare for battle. He asks­not orders­them to help with the fighting. He promises that he will do what he can afterwards to help them. Then he walks away to give the men time to discuss things. Almost every one of the mutineers agrees to cooperate.

The speech is momentous, not only because it resolves a significant conflict, but also because it reveals to the viewer­and to Chamberlain himself ­just what an extraordinary leader Chamberlain is. He is new to the ways of the military, yet he appears to have great power as a speaker and thus as a leader. As the movie progresses, the viewer sees more and more just what an impressive and admirable leader Chamberlain is, and the first glimmers of that greatness twinkle in this early speech.

The same is true with Jesus. His public-speaking moment in our reading offers an early picture of his greatness that will grow in brilliance as the gospel progresses, reaching its most intense brilliance in the darkness of the cross and the breaking dawn the following Sunday.

Speech prefigures death and resurrection.

David von Schlichten


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