Living into our common vision
Epiphany 5C | Luke 5:1-11
Previously in the gospel according to Luke: Jesus was in the synagogue in Luke chapter 4. He was handed the scroll of Isaiah, he read it, and said that it had been fulfilled in their hearing. The people were astounded.
Then, because the Presentation of Our Lord landed on a Sunday, we took a trip back to when Jesus was 40 days old and Mary and Joseph brought him to the temple for their rites of purification.
What we missed was the second half of that other story, when the people stop listening to Jesus and focus on where he came from, belittling him because of his father and place of origin. Then Jesus challenges them, and they get so mad that they try to grab him to throw him off the cliff, but Jesus eludes them, walking right through the crowd.
It is an important juxtaposition between the physical, literal attempt to kill Jesus and a metaphorical inability to even touch him, hold him, let alone destroy him.
Jesus leaves Nazareth for he can do nothing there, heading to Capernaum where he goes to a synagogue on the Sabbath to teach and the people are astounded “because he spoke with authority.” There he finds a man possessed with a demon and Jesus rebukes the demon, sending it away. And this amazes the people there because, they say,
‘What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!’
—Luke 4:36
Word spreads everywhere about Jesus and what he can do. They don’t dismiss Jesus, like the people of his hometown. They want to know more…
The full text may be found here.
For a limited time, you may find the audio here.