By Greg Jones
When Jesus proclaims the beginning of his ministry in his hometown synagogue, he offers us a nutshell of the whole Gospel itself. Obviously, there’s more than merely what he quotes from Isaiah — in terms of detail and how it comes to be fulfilled — but a succinct microcosm of what the Good News of God in Jesus Christ is to be sure to be found there.
In Luke 4.16-21, Jesus says the ancient prophesy of God making the world right again is no longer a future thing, but a thing in the process of fulfillment in Him. He says that in Him the Spirit of God has anointed a savior to bring good news to the poor, release to captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and redeeming the fallen world.
Clearly, this is a work not yet finished, even in our own day. It is tempting, in our cynical moments, to say that this restoration project proclaimed by Christ in Luke 4 doesn’t appear to have gotten very far. Again, we can look at Haiti, as just the most recent case in point for the cynical argument against Christ’s message.
In Haiti, we are hearing that some 150,000 have died so far from the earthquake. It is an unfathomably high number, and is perhaps only the beginning. That’s something like 1.5% of the population. Staggering. An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 on the Richter Scale killed some 150,000 people – so far. Yet, twenty-one years ago an earthquake of almost that size (a 6.9) struck San Francisco. Almost the same size, but in that instance only 63 people died.
What’s the difference? Well, it’s a question we must put to ourselves in terms of what Jesus is talking about in Luke. It’s a question of the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed in our midst. It’s a question of the fallenness of the world — and I don’t mean the planet itself.
No, it’s a question not of plate tectonics or earth science, but of justice.
The reason 150,000 died in Haiti and 63 died in the U.S. is a question of societal injustice. Isn’t it?
I believe that Christ has begun the redemption of a fallen world, and until He comes again in judgment, we who call Him Lord are supposed to join with Him in the saving work. This means not only feeding and clothing, but also working towards just societies.
The Rev. Samuel Gregory Jones (‘Greg’) is rector of St. Michael’s in Raleigh, N.C., a trustee of General Seminary and the bass player in indie-rock band The Balsa Gliders — whose fourth studio release is available on iTunes. He blogs at Anglican Centrist.