“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised Him. He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. And He stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.’ Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him, and He began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:14-21)

        I have not yet had an opportunity to see the movie “2012.” The reviews that I’ve read of it have suggested that it’s a bit of a disappointment. Some have been a bit more extreme. One reviewer wrote this of the movie: “The plot is [imbecilic.] The characters are black and white … The [dialogue is] idiotic and … annoying. … Everything is predictable.” That’s not the sort of review that makes you want to head out to Jumbo Video to rent it, but should you feel so inclined, the DVD is being released on March 2. At some point I’ll probably watch the movie (because I am a movie buff) but I won’t be standing in line for it. Whatever its weaknesses, though, the movie caused a bit of a stir. For those not familiar with it, the story is based on an interpretation of the ancient Mayan calendar that suggests that on or around December 21, 2012 the world is going to come to an end! Personally, I’m planning to go to bed on December 20, 2012 and sleep quite peacefully, but apparently some people take this interpretation very seriously. The modern-day descendants of the Maya don’t. Jose Huchm – a Mayan archaeologist in Guatemala - has said that “If I went to some Mayan-speaking communities and asked people what is going to happen in 2012, they wouldn't have any idea. That the world is going to end? They wouldn't believe you. We have real concerns these days, like rain.” For whatever reason, though, there have always been people who want to predict the end of the world. One of the more interesting – and certainly one of the more persistent - of these doomsday prophets was a man named Edgar C. Whisenant. Over 20 years ago he wrote a book called “88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Occur in 1988.” It didn’t, but Whisenant wasn’t deterred. He followed up with books about why the rapture might occur in 1989, 1993, 1994 and 1997! I can give you one reason why you shouldn’t buy any books written by Edgar C. Whisenant: he’s a bit of a nut! I say that, of course, in the kindest and most pastoral way possible.

Personally, when I think about prophecy, I tend to stick with those I find in the Scriptures. I take note of the fact that Jesus did the same thing. Early in His ministry, after His baptism and after His journey into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth in Galilee. He probably did what most of us would do when we return home after a long time away – I’m sure that He visited His family and His friends and His favourite haunts from days gone by. And there was one thing that He made a point of doing: He went to the synagogue for worship, and to honour Him as a returning native son of Nazareth, he was handed “the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.” Choosing His passage carefully, He read the following: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” Completing the reading, He sat down and proclaimed “today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

     This was, without doubt, a dramatic moment for the people of Nazareth – and next week, we’ll reflect upon how they reacted to this proclamation of Jesus. More than that, though, this was a vital moment for the people of God – for all Israel and for all who would be their spiritual descendants, including those of us gathered here this morning. With eight words, Jesus declared Himself to be the fulfilment of a prophecy that everyone agreed was messianic – in other words, it was a prophecy that described what the work of the Messiah would be. To go yet one step further, with those eight words, Jesus revealed Himself to be the fulfilment of all the Messianic prophecies of what we call the Old Testament. The Christian faith, of course, accepts that proclamation without question. It’s why we still exist today – 2000 years after Jesus died; because we believe Jesus was the Messiah; the fulfilment of all the promises of God. In many ways, the words Jesus read from Isaiah offer a pretty good summary of what God promised. The words of the prophecy aren’t meant, in my opinion, to be taken literally. They’re instead portraying spiritual realities. Jesus would offer the good news to those who felt spiritually empty and distant from God; He would free those who were held in spiritual bondage; He would reveal God to those who couldn’t see Him. He would proclaim that the salvation of God was at hand. As someone once wrote about this passage: “Jesus saw Himself coming with good news for the world’s troubled people.” Surely Jesus wasn’t speaking only to those particular people in that specific place at that one moment in time. When Jesus said, “today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” I believe He wasn’t just referring to that particular date – I think he meant for all the todays that were still to come. I think he meant “today” – January 31, 2010. That Scripture, that promise of God, that work of the Messiah continues to be fulfilled because the needs that have to be met continue to be present.

     “He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.” This is now our job. We are the church of Christ; we are the body of Christ; we are to be the embodiment of the work of God in the world today; we are to be the ones through whom God works and through whom God speaks. It’s no surprise, as I look at Haiti as it struggles to recover from the recent earthquake, that so many of the agencies and organizations responding have a Christian basis at least in their origins, even if it isn’t front and centre anymore. Assisting the poor, the struggling, the oppressed, the hurting and proclaiming the love, nercy and salvation of God to the world – all this continues to be the work of Christ (and therefore the work of Christians) today. Let us never forget our obligations in such things as followers of Christ.