Jesus’ discourse in the Sinagogue of Nazaret.

Present and future liberation.

Abstract

The paper focuses firstly on the Lucan controversy regarding eschatology, trying to discern whether,
indeed, the impending parousia is more present in Mark and Matthew than in Luke. From there it goes
on to observe the history of salvation in the third Gospel, identifying its own characteristics about this
topic. In this perspective, the end of time in Luke is analyzed. With these premises we focuse the context
of the episode of the synagogue of Nazareth and the self-proclamation of Jesus. The adverb today,
characteristic of the Lucan writings, acquires in this passage a special force.

1. Luke's work and eschatology

It has been written abundantly about the imminence of the parousia in Mark (and

consequently, also in Matthew), in contrast to Luke, who according to some scholars would

belong to a later period of the development of early Christianity. However, not a few of

them think that this difference is non determinant, if it exists. As Nolland affirms, the

distance has been artificially accentuated, creating a kind of hyperscatology in Mark and a

subscatology in Luke.1 Nor would it serve the image of an evangelist who writes at a time

when the Church would have been already consolidated, in a temporary context that firstly

Harnack called Frühkatholizismus,2 concluding that Luke would belong to the post-Pauline

period.

A characteristic of proto-Catholicism would be the attenuation of the waiting for an

impending parousia and, as a consequence, the development of an institutional Christianity

that would have left aside the charisms, a true hallmark of the dynamism of the primitive

community in the exercise of their faith. Marshall reacts against a tendency that places Luke

1
John Nolland, Luke (3 vols.; Dallas: Word, 1989) xxxvii-xxxviii. J. A. Sanders, ‘From Isaiah to Luke 4’, Luke

and Scripture: The Function of Sacred Tradition in Luke-Acts (ed. C.A. Evans and J.A. Sanders Minneapolis:

Fortress, 1993) 1.46-69.

2
See Vittorio Fusco, ‘Sul concetto de protocattolicesimo’, RivBib 30 (1982) 401-434.
 as an exponent of this current, as one for which the Church moves away from Christ to

become the place par excellence of salvation.3

It is not clear if the first Christians expected an immediate pause and that only

afterwards, in a successive period, they began to adapt to their delay. Looking at the

Gospels with a bit of perspective shows that Jesus had foreseen a time interval before the

final moment. Anyway, it should be recognized that in Luke this period seems a little longer

than in the other two synoptics.4 Even if the primitive community had initially thought of a

neighboring parousia, they could soon realize that it would not happen immediately.

Typical would be the case of Paul: at first he thinks that he could find himself among the

disciples who would go to meet the coming Christ (1 Thess 4,15), recognizing later that his

death could have preceded the second coming (2 Thess 2 ,1-4). If there has been a crisis in

the early Church regarding the delay of the parousia, that would had happened in the

Pauline period, not in the first Christian community.5 Making a confrontation with the other

writings of primitive Christianity, it follows that Luke does not represent an

institutionalized Church that delivers salvation only through preaching and sacraments,

according to the thought of the Reformation.

2. The History of Salvation and the delay of the parousia

Luke presents the primitive kerygma in several ways, stating at the same time that he

prefers the context of history. It is known that Conzelmann6 directs his attention to Luke
3
I. Howard Marshall, ‘Early Catholicism in the NT’, New Dimensions in NT Study (ed. R.N. Longenecker and

M.C. Tenney; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1974) 217-231.

4
Dale C. Allison Jr., ‘Eschatology’, Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (ed. J.B. Green, S. McKnight, I.H.

Marshall; Downers Grove-Leicester: InterVarsity, 1992) 206-9, esp. 208.

5
I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978) 34.
6
Hans Conzelmann, The Theology of St. Luke (London: Faber and Faber, 1960); William C. Robinson, Der Weg

des Herrn: Studien zur Geschichte und Eschatologie im Lukas-Evangelium: ein Gespräch mit Hans

2
 16.16: «The law and the prophets were until John: from that time the gospel of the kingdom

of God is preached, and every man enters violently into it». He then subdivides the history

of salvation into three periods: the time of Israel, the time of Jesus, the Center of Time, and

the time of the Church. According to his interpretation, in the first part of Luke 16.16 there

would be the events and prophecies of the Old Testament, while the second would

correspond to the two volumes of Lucan work. That text of Luke 16.16 is not only–as in

Matthew and Mark–a point of union between the times of promises and fulfillment. In Luke

this second moment expands, acquires consistency and duration in the course of history: the

time of Jesus must be different from the time of the Church. According to Conzelmann, this

is Luke's contribution to the theology of history, even if the distinction in three periods does

not appear explicitly in the Lucan work. Baer had already enunciated this theory,7 criticized

by Kümmel, among others,8 in the first half of the 20th century. Fitzmyer considered it

fundamentally correct and, despite the numerous criticisms, still valid.9 However, in a recent

analysis Bovon offers a more global and harmonious vision in which both promise and

fulfillment appear as the essential aspects in Luke's theology. The fulfillment period

includes the time of Jesus and his witnesses, and the latter period that is substantially

described in Acts. In each step from time to time God sends the figures that ensure

continuity. An emblematic case would be John the Baptist.10 Wolter also considers the

Lucan narrative as something that is part of a global story that, based on the Fathers of

Israel (Acts 7.2; 13.17), passes through Jesus (Acts 13.23) and continues until the time of
Conzelmann (Hamburg: H. Reich, 1964).
7
Hans von Baer, Der heilige Geist in den Lukasschriften (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1926).
8
Werner G. Kümmel, ‘Lukas in der Anklage der heutigen Theologie’, ZNW 63 (1972) 149-165; reprinted in

‘Currents Theological Accusations against Luke’, ANQ 16 (1975) 131-145, esp. 137; Gerhard Schneider, Die

Apostelgeschichte, I (Freiburg im Br./Basel/Wien: Herder, 1980) 135.

9
Joseph Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke (2 vols.; New York: Doubleday, 1981) 1.18.
10
François Bovon, L’Èvangile selon saint Luc, (4 vols.; Genève: Labor et Fides, 2001) 1.30-31.

3
 the Lucan work. This allows us to contemplate the announcement and fulfillment, from the

Scriptures to Jesus (Luke 4.21; 24.25-27.44) and from Jesus to the witnesses period (Luke

2.34; 24.47-49).11

It seems that Luke associates the historical perspective projected towards the

parousia with a retrospective looking at Jesus, highlighting the historical value of the Christ

event and describing salvation as something that has happened in the past. This is the

formative period of the teachings and traditions of Jesus Christ in order to communicate the

Good News about him. The historical-salvific scheme that structures the Lucan work is

projected in time to the present day, becoming something widespread and accepted. The

strongest criticism of this approach comes from Conzelmann who, according to his three-

time scheme, thinks that Luke would have abandoned faith in the hope of the last days.12

Following his path, Käsemann attributes to Luke having replaced the eschatological

perspective of early Christianity with the salvation history13 In his opinion Luke did not

expect the end of the world as an imminent event and, as a consequence of this, he has

written the Church’s history. 14 The evangelist would have weakened the eschatological-

apocalyptic hope, a decisive element in the faith of the primitive community.

11
Michael Wolter, ‘Eschatology in Luke’, Eschatology of the New Testament and Some Related Documents (ed.

J.G. van der Watt; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011) 98.

12
‘Luke understood that there was no more possible to announce the waiting for a near end’. Hans Conzelmann,

An Outline of the Theology of the New Testament (New York: Harper & Row, 1969) 194. Eng*
13
We remark here the influence on both of Rudolf Bultmann, Shorter Writings (New York: Living Age Books,

1960) 124.
14
«(In Luke) the story of Jesus is given a kind of extension in that of the Apostles. Such an undertaking could

only be possible and meaningful for a writer at a time in which apocalyptic eschatology no longer controlled the

whole of life, as it had done in primitive Christianity. You do not write the history of the Church if you are

expecting the end of the world to come any day». Ernst Käsemann, ‘The problem of the Historical Jesus’,

Essays on New Testament Themes (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982) 28.

4
 Marshall criticizes Conzelmann and Käsemann for having emphasized too much the

historical component of Lucan theology without sufficiently evaluating the salvific aspect,

which is what ultimately counts. The term σωτηρία, salvation, occurs 10 times in Luke-

Acts, while is lacking in Matthew and appears only once in the long final of Mark and once

in John.15 The salvation described by Luke does not come from a historical process but from

the divine will in Christ, which requires a positive response accepting Jesus as Savior, rather

than adhering to an institution.16

To see some examples, the parable of the Sower (Mark 4.1-9; Matt 13.1-9; Luke

8.4-8), which has been called the ‘parable of the parables’,17 is an emblematic case. At the

end of his interpretation, while Matthew and Mark speak of the good land that produces

fruit in various proportions: thirty, sixty, one hundred, Luke evokes the one hundred times

fruit by adding the expression ἐν ὑπομονή, ‘in patience. For him it is necessary the

constancy before the difficulties of the Christian existence, which characterizes the true

disciple in order to persevere until the end, without expecting a quick and easy result.

Also in the collection of small units with the image of the patron and the servants

(Luke 12.35-48; Mark 13.33-37; Matt 24.42-51), the evangelist focuses vigilance as a daily

reality, as something that involves the permanent effort to correspond to the divine gifts.

This becomes the leitmotif of the entire section (Luke 12.1-13,9), where the ethical and

spiritual demands serve as a preparation to the coming of the Lord (Luke 12.35-40).18

15
I. Howard Marshall, Luke: Historian and Theologian (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1998) 84-89.
16
George E. Ladd, Donald A. Hagner, A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993) 239.

17
Pierre Courthial, ‘Du texte au sermon; la parabole du semeur in Luke 8, 5-15’, ETR 47 (1972) 397-420(401);
Joachim Gnilka, Das Evangelium nach Markus (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener/Mannheim: Patmos, 2010)
182-183; C.W.F. Smith, The Jesus of the Parables (Philadelphia: Pilgrim, 1975); Bernardo Estrada, El
sembrador. Perspectivas teológico-hermenéuticas de una parábola, Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca,
1994) 111.
18
John Nolland, Luke 2.699.

5
 The parable of the barren fig tree (Luke 13.6-9), cursed by Jesus on the road from

Bethany to Jerusalem (Mark 11.12-14; Matt 21.18-19), rather than referring to the guilt of

the inhabitants of Jerusalem,19 indicates that the time has come to account for their own

actions, upon which the future will depend, while inviting to contemplate the time of Jesus

as the καιρός of salvation, to which all have been called.20

The parable of the unjust judge and the widow (Luke 18.1-8) ends with a question

about perseverance: «But, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?» (Luke

18.8b). The reference to faith is related to the parabolic narrative, while that of the Son of

Man is a bit unexpected, among other things because it places him in the position of God,

engaging himself with the text that follows, the so-called ‘little apocalypse’ of Luke (17.22-

37), which begins with these words: «Days will come when you will wish to see only one of

the days of the Son of Man ...» (Luke 17.22b). They highlight faith and prayer, connecting

them with the importance of always praying and not fainting (Luke 18.1). In this part of the

trip to Jerusalem, Luke shows Christian life and discipleship in an eschatological

perspective before the eyes of his addressees, while exhorting to wait: the final question

seems to indicate the delay of Son of Man's day.21 Anyway, rather than talk about the

proximity or remoteness of divine intervention at the end times, the attention shifts to the

believer: what really matters is whether she or he will be prepared or not. Indirectly Jesus

responds to the Pharisees who asked him about the coming Kingdom of God (Luke 17.20).

In the parable of the pounds (Luke 19,11-27) the Third Evangelist says that Jesus

was near Jerusalem and his disciples thought «that the Kingdom of God would appear from

one moment to another» (Luke 19.11b). In the parable a noble man, before leaving, entrusts

money to his servants, supposing a short period between departure and return, counteracting

19
Gerard Rossé, Il Vangelo di Luca (Roma: Città Nuova, 1965) 537.
20
Eduard Schweizer, Das Evangelium nach Lukas (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982) 144-145.
21
Fitzmyer, Luke 2.1181.

6
 the idea of an immediate wait. The parallel narrative of Matthew (Matt 25.14-30), in

contrast, prospects a return of the Lord μετὰ δὲ πολὺν χρόνον, ‘after a long time’ (Matt

25.19).

The parable of the wicked tenants (Luke 20.9-19; Mark 12.1-12; Matt 21.33-46), the

last parabolic narrative of the Third Gospel, avoids the allegorical features indicated in

Mark and Matthew, who refer to Israel as the vineyard of the Lord, in the light of Isa 5.1-7.

The three synoptics say that the Lord of the vineyard left (ἀπεδήμησεν) after leasing it, and

Luke adds that he was out χρόνους ἰκανούς (20.9), ‘for a long time.’ The workers have to

carry out a task entrusted by the Lord of the vineyard. A relationship is established between

God and his people through the envoys, which allows us to taLuke about a future coming,

probably far away, that puts patience at stake.22

Before the Transfiguration, Luke presents a somewhat enigmatic Jesus logion: ‘I

really tell you that there are some, among those present, who will not like death until they

see the Kingdom of God’ (Luke 9:27). The coming of the Kingdom of God with power,

according to Mark 9.1, and the mention of the Son of Man in Matt 16.28 are omitted.

Luke’s reference emphasizes the episode in which Jesus anticipates the glory of the

resurrection with the idea of perhaps reinforcing the faith of the apostles in the face of the

scandal of the cross, which they had to accept shortly. The disciples must come after Him,

renouncing even their own lives, not being ashamed of their words and deeds (Luke 9.23-

26).

Luke contemplates the period from the present time to the second coming of the

Kingdom transforming the apocalyptic waiting into the salvation that comes with Jesus

himself. For Conzelmann the evangelist does not insist on the proximity of the Kingdom: he

puts it out of time. It already exists in the hereafter and it will certainly come.23 According to
22
John Nolland, Luke 2.950.
23
Conzelmann, Outline of the Theology of NT, 195. Eng*

7
 Bovon, in 9.27 Luke is inspired by the promise of Simeon, who can already die because he

has seen the salvation (Luke 2.30). In the same way Jesus' contemporaries can contemplate

death with a certain serenity because they have seen their Master suffering and will see him

again in the glory of the resurrection and ascension.24

3. The End of times

3.1 The apocalyptic sayings

The Gospel of Luke, confronted with Matt and Mark, presumes a longer period

between the public life of Jesus and his second coming at the end of time. It does not seem,

however, that the evangelist renounces the idea of a final eschatological consummation, as

Conzelmann argues. Luke has not eliminated the eschatological kerygma. In effect, the

evangelist retains some traditional references about the arrival of the Kingdom of God and

judgment by the Son of Man.

The Lucan apocalyptic sayings of the coming wrath with the ax already placed at the

root of the trees (Luke 3.7-9), and the shovel in hand to clean the era (Luke 3.17, Matt 3.12)

are two good examples. Also, in the mission of the seventy (and two) it is explicitly said

that the Kingdom of God is near (Luke 10.9; Matt 10.7), without abandoning the

eschatological perspective. And in the apocalyptic discourse, following Mark 13.26 almost

textually, Luke 21.27 says that «they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with great

power and glory». However, Luke prefers to speak of Jerusalem surrounded by armies

(Luke 21.20) instead of mentioning the abomination of desolation that precedes the end of

times (Mark 13.14). On the other hand, he seems to be inspired by the Marcan example on

the fig tree (Luke 21.29-31; Mark 13.28-30): «So also you, when you see this happening,

know that the Kingdom of God is near. I assure you that this generation will not pass until

24
Bovon, Luc 1.474-475.

8
 all this happens». (Luke 21.31-32). The Third Evangelist does not give up thinking about a

final time not too distant.

Luke could have omitted these logia and yet he did not, following the gospel

tradition. In his writings the attention of the faithful shifts from the fixed idea of imminence

to a Church’s period that is part of the divine history of salvation.25 This does not mean,

however, that the return of Jesus is not expected, even if it is not very close: «This one who

has been taken to you, this same Jesus, will come just as you have seen Him go up to

heaven» (Acts 1.11), inaugurating the era of God's judgment (Acts 17.31).26

3.2. The presence of the Kingdom

The death means for the righteous their integral transfer to the messianic kingdom,

even though sometimes the soul-body Hellenistic dualism appears in the Gospel (Luke

16.19-31). This redemption of death is nevertheless compatible with the eschatological

vision contemplated in present and future. The impending parousia and the new creation

find in Luke the totality of the faithful united in the mystery of the life, death and

resurrection of Jesus Christ (Luke 20.27-40; Acts 24.15). It is not about something that is

done and consumed in heaven and then manifested on earth, but about a mystery that is

fulfilled on earth and that at the same time becomes present in heaven. The double

eschatology of grace and judgment in Judaism becomes a basis of support in Luke’s two-

phase process: the present action of the Holy Spirit that brings salvation in Jesus and

through Jesus, and the judgment and consummation of the Kingdom.27 It is not clear how all

realities and consolation times will be restored (Acts 3.19-21). The person and mission of

25
Fitzmyer, Luke 1.235.
26
D.M. Gurtner, «Eschatology», Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus (ed. C.A. Evans; London/New York:

Routledge, 2008) 181-182.

27
E. Earle Ellis, Eschatology in Luke (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1972) 11.

9
 Jesus Christ determines the distinction and separation between this era and the other one,

defining the continuity and discontinuity between them, and at the same time affirming his

second coming with authority, in the final judgment.28AQUI

Luke's eschatology contains a deep Christology. Without simply identifying Jesus

with God - who is always the Father - nevertheless creates a special intimacy between both.

In the Benedictus Zechariah says that the child will go before the κύριος, the Lord, to

prepare the way for him: he clearly refers to God, but it is Jesus of whom John will be the

forerunner. The same happens with Isaiah's appointment at the beginning of the Baptist's

mission (Luke 3.4-6). Luke is the only evangelist who calls Jesus κύριος, not only in the

dialogues with his disciples or when they or other people turn to Him–as the other Gospels

do as well–but also as a narrator, in third person. Jesus brings with himself the Kingdom of

God.

Luke’ ἔσχατον is at the fingertips. Categorizing the death and resurrection of Jesus

Christ as an event of the past, Conzelmann has not sufficiently valued the moments in

which salvation is present in history. Although sometimes Luke is not systematic in

describing events as present or future, he regards Jesus as his center. In the Third Gospel the

adverb σήμερον, today, indicates precisely the near reality of the grace that Jesus brings to

humankind: of forty times that appears in the New Testament, the half are in Luke-Acts (11-

9x). Luke’s today is presented as a fundamental moment in the theology of time and history.

The presence and proclamation of Jesus are, in fact, the confirmation of the promises from

above; it’s God's time.29

28
Arland J. Hultgren, «Eschatology in the New Testament: The Current Debate», The Last Things: Biblical and

Theological Perspectives on Eschatology (ed. C.E. Braaten, R.W. Jenson; Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans,

2002) 67-89, esp. 69.

29
Emilio Rasco, ‘La singolarità di Luca: salvezza di Dio e responsabilità dell’uomo’, RdT 19 (1978) 36.

10
 The σήμερον in Luke is not limited to the temporal-chronological sense, present in

some cases.30 Sometimes it gives the text a meaning that transcends time and projects itself

towards eschatology.31 We cannot develop all the Lucan passages in which the adverb

σήμερον implies that long-range saving meaning, those that mark the rhythm of Jesus' life

and preaching. We can instead focus the programmatic event of the mission of Jesus, his

self-proclamation in the episode of the Synagogue of Nazareth (Luke 4.21). In any case, it

must be borne in mind that today is present from the childhood stories, beginning with the

angelic announcement to the shepherds: ‘a savior, who is the Lord Christ, was born today in

the city of David’ (Luke 2.11); It also appears in the healing of the paralytic, highlighting

the saving news of the thaumaturgical power of Jesus: ‘Today we have seen incredible

things (παράδοξα)’ (5.26). The words of Jesus to the conversion of Zacchaeus are equally

significant in the third Gospel: ‘Today salvation has come to this house’ (19.9) and the

promise to the good thief: ‘Today you will be with me in Paradise’ (23.43).

In short, there is a particular insistence on the development of the historical-salvific

process with a clear awareness of the parousia that, although sometimes it seems distant, at

other times, however, it is not so much. Without losing sight of the final consummation, one

can at the same time affirm that Lucan theology supposes a movement from the

present/future horizontal dualism, to those vertical earth/heaven and time/eternity. In this

way the realization of salvation does not have as its main background the chronological

future but the timeless sphere.

30
This is the case of Jesus’ logia on the grass that today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown in the oven (Luke

12,28), of the challenge of Jesus to Herod, who wants to eliminate him (Luke 13,32-33) and of the

announcement to Peter who will deny him (Luke 22,34).

31
Benedetto Prete, ‘Prospettive messianiche nell’espressione «semeron» del Vangelo di Luca’, Il messianismo.

Atti della XVIII Settimana Biblica Italiana (ed. A. Bea; Brescia: Paideia 1966) 272.

11
4. The Speech in the Sinagogue of Nazaret (4.16-30)
4.1. Its context

The speech in the synagogue is the first event of Jesus' ministry in Galilee, presented

in a long section of the third Gospel (Luke 4.14-9.5). As in Matthew and Mark, Luke

initially underlines the character and novelty of the Jesus’ message expressed in deeds and

words. For the moment Jesus is the center of attention and interest of his listeners. Even if

the Lucan structure is different, the narration is substantially the same: the visit to the

synagogue of his city, the popular reaction to his teaching, the reference to his kinship, the

proverb that refers to a prophet who is not welcomed in their land, the absence of miracles.

Diversity must then be sought in Luke's particular source and in his editorial activity.32

In Mark and Matthew Jesus' return to Nazareth and teaching in his people's

synagogue appears after Jesus has preached in parables on the shore of Lake Tiberias and

has made a series of miracles (Mark 6,1-6; Matt 13,54-58), beginning with Capernaum

(Mark 1,21; Matt 4,13). Mark, who frequently says that Jesus taught (17 times he uses the

verb, in front of 15 in Luke and 13 in Matt), is however the evangelist who presents fewer

examples of his didactic preaching; in fact, he has only two great speeches in his Gospel.

Matthew initially departs a little from Mark’s narrative to insert the Sermon on the Mount,

where Jesus promulgates the law of the new covenant. Luke instead alters the narrative

order to highlight the words of Jesus in the synagogue of his homeland, presenting them as

a true programmatic discourse that contains many of the basilar themes of Luke-Acts,33 in

the same way that Matthew has done with the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). Thus, in the

Lucan editorial project - which will later report the sermon on the plain, parallel to Matthew

- his desire to solemnly present the beginning of Jesus' public life in Nazareth is noted.34 At

the end of the episode he will say: ‘Jesus then went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee.

32
Fitzmyer, Luke 1.526.
33
I. Howard Marshall, Gospel of Luke, 177-178.

12
 He taught them on the sabbath’ (Luke 4.31). One cannot deny that the evangelist escapes a

small incongruity when, after having read the text of Isaiah and having begun to comment

on it, the listeners ask themselves, amazed and surprised at the same time, about the origin

of their science and of «the gracious words that came from his mouth.» (4.22), and then

Jesus said to them: «Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and

say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’»

(Luke 4.22-23). Knowing Mark’s tradition, Luke is aware that Jesus' mission begins in

Capernaum. However, he does not hesitate to change the chronology by placing the

Nazareth event at the first moment of his public life, before the mission in Capernaum

(Luke 4.31-43), to give it a greater highlight. Hence, some studies show their interest in the

internal coherence of the narrative.35

Schürmann argues that there could be an independent narrative of the beginning of

Jesus' public life that would have inspired Matthew and Luke. Although the two continue -

as has been seen - Mark's structure in broad strokes, it is clear that in this case there are

differences. Knowing that Q refers to John's preaching, to Jesus 'baptism and temptations, to

preaching and to miracles, it would not be strange - says Erfurt's well-known exegete - that

this parallel narration would have continued with the beginnings of Jesus' ministry.36 Not

everyone, of course, agrees, as happens when unraveling the sources of a text. Delobel, for

example, argues that linguistic characteristics give no reason to think of a different text from
34
H. Schürmann, ‘Zur Traditionsgeschichte der Nazareth-Perikope Luke 4,16-30’, Mélanges Bibliques, FS B.

Rigaux (ed. A. Descamps, A. de Halleux; Gembloux: Duculot 1970, 187-205.

35
J. Bajard, ‘La structure de la péricope de Nazareth en Luke. IV, 16-30: Propositions pour une lecture plus

cohérente’, ETL 45 (1969) 165-171; Craig A. Evans, James A. Sanders, Luke and Scripture (Eugene: Wipf and

Stock, 2001) 65, n. 65; against, Gerard Lohfink, Die Sammlung Israels: Eine Untersuchung zur lukanischen

Ekklesiologie (München: Kösel, 1975) 44-46.

36
Heinz Schürmann, ‘Der «Bericht vom Anfang«’, Traditionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zu den

Synoptischen Evangelien (Düsseldorf: Patmos, 1968) 69-70.

13
 Mark, which Luke has elaborated with great freedom.37 At the end, Marshall will say, we are

facing a question that appears frequently in the Gospel, and it is how to decide whether a

material similar to Mark's presented in a different way is due to a personal wording about

the Marcano text or a parallel material that it was in another source.38 Perhaps the only thing

that can be said is that Luke does not depend on a single story. On the other hand, the Lucan

use of synonyms to improve narrative style makes it difficult to identify additional sources,

says Cadbury.39

Luke 4.14 says that Jesus ‘returned (ὐπέστρεψεν) to Galilee (in Mark 1.14 ‘he

came’, ἦλθεν, and in Matt 4.12 ‘he retired’, ἀνεχώρησεν, absent term in Luke) in the power

of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area.’ This

is a summary with which the evangelist begins the ministry in Galilee, and that constitutes

the first element of an inclusion that has as its end Luke 4.43, when people look for it,

trying to retain it. Jesus tells them: ‘I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to

the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent.’ And he was preaching for the

synagogues of Judea. This summarizes the missionary activity of Jesus in Galilee (with

references to preaching, synagogues and the judgment on Jesus himself) that is concretely

illustrated in the exorcisms, healings and proclamation of the Gospel. From there his

ministry will be developed in the territory of the Gentiles and in Judea.40

Lc 4,14-15 introduces the public ministry of Jesus in Galilee. For Schürmann is a

‘transitional introduction’ in an almost impetuous way, as a culmination of the anointing of

37
Joel Delobel, ‘La rédaction de Luke, IV,14-16a et le «Bericht vom Anfang»’, L’Évangile de Luc (ed. Frans

Neirynck; Leuven: University Press/Peeters 1989) 123-124.

38
I. Howard MARSHALL, Gospel of Luke, 176.
39
Henry J. Cadbury, «Four Features of Lukan Style’, Studies in Luke-Acts: FS P. Schubert (ed. L.E. Keck, J.L.

Martyn; London: SPCK, 1968) 88-92.

40
Joel Green, The Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997) 203.

14
 the Spirit received at baptism (Luke 3,21-22; Acts 10,38) and of his obedience to God the

Father in the face of the attack of the devil in the desert.41 Jesus then appears as a figure that

works in the sphere of the Spirit and with the power of the Spirit. Luke 4,14-15 will serve as

a general introduction to the accounts of Jesus' ministry in Galilee, beginning in Nazareth

and Capernaum, characterized by teaching in synagogues and by his marvelous works.42

The episode of the synagogue of Nazareth manifests, once again, the union of Jesus

with the Spirit (Luke 4,18) which, according to the Gospel of Luke, guides in a special way

the public life and all the activity of the Messiah. The action of the Spirit is detected in the

Annunciation to Mary (1,35), in descending and perching on Him in baptism (3,22), in

being guided in the desert (4,1) and in the return to Galilee (4.14), to mention only

childhood and the beginning of his public life. Mark does not refer to the Spirit as a guide to

the missionary and messianic activity of Jesus, while Matthew names him only beginning to

narrate the episode of the temptations of the desert (Matt 4.1). A common origin in Q is

revealed by the use of the word φήμη, ‘fame’, present only in Luke 4.14 and in Matt 9.26,

the only two occasions in the NT. The third Evangelist highlights, along with the power of

the Spirit, the divine justice that is present in the world and in history.43

In the synagogue of Nazareth the reading of the Isaian text and its interpretation by

Jesus,44 are in a context of rejection that serves as a general proof of his passion and that

41
Heinz Schürmann, Lukasevangelium (2 vols.; Freiburg im Br./Basel/Wien: Herder, 1969) 1.225-226.

Schleiermacher, holds instead that Luke 4.14-15 is a conclusive section of the beginnings of Jesus’ Public life.

Friedrich Schleiermacher, Über die Schriften des Lukas: Ein kritischer Versuch (Berlin: Reimer, 1817) 1:50;

Julius Wellhausen, Das Evangelium Lucae, úbersetzt und erklärt (Berlin: Reimer, 1904) 7-8
42
Nolland, Luke 1.187.
43
Bovon, Luc 1.203.
44
This episode shows a precise knowledge of the sinagogue’s praxis in I century A.D. that comprised: praying

the Shema’, the invocation, Tephillah and the Reading of the Torah and the Prophets, with an explanation. Emil

Schürer, Fergus Millar, Géza Vermes, Matthew Black, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus

15
 establishes the theological categories that prepare the reader for the prophetic destiny of

Jesus in Jerusalem. The message he has brought is addressed first to the inhabitants of his

city. This narrative then becomes a paradigm not only of the ministry of Jesus, but also of

the mission of the Church,45 because it shows how Jesus' words are rejected by his own

people.46 They ask the ‘son of Joseph’ for signs, which is hard to believe is a true prophet.

Jesus responds to his disbelief by warning that he could go to other more receptive people:

God's plan will find its full fulfillment in the mission among the people. The attempt of

aggression, fruit of the wrath of the listeners, is an omen, a symbolic prophecy of the future

passion and resurrection of Jesus that the evangelist wants to put from now on before the

eyes of the reader.47

4.2. Jesus' self-proclamation

In the discourse in the synagogue Jesus reads the Isaian text about the presence of

the Spirit in the Messiah, and appropriates it 61.1-2 (Luke 4.17-21; cf. Isa 58.6). In the two

prophetic texts the language of the jubilee year of Leviticus 25 resonates, where the word

ἄφεσις, ‘remission, liberation, jubilee’ is key, thirteen times present in this chapter, of the

forty-five that appear in the LXX. The Qumran community (11QMelch 20) also used that

text from Isaiah, which announced the liberation of slavery. The interpretation of Scripture

that Jesus offers, rather than rabbinical, is presented as eschatological-messianic. The

proclamation of salvation announced by the prophets is done at the same time that Jesus

Christ (175 B.C. - A.D. 135) (London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2014) 2:447-454; L.C. Crockett, ‘Luke iv. 16-

30 and the Jewish Lectionary Cycle: A Word of Caution’, JJS 17 (1966) 13-46; Charles A. Kimball, Jesus’

Exposition of the Old Testament in Luke’s Gospel (Sheffield: Academic Press, 1994) 28.
45
Bo Reicke, Neutestamentliche Zeitgeschichte (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1968) 51-53.
46
Fearghus O’Fearghail, ‘Rejection in Nazareth: Luke 4:22’, ZNW 75 (1984), 60-72.
47
Marshall, Gospel of Luke, 178; Frieder Schütz, Der leidende Christus (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1969).

16
 speaks it out loud, as expressed by the adverb σήμερον. This prophetic-promising synagogal

lectio becomes a true and proper Evangelium.48 Luke thus saw the beginning of the ministry

of Jesus Christ as the eschatological dawn in which the divine promises are fulfilled. The

parallel is then discovered with the episode of the baptism of the Lord, although in this case

the words are pronounced by Jesus himself. Both find confirmation in sacred prophetic

literature.49

The evangelist presents the scene through a dynamic-hermeneutical chiasm that

opens with the verbal forms ἀνέστη-ἐπεδόθη-ἀναπτύξας (rose-was delivered-unrolled) and

closes with πτύξας-ἀποδοὺς-ἐκάθισεν (rolled up). In the Gospel quotation of Isa 61.1-2

from the LXX, «The Spirit of the Lord (is) upon me, because he has anointed me, has sent

me to announce to the poor the Good News, to proclaim liberation to the captives and sight

to the blind, to give freedom to the oppressed and proclaim a year of grace from the Lord»,50

the first person pronoun is repeated three times: ἐμέ, με, με, being the last one preceded by

the clause εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς ἀπέσταλκεν, the announcement of the Good News to the

poor, which is then developed by means of four sentences in infinitive: proclaiming

liberation to the captives, giving sight to the blind, giving freedom to the oppressed and

proclaiming a year of grace from the Lord. The juxtaposition of the two verbs, send

(ἀποστέλλειν) and announce the Good News (εὐαγγελίζασθαι), is repeated at the end, in

Luke 4.43. After the mission in Capernaum, Jesus exclaims in front of the people who want

to keep him: «Also to other cities I have to announce the Good News (εὐαγγελίσασθαί) of

the Kingdom of God, because to this I have been sent» (ἀπεστάλην). The close union that

48
Schürmann, Lukasevangelium,1.230-231.
49
Ermenegildo Manicardi, ‘L’intervento de Dio nella Storia: Il modello Lucano dei «racconti iniziali» (Luke 1-4

e Hch 1-5)’, RSB 28 (2016) 342.

50
Ed P. Sanders, ‘From Isaiah 61 to Luke 4’, Christianity, Judaism and Others Greco-Roman Cults. FS M.

Smith (ed. J. Neusner. Leiden: Brill, 1975) 1:75-106.

17
 manifests between sending and evangelizing shows that between the two realities present in

the person of the Messiah, the anointing and the mission, the priestly-royal and the

prophetic function, Luke prefers to underline the second. The evangelization of the poor

should then be read as an emblematic designation of Jesus' ministry.51 On the other hand,

Luke omits Isaiah's phrase, ‘bandage broken hearts’, perhaps because it is the only one that

makes no direct reference to healing, and the evangelist wishes to highlight Jesus'

thaumaturgical power.52

The meaning of the Isaian text is prophetic. The reference to the anointing appears,

however, in Qumran (11QMelch 11.7), referring to the teacher of the community as the

anointed of the Spirit. It is possible, given the Lucan tendency to use the Christological

titles in promiscuous mode, that the evangelist also think in the messianic anointing of

Jesus, even though the prophetic sense predominates.53 The narrative emphasizes that the

ministry of Jesus must be seen as a fulfillment of the Old Testament, not only in the passage

of Isa 61.1s but also in the typological counter-figures of Elijah and Elisha.

4.3 The Lucan ‘Today’ in Nazareth

Jesus' ministry is eschatological in the sense that today, σήμερον, Scripture has

come to its fulfillment and messianic time is manifested. Indeed, the figure of Isa 61.1 not

only announces salvation, but also brings it.54 The year of grace of the Lord has arrived,

characterized by the performance of portentous works and by the announcement of the

Good News to the poor and needy. As stated before, the fulfillment of Scripture is

51
Ernst Bammel πτωχός, ThWNT 6.905-906.
52
C. E. Freire, ‘Jesús profeta, libertador del hombre: Visión lucana de su ministerio terrestre’, EE 51(1976) 489-

490.
53
David L. Tiede, Prophecy and History in Luke-Acts (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980) 46.
54
Gerard Friedrich, εὐαγγελίζασθαι, ThWNT 2.714-718.

18
 contemplated in Jesus himself, anointed by the Spirit, who appears as an eschatological

prophet, as Messiah and Servant of Yhwh. The Lucan Jesus is not a social reformer: he does

not in any way address the political structure of his world; instead he is deeply committed to

the physical and spiritual needs of his contemporaries.

The text highlights not only the oracle of the prophet that is fulfilled on that day, but

also the way Jesus proclaims it: "This Scripture, which you have just heard, has been

fulfilled today" (Luke 4.21), in the person to whom it was destined prophetically. The Greek

σήμερον indicates the moment when God is present in the lives of men through his Son.

Even if it is not correct to simply say that Jesus is announcing his messianism,55 one can

nevertheless claim that he presents himself as an eschatological prophet, referring to himself

in a much deeper way than the synoptic tradition sometimes recognizes him.56 In addition,

this use of Isaiah 61.1 finds an echo in Luke 7.22, when Jesus responds to the messengers

sent by John the Baptist, mentioning the prodigious acts he performs. The Anointed of the

Most High and Messiah of Israel is no longer just an object of hope: it has gone from

Scripture to history, from the promise to fulfillment. Jesus announces the living God,

present and acting in human realities. It is the moment in which, in an unprecedented way,

God reveals himself in history as his own Lord.

The scope of the event is even greater. Through the presence and activity of Jesus,

God has entered history in a completely new way, as the One who guides and acts in it and

with it. The proclamation of the Kingdom of God among men constitutes the distinctive

aspect of his message, of his divine power. For that reason the σήμερον, today of salvation,

is not only a time of conversion and penance but also of joy and peace, because Jesus comes

to meet us; Through Him God operates and carries out his reign, his Lordship.57 The Good

55
Rudolf Bultmann, Theologie des Neuen Testaments (Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1961) 2-10.
56
Bertil E. Gärtner, ‘The Person of Jesus and the Kingdom of God’, TToday 27 (1970) 32-43.
57
Bovon, Luc 1.207.

19
 News that he announces and offers, accompanied by liberation and renewed life, is not

reduced to a simple spiritual expression without correspondence in the reality that must be

fulfilled later in the definitive Easter, in the parousia; On the contrary, the miracles and

words of Jesus show that salvation is accomplished today and now in all mankind. The

turning point of his eschatological mission is manifested at the moment when the saving

mystery that God had promised his people is realized.58

The response from his listeners is described by Luke saying that "they bore witness

to Him and were admired of the words full of grace that came out of his mouth" (Luke

4.22), a septuagintism that gives him a certain solemnity and dignity.59 His listeners show:

1) Jesus' claim to fulfill the oracle of Isa 61.1-2) its character and behavior, which serve as

the basis for its credibility; 3) that his fame has reached Nazareth. This is so because the

impact of his words bears witness to the truth that he proclaims.60 What impresses them is

"the words full of grace," not so much for the vehemence with which they have been

pronounced, but for the divine mercy and forgiveness manifested in the strength and power

of God's grace, as he observes from the use of χάρις in the Lucan writings, an almost

substantial power that accompanies the person who owns it (Luke 2.40; Acts 4.33, 6.8,

7.10). As Nolland observes, people are impressed not with words being words of grace, but

because they were words of grace.

The text of Luke 4.16-30 allows us to deduce the eschatological character of Jesus'

ministry: on this day the Scriptures have been fulfilled, the days of the Kingdom have come,

the time of salvation has been made present. The year of the Lord's grace, characterized by

58
Wolter, Eschatology in Luke, 99.
59
So Deut 23.23; Ps 89 (88).34; Isa 55.11.
60
John Nolland, ‘Impressed Unbelievers as Witnesses to Christ (Luke 4.22a)’, JBL 98 (1979) 219-229.

20
 the proclamation of the Good News to the poor and powerful works, is at the door. Through

his word forgiveness reaches men.61

5. Conclusion

The mission of the Messiah is to bring the Good News to the poor, comforting and

comforting them in their situation, just as it does with those who have a broken heart and

with those who suffer from some evil, beginning with the most terrible of all: blindness. At

the same time he comes to free the captives and take away the weight that crushes the

oppressed and, together with the previous realities, the greatest gift: the presence of mercy

and forgiveness. In Israel the arrival of the Messiah would have meant the end of all evils

and a definite time of joy without suffering, partying and joy, as described, among others,

Isaiah 25 when referring to the messianic banquet. Jesus has taught, however, that this ideal

period will take place only at the end of time, with his second coming. This intermediate

time must always witness the struggle between good and evil, with the constant tension

between sin and divine grace until the last eon. The full sense of liberation is located in the

future.

The presence of the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ, the autobasileia that

describes Origen, has two temporal components: the present and the future, the now but not

yet. With the adverb σήμερον, today, Luke is indicating that the presence of the Messiah

brings not only a message of consolation and hope, but also a saving reality. With the life

and preaching of Jesus Christ, the signs that indicate the presence of the kingdom in the

midst of men and women who long for the redemption and deliverance of evil begin to be

realized.

This does not imply, however, that the evils and difficulties described in Isa 61

disappear at the moment when Jesus reveals himself as the protagonist of that prophecy.

61
Marshall, Gospel of Luke, 178.

21
 Although the fundamental announcement has been made, we must now observe the

development of the historical-saving process, while humanity is on its way to the final

homeland. The final manifestation of liberation is part of the mystery of divine providence.

Humanity can certainly collaborate in that realization.

Poverty is a biblical value confirmed by Christ, who vehemently exclaims: "Blessed

are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Mt 5, 3). And Saint Paul, like

Jesus Christ, says: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, being rich, became poor for you, that you may be

rich because of his poverty" (2 Cor 8, 9). In both cases the term πτωχός is used, which

describes the person who has nothing and asks for help, because he knows that he alone

cannot live. He needs God and others to exist, develop and grow. The realization of

messianic times is shown precisely in that predilection of Christ - and of the Church that he

founded to continue his mission - for the poor, and in his request for them, fighting the evil

that in man produces an unacceptable misery and trying to fix it.

The presence of the Messiah carries with it a message of hope that, although it does

not solve all the problems, announces that the era of salvation is present to help humanity

overcome its own difficulties, precisely serving those most in need in fighting these three

types of misery. If only in the eschatological era that liberation will be full, she now

possesses a current value that drives to combat evil in the heart of man, true cause of the

misery present in the world. Thus the present and the future merge into the salvific horizon

presented by Luke.

22