The Gospel for this weekend’s Mass is taken from two places in St. Luke’s Gospel. We start with part of chapter 1, but then we leap forward to chapter 4. We leapfrog, so to speak, from the opening paragraph of St. Luke’s Gospel to Jesus’ first public appearance in His hometown of Nazareth. In between, are the story of the Annunciation, Zachary and Elizabeth, the births of John the Baptist and of Jesus, the Baptism of Jesus, and the temptations in the desert. All of what takes place prior to chapter 4 is really a preparation for today’s scene in chapter 4. What we see in chapter 4 is the solemn inauguration of Jesus’ public life and mission.
Immediately before the events which take place in the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus had been down at the River Jordan with John the Baptist. Following His baptism, Jesus experienced the mighty temptations of the Devil in the desert. So, the Gospel says that Jesus “with the power of the Spirit in Him” (arising from His Baptism and His triumph over the Evil One) “returned to Galilee.” Galilee is the northern province of Israel to which Jesus belonged. And He went back to Nazareth “where He had been brought up.”
Notice that Nazareth is where Jesus starts His work. His public life, as we read about it in St. Luke’s Gospel, will be a single, direct journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be the focal point of the story told by both the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Unlike the other Gospel accounts, here there will be no going back and forth between Galilee and Jerusalem. And it is in Jerusalem, the city of peace, that Jesus will suffer and die. It is also there that He will rise from the dead and be shown to the whole world and for all eternity as “Lord and Savior.” And it is from there that His disciples will go forth to every corner of the world with that Good News.
One of the things we will see over the next year, as we hear St. Luke’s Gospel (Sunday after Sunday – until November), is how St. Luke portrays Jesus as having a clear understanding of who He is and what His mission is. He is “the One” sent by the Father “in the power of the Spirit.” And His mission is “to bring glad tidings to the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.” Pope Francis has commented on this by saying: “The Gospel message can never be gloomy or indifferent, for it expresses a joy that is complete. It is ‘the joy of the Father, who desires that none of His little ones be lost.’ It is also the joy of Jesus, who sees that the poor have the Good News preached to them, and that the little ones go out to preach the message in turn.” (Evangelii Gaudium No. 237).
Let us pray. “Loving God, open our hearts to Jesus. Give us the courage to speak His name and the generosity to share His love. May every person throughout the world be invited to know and love Jesus as Lord and Savior. May we come to know His all-surpassing love and may that love transform every element of our lives. We ask this by the power of your Spirit and in the name of your Son. Amen.”
