As was the custom then, out of courtesy to a visiting rabbi, Jesus was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to announce a year acceptable to the Lord.” Rolling up the scroll, he sat down, a sign that he was about to teach something insightful. He then gave a short profound homily, “Today, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
What caught his listeners by surprise was the word, “today,” for they had been trained to look for the future. Yes, a messiah is coming someday, but without warning, Jesus tells them, “Your messiah is now here.” Jesus tells those listening that the kingdom of God is now in their midst. Jesus often spoke in the present tense, not the future: here and now, God has broken into your life. God’s grace abounds. Today, God is revealed behind every episode in your life. Not on another day, not tomorrow, but today.
Had Jesus spoken in Latin, he might have said, “Carpe diem!” In other words, “Seize the day!” This gospel passage challenges us to be open to the message and life of Jesus Christ here and now. Not tomorrow, not next Easter, not next year, but today. And how might we do that?
The passage Jesus read was familiar to the Jews. It was an Old Testament prophecy concerning the release of the Jews from Babylonian captivity. But Jesus did something unusual. Instead of speaking literally, he changed the meaning of the poor, the captives and the blind. The “poor” were those who had no grace and lacked a relationship with God. The “blind” were those who had yet to see the light, and the ”captives” were those imprisoned by sin.
Jesus was anointed to bring glad tidings to the poor; that is, the Gospel by which he conveys God’s mercy to draw us into a relationship with God. He was sent to proclaim liberty to captives. Not inmates in the local jail but those imprisoned by sin and destructive habits, a mindset that fails to see the beauty of his message of forgiveness. He was sent to bring recovery of sight to the blind, providing us with spiritual insight to see the presence of God in our daily lives. He was sent to set the oppressed free, liberating those possessed by unclean spirits and sin to experience forgiveness.
Jesus knew his listeners were expecting a political king who would liberate them from Roman oppression. But instead he came to liberate them from a different kind of oppression by redeeming them from sin not a military dictatorship. Only then could his listeners expect the prophecy of Isaiah to be fulfilled. Instead of sending the Messiah they were expecting, God sent his son as their Messiah with an unanticipated mission to bring about the Kingdom of God here and now.
Many organizations have mission statements. Luke begins his Gospel with his own mission statement to provide Theophilus with an accurate account of Jesus’ ministry. Then we heard what I would define as Jesus’ mission statement. Our parish has one to help keep us focused on our purpose as a faith community; “As Roman Catholics centered on the Eucharist, our mission is to live Christ’s Gospel message: to love, teach, pray and serve.”
Jesus’ mission is our mission by virtue of our baptism, which made us members of his mystical body. In his letter, Paul speaks of the body having many parts yet remains one body. Just as every part of our bodies work together to make us who we are, we work together to enable the mission of Jesus to be carried out and when we do, we enable the kingdom of God to be experienced here and now. Jesus guides us in how we should act so we can be responsive members of his body. Living in us and through us, Christ, our Messiah, continues his mission of salvation long after he first shared his vision.
As Christians, each of us is called to participate in Jesus’ mission through our lives, talents, time and treasure. We share the responsibility of being Christ’s hands and feet in bringing about the kingdom by what we say and do. Jesus is counting on us wherever there is any need to do his mission. He uses our eyes to see the homeless, the hungry, and the poor seeking to find dignity in their lives. He uses our feet to visit the lonely, the sick and the elderly. He uses our hands to help the disabled, the weak and the helpless. He uses our ears to listen to the cry of the poor, the despairing, and the troubled. He uses our voices to protect the unborn, the terminally ill, and the imprisoned.
Knowing that we can make a difference, Martin Luther King, Jr. once shared another one of his dreams, “One day, youngsters will learn words they will not understand. Children from India will ask: What is hunger? Children from Alabama will ask: What is segregation? Children from Hiroshima will ask: What is the atomic bomb? Children at school will ask: What is war? You will answer them. Those words are not used any more like stagecoaches, galleys or slavery. They are no longer meaningful. That is why they have been removed from dictionaries.”
That will happen because people are quietly living out Jesus’ mission here and now. By doing that, “today” will become a “year acceptable to the Lord.” Indeed, we have good reason to acclaim, “Your words, Lord, are spirit and life!”