Consider the Word, January 27, 2022

 
Consider the Word, January 27, 2022
4^th Sunday after Epiphany
Email stpauls@pei.aibn.com for the link to the Bible Study.
 
Readings for January 30:

• Jeremiah 1:4-10
• Psalm 71:1-6
• 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
• Luke 4:21-30

 
Collect

Living God,

in Christ you make all things new.

Transform the poverty of our nature

by the riches of your grace,

and in the renewal of our lives

make known your glory;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Reading: Luke 4:21-30

Jesus began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

 
Reflection Questions

1. Why were they filled with rage?  
2. Is the message we proclaim these days good news for the poor? For the captive? For the oppressed?
3. Does our proclamation envision that all can be saved?”

 
Closing Prayer

O God of all the prophets,

you knew us and chose us

before you formed us in the womb.

Fill us with faith that speaks your word,

hope that does not disappoint,

and love that bears all things for your sake,

until that day when we shall know you fully,

even as we are known by you. Amen.

 
The Message: Luke 4:21-30

^16-21 He came to Nazareth where he had been raised. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

God’s Spirit is on me;

    he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,

Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and

    recovery of sight to the blind,

To set the burdened and battered free,

    to announce, “This is God’s time to shine!”

He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.”

²² All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at how well he spoke. But they also said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son, the one we’ve known since he was just a kid?”

^23-27 He answered, “I suppose you’re going to quote the proverb, ‘Doctor, go heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.’ Well, let me tell you something: No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. Isn’t it a fact that there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during that three and a half years of drought when famine devastated the land, but the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Sarepta in Sidon? And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha but the only one cleansed was Naaman the Syrian.”

^28-30 That set everyone in the meeting place seething with anger. They threw him out, banishing him from the village, then took him to a mountain cliff at the edge of the village to throw him to his doom, but he gave them the slip and was on his way.

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson