NOTES for Luk 4:16-22
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. |
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, |
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, |
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. |
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. |
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. |
22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? |
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The year of the Lord's favor, or the year of the Lord's mercy in another translation, is what Jesus came to announce to us. Under the pressure of difficult circumstances in life, we often forget that the true purpose of His coming is precisely this. And that this year has already been brought into the world by Him, although for now it remains hidden. What is it? Where can it be seen?
Perhaps today's Gospel passage itself serves as the answer to this question. Christ passed through the hardest trials in the wilderness, endured them, and came to possess some special power, some special peace, radiating uncreated light. We understand this from the reaction of the people in the synagogue, who had come to an ordinary Sabbath gathering. The reaction was unexpectedly fitting, which was rare with Him in the synagogue, at least at first. Yes, later they were filled with rage, but at first they "bore witness to Him." Perhaps in that brief opening moment He in some especially obvious way manifested the year of the Lord's favor in Himself.
Yes, but that is Him; what about us? Let us remember a time when we honestly prepared ourselves, fasted, prayed with some special strength, then came to the liturgy, brought our repentance to the Lord, received the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and... do we not feel the year of the Lord's mercy in our soul at that time? Perhaps it is exactly like that.
Readings for 1 September 2025
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