Project 119: Heaven and Nature Sing | Isaiah 61:1-3 and Luke 4:16-30
| Project 119 | Ben Winder
Reading for Tuesday, December 29: Isaiah 61:1-3 and Luke 4:16-30
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace;
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease,
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we;
Let all within us praise His holy name!
Christ is the Lord, then ever! ever praise we!
His pow'r and glory, evermore proclaim!
His pow'r and glory, evermore proclaim!
-"O Holy Night"
Jesus’ first sermon did not go particularly well, at least in the eyes of His audience. Seemingly His whole town showed up to see the local-boy-done-good, and instead of the sugar stick sermon they expected, they were treated to a politically charged, scandalous encounter with God’s expectations for God’s people from the prophet Isaiah. So upended were their expectations the townspeople attempted to throw Jesus off a cliff and end His ministry right then and there.
Today this biblical passage is paired with a subversive verse of a Christmas carol. Together they serve as a good reminder of how scandalous the good news of Jesus can be.
“Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease…”
Originally a French poem, these words were first translated into English by Boston minister and abolitionist John Dwight Sullivan in 1855, a full decade before the U.S. Constitution would outlaw slavery. His beautiful translation and musical arrangement remind us not only of the holiness of the incarnation, but the overtly political nature of what Jesus came to do. The gospel’s call for radically inclusive justice does not always align with the comfortable status quo.
“…the Lord has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”
(Isaiah 61:1b-2a NIV).
As we come to the familiar Christmas narratives again this year, it can be too easy to turn them into sanitized holy sugar sticks. However, a serious grappling with Jesus’ self-declared mission statement won’t allow it. His is a chain-breaking incarnation.
Remember, as His followers we now share His mission. There are still many poor in need of good news, many broken hearts in need of binding, and many captives and prisoners in need of true freedom and release. Injustice persists and we are to undo it. As we declare the arrival of the Lord’s reign, no doubt our work in these areas will scandalize and offend those who would prefer a gospel that requires less change of the status quo. At times we might even find ourselves among that number.
But knowing His law is love and His gospel is peace, let us risk comfort, even risk being tossed from a cliff, as we work in His name until all oppression shall cease!