Category: Jason Edwards

February 3, 2016

Luke 4:1-13

This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on February 14, 2016.

Jesus’ journey into the wilderness serves as an annual launching pad for our own 40 day journey into the Lenten wilderness. Occurring with variation in each synoptic, the preacher may be tempted to choose another lection this year. Before doing so, the preacher should consider whether they have sufficiently mined Luke’s depiction of Jesus’ testing, for it is rich with biblical allusion and spiritual guidance.

The first few verses alone are packed with dots that need to be connected. The 40 day journey immediately reminds us of other biblical heroes who have undergone a similar experience. Moses’ 40 day fast (Exodus 24:28; Deuteronomy 9:9) and Elijah’s 40 day flight to the mount of God (1 Kings 19:4-8) come to mind, offering a subtle connection here between Jesus, the great law giver and the great prophet. Then there’s the not-so-subtle connection between Jesus and Israel. Jesus passed through the waters of the Jordan (Luke 3:21-22) just moments before being led into the wilderness by the Spirit. His first temptation: To make bread (think: manna). The connections between Jesus’ 40 days and Israel’s 40 years are not coincidental. Look closely. Jesus answers each test with a quote from Deuteronomy, the book that begins “these are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan…” (Deuteronomy 1:1). Two of those quotes (Deuteronomy 6:13; Deuteronomy 6:16) come right after the prayer faithful Jews were to pray twice daily, the Shema, and the third comes within 2 chapters (Deuteronomy 8:3). In this story Luke identifies Jesus as both Israel and the model Jew, and the biblical allusions don’t stop there. Instead, Luke continues to draw a line from Jesus’ present experience all the way back to the beginning.

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January 29, 2016

Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)

This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on February 7, 2016.

Transfiguration - Raphael — Transfiguration – Raphael

Luke begins this section on the transfiguration by telling us it happened “about 8 days after Jesus said this.” (Luke 9:28) This should prompt the eyes of the preacher to look up the page and see that Jesus’ transfiguration comes just after Jesus offers words about the meaning of his messiahship and, consequently, the nature of discipleship for those who choose to follow him. Jesus asks the disciples to tell Him what the crowds are saying about Jesus’ identity. Some say he’s John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the other long-gone great prophets, but Peter says he is God’s Messiah. (Luke 9:20) Notice then what happens next: Jesus affirms his messiahship, asks them to keep a lid on it for a while, and tells them that His messiahship will be characterized by submission and suffering, death then resurrection. In Matthew and Mark’s gospels this description prompts confrontation between Peter and Jesus (Matthew 16: 22-23; Mark 8:33), but here Jesus moves on to what this will mean for his disciples – that they must be prepared to follow suit. Before and after the transfiguration Jesus offers clarity by teaching and experience regarding exactly who he is and who he isn’t, and consequently, what it will and won’t look like to continue following him. The preacher will want to remember this distinction as they survey the possibilities within our text this week.

Jesus’ company on the mountain clearly answers the question of whether he might be the second coming of Elijah (Luke 9:19), or Moses for that matter. He is not, but Luke does want us to see Jesus’ connection to them. Perhaps intentionally, Luke does not tell us what mountain Jesus is transfigured upon. Some think it was part of Mt. Hermon, near Caesarea Philippi, since the transfiguration occurs shortly after Peter’s confession there in Mark, still others have identified it as Mt. Tabor, near Nazareth, however, symbolically Luke may prefer we sense similarity with the experience of Moses and Elijah on Mt. Sinai and Mt. Horeb. This gives some added content to the glory (Luke 9:32) seen in Jesus in this moment. It is not a glory divorced from the past. Rather, Jesus, his glory and his mission are connected to Israel’s great past. For instance, the word “departure” utilized in their discussion about Jesus’ mission, means exodus, and there is little doubt the author wants us to make this connection. Jesus, like Moses, will lead his people out of bondage. How many connections might be made here with people in the congregation who are longing for freedom from something that has a hold on them?

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January 15, 2016

Luke 4:21-30

This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on January 31, 2016.

The turnaround here is striking. One moment the listeners are in awe of Jesus’ words, the next they are ready to literally throw him off a cliff. Was it something he said? Of course it was, and as both people and preachers of the word, that is something we ought to pay attention to.

We know from earlier in the chapter that Jesus has come from the wilderness in the power of the Spirit. We also know that these listeners first called his words gracious, which could either mean “articulate” or “full of grace.” We’re not told the exact content of his teaching here, but whatever he said, it seems fair to surmise it was well-articulated, Spirit-empowered, grace-infused and originally received as good news.

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January 15, 2016

Luke 4:14-21

This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on January 24, 2016.

The preacher will certainly want to spend time in prayer before writing this sermon, otherwise capturing the essence of the moment in Luke’s gospel may prove difficult. We’re told in this opening act of Jesus’ public ministry that he returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, a state that Jesus claims for himself with the opening line from Isaiah. One might assume that Jesus is always filled with this kind of power, but Luke seems to suggest otherwise. The Spirit of the Lord has come upon Jesus in a particular way, for a particular purpose, at this particular time. How, when and why did this happen?

Some answers come when we consider what has occurred before. It might be tempting to read this story in a vacuum, in which case the reader will assume that Jesus’ empowerment is instantaneous and happens simply because he is Jesus. However, the Spirit does not empower him without cause or context. Jesus has spent years in thoughtful, prayerful preparation, growing in favor with God and others (Luke 2:52). His vocation was then affirmed (Luke 3:16-17) just before he was baptized (Luke 3:21), filled with the Spirit and then led by the Spirit through a season of formational testing in the desert (Luke 4:1-2). Two things worth noting here: 1) it’s not coincidental that the pattern of Jesus’ life bears resemblance to the story of Israel. Before Jesus announces the fulfillment Isaiah’s promise, he passes through the waters and is led into the dessert to wrestle with temptations like miraculously making bread. The preacher might decide to do something with this. 2) Spiritual power didn’t just come over Jesus in the synagogue, it came with him, and powerfully worked through him, because he had waited and worked so powerfully with it over an extended period of time. In other words, when Jesus returned home to launch his public ministry, he came spiritually prepared, and the gospel writer does not want us to miss this.

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