Nehemiah 8:1-3,5-6,8-10; Psalm 19:1-6, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a, Luke 4:14-21
In our Old Testament reading, Ezra marks a new beginning in the life of God’s people by reading to them from the book of the Law - they have returned from exile in Babylon, rebuilt the temple and city of Jerusalem, and now he is telling them how they should live, how they should make use of their new freedom. And though they are challenged to repentance by what they hear they are told to rejoice in God’s mercy.
In our gospel reading, Jesus, recently returned from his short exile in the wilderness, reads from the prophet Isaiah, and proclaims that a new phase in the life of God’s people is now beginning, the age of the Lord’s favour. Challenging words, both in that he proclaims himself the anointed one, and that the day is now upon them.
Let’s think some more about those two challenges… first who Jesus was: Jesus identifies with the anointed one in Isaiah Priests and kings were anointed in the OT as a sign of God’s blessing; eg:

• Aaron, the first priest, anointed by Moses (Exod. 29:7)
• David, anointed king by Samuel (1Sam 16)
• Jehu, anointed king by a young prophet, at Elisha’s command (2 Kings 9)

Jesus was anointed with Holy Spirit at his baptism in the Jordan. We understand now that he was both a king and a priest. In the synagogue in those days, there was a set reading for each sabbath from the first five books of the Bible; but the second reading could be chosen from the prophetic books by the person invited to read. Jesus chose his passage from Isaiah, and the subject of the passage is an individual with a mission unlike that of any priest or king.
Before we move on to think about the mission of Jesus, let’s just remember that Jesus promised his disciples, including us, that they would also be anointed by the Holy Spirit. We pray for the anointing of the Spirit at baptism, at confirmation, and at many other times in our worship. As we reflect on the ministry of Jesus we can read more meaning into the Isaiah passage:
Good news to the poor – what good news? That God is indeed King over all the earth; that he loves them, and they can come to him for relief from their burdens, and to be forgiven
To proclaim freedom for the prisoners and to release the oppressed – we didn’t see Jesus and disciples storming the jails and freeing criminals; but in the area of physical freedom we think of the healing of the paralysed; and of the healing and rehabilitation of outcasts with a dreaded skin disease. In the area of spiritual freedom we think of those who were in unwholesome relationships, such as Zaccheus the tax collector, or the woman caught in adultery… Jesus gave each of them freedom to make a new start. Perhaps as 21st century westerners we make a distinction between physical and spiritual oppression and freedom. I am not sure that Jesus would have made that distinction.
Recovery of sight for the blind – physical sight yes, eg John 9. Also spiritual blindness, as we read at the end of that chapter, where some Pharisees ask, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour – the reference here is to the year of Jubilee, when people were set free from their debts. This is what the hearers of Isaiah and those who listened to Jesus would have understood. But we understand him to be referring not to a year, but to the new age of the New Testament, in which people are released from their debt to God, because Jesus paid the price on the cross. So using the words prophesied by Isaiah several hundred years before, Jesus declared his anointing by God, and his mission on earth. Challenging stuff for his hearers then, and for us today. If we see Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, and we call ourselves his disciples, if we are now his body on earth then the anointing and the mission of the church should be the same as his. At the end of Matthew’s gospel we find him telling his disciples to make more disciples, disciples from all nations, teaching them to obey everything that he had commanded.

• we are to take good news to the poor;
• we are to proclaim freedom to the oppressed;
• we are to bring sight to the blind;
• we are to proclaim the Lord’s favour.

That is the challenge for us! We can think of it as a collective challenge for us as the body of Christ of which we are each members. Together we can do these things even if they are too much for us as individuals. I have three opportunities in mind today:

• a) This morning we will have a retiring collection which will be good news for the poor of Haiti. Some will be able to contribute, some not – but the gift will go from us as a church. In the other support that we send to mission organisations we are also taking good news and relief to the poor and oppressed.
• b) Tomorrow evening we have a meeting to think about how we can respond to the opportunities afforded by the 2012 Olympics, to show and tell of God’s favour, to people of this country and others.
• c) A number of us have been concerned about the future of our local Christian bookshop. The good news this week is that plans are in hand for it to be taken over by a national Christian charity, which will keep it open, not just as a bookshop, but as a centre for proclaiming the good news of God’s favour to the people of Woodford. They will be asking us, and members of other local churches to help with volunteer staff so that it can be open for longer hours and reach more people. This is another opportunity for us to continue the mission of Christ.

The mission of Jesus is also our mission.
The anointing of Jesus should also be our anointing.
By the power of the Spirit, with the diversity of individual gifts which the Spirit gives, we can work together, as one body, to change Woodford (and even the wider world) with the good news of God’s favour.