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“And [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? And he said to them, Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself; what we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here also in your own country.’ And he said, Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. … When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. But passing through the midst of them he went away.
And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the sabbath; and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority.
Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, You are the Son of God! But he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.”
After his baptism, Jesus went to Capernaum, a fishing village on the northwest shore of Lake Gennesaret. From this home base, he taught and preached throughout Galilee (Matthew 4:12-13; Mark 2:1). Capernaum was located in the area settled by the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun in the northern kingdom. This territory had been invaded and occupied by Assyria in 734 b.c. and was flooded with gentiles, while many of the Jewish population had been deported. When Jesus took up his ministry there, Isaiah’s prophecy foretelling the exiles’ deliverance was fulfilled:
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned. (Matthew 4:15-16; see also Isaiah 9:1-2)
Thus, this region, so despoiled in Isaiah’s time, was the first to see the light of Christ dawning on it. “When Christ appeared in those lands … something began on earth like when a stone is cast into a quiet lake and starts ripples that finally reach the farthest shores,” wrote Archbishop Oscar Romero. “Christ appeared in Zebulun and Naphtali with the signs of liberation: shaking off oppressive yokes, bringing joy to hearts, sowing hope. And this is what God is doing now in history” (The Violence of Love).
Jesus’ first message echoed that of John the Baptist, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17), and provided the bridge between the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. Commenting on Matthew’s gospel, theologian Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis said Jesus chose those first words “to show his debt of gratitude to the Baptist and his strict continuity with him.” However, “now the word of preparation becomes the word of fulfillment” (Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word). As the herald faithfully completed his task, the Messiah began his own—and God’s promises were thus being fully realized.
Both John and Jesus challenged their hearers to repentance and conversion of heart in order to receive the kingdom of God—that is, God’s reign on earth, a reign exercised in the lives of men and women. However, whereas John’s work had been to proclaim what would happen in the future and prepare the way for it, Jesus announced a kingdom that had arrived in its fullness and was present among his hearers. Jesus proclaimed “good news,” thus personifying in himself Isaiah’s prophecy,
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (52:7)
In his preaching and teaching—through sermons, exhortations, and parables—Jesus unfolded the values of God’s kingdom and the principles of “kingdom living”—a kingdom often at odds with worldly values. It is a kingdom of priceless worth: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field …” (Matthew 13:44). It starts out small but grows into something much bigger: “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven …” (Luke 13:20-21). It requires great humility: “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). The kingdom that Jesus proclaimed is a kingdom where God reigns.
Matthew tells us that Jesus “went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them” (Matthew 4:23-24). This is a clear and concise summary of the works of the Messiah, which mirrored the messianic signs that had also been foretold by Isaiah:
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy. (35:5-6)
Indeed, these signs described by Isaiah were the answer that Jesus gave to the disciples of John the Baptist in reply to their inquiry, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:2-5). The miracles and healings that Christ performed both affirmed and demonstrated that he had a God-given mission to bring salvation and the good news of God’s kingdom to all who would believe.
Luke’s account of Jesus’ visit to his hometown of Nazareth further emphasizes the prophetic fulfillment of God’s promises embodied in Jesus—the Christ, the anointed one. When Jesus came to the synagogue as was his custom, “there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah” (Luke 4:17). Finding these prophetic words, he read to his fellow townspeople:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.(Luke 4:18-19; see also Isaiah 61:1-2)
Anointed by the Spirit at his baptism, Jesus took up the mission entrusted to him by the Father and now identified himself as the one foretold in Isaiah’s prophecy, declaring, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). This declaration was “followed by the actions and words known through the Gospel. By these actions and words Christ makes the Father present among men… . [T]he Messiah becomes a particularly clear sign of God who is love, a sign of the Father” (Pope John Paul II, Rich in Mercy).
The good news that Jesus proclaimed and the kingdom that he ushered in confounded the expectations of most of his hearers. The glory of King David and his descendants had been dimmed by their failures, sins, and defeats at the hands of their enemies. Israel longed for an heir to David’s dynasty—an ideal ruler, a messianic figure—whom God would raise up to establish justice, build an empire, bring peace, and restore the throne of David. By Jesus’ time, the messiah many Jews hoped for was a political leader who would free their nation from the domination of Rome.
Jesus’ behavior and actions contradicted this understanding of a messianic ruler and transcended nationalistic conceptions of his role. Yet he seemed ambivalent about verbally declaring or clarifying his identity as the Messiah. On the one hand, Jesus did not deny that he was God’s agent, sent by God to establish the new order that he was so openly proclaiming. When the woman at the well in Samaria said, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things,” Jesus replied, “I who speak to you am he” (John 4:25-26). And he accepted Peter’s and Martha’s professions of faith in him as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16; John 11:27). On the other hand, however, Jesus did not want people to think of him as a political figure who would conquer Israel’s enemies and establish a new Davidic kingdom on earth, a role he refused and rejected. So when his identity was being questioned, Jesus’ responses were generally oblique: “You have said so” (Matthew 26:64; 27:11); “Why do you ask me?” (John 18:21) “If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I ask you, you will not answer” (Luke 22:66-68).
The Messiah—the Son of God, the Word-made-flesh—was sent into the world by the Father to redeem humankind from sin, liberate us from slavery to sin and death, and restore us to full union with God. Each of us must search our hearts to fully recognize our own need for a Messiah so that we can receive the salvation he offers us.
1. Note as many similarities as you can between John the Baptist’s message and that of Jesus. What does this suggest to you? In what ways did their respective messages and missions differ?
2. Matthew and Luke stressed the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies as Jesus began to preach throughout Galilee and as he taught in the synagogue at Nazareth. How might Jesus’ consciousness of his role and identity as the Messiah as described by Isaiah have affected his public ministry?
3. Jesus proclaimed the gospel or good news of the kingdom (Matthew 4:23; Luke 4:43). What do you think a first-century Jew would have recognized as “good news” in the public ministry of Jesus? What good news might they think was lacking?
4. What, in your opinion, did Jesus’ hearers understand by his reading of Isaiah 61:1-2 in the synagogue in Nazareth? Why might they have reacted negatively to him (Luke 4:28)?
5. Why would the demons have recognized the identity of Jesus when the religious people of the day did not (Luke 4:40-41)? Why do you think Jesus forbade the demons to speak when he rebuked them?
Why would the demons have recognized the identity of Jesus when the religious people of the day did not (Luke 4:40-41)? Why do you think Jesus forbade the demons to speak when he rebuked them? because they knew HIM from before time, when Saint Michale cast out Eve from the garden, and even before that. The angles existed before us. That is the why of the cross. The bad angels were jealous of GOD’s relationship to man. So the war began and only GOD could end it for HE made us to be HIS children in relationship though CHRIST and HIS CROSS that has been reestablished for all to enter into. LOVE Mary or lordslove