“The Spirit of the Lord is on me”

Read Luke 4:14-21 

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At Jesus’s baptism “the Holy Spirit descended on him” and then, “full of the Holy Spirit, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Lk.3:22; 4:1). Now, “filled with the power of the Spirit”, Jesus returned to Galilee to begin his public ministry (14-15). So the words, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me... to preach good news” are particularly appropriate (17-19; Is.61:1-2). 

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His listeners knew that this Isaiah passage referred to the promised Messiah, anointed by God’s Spirit to bring salvation to needy people. (Messiah means anointed one.) That salvation is described in various different ways to emphasise that it is complete and for all – it’s good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind and freedom for the oppressed. And Jesus declared that it had been fulfilled in him (21).

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So in Jesus the era of salvation (“the year of the Lord’s favour” 19; cf. Is.49:8; 2 Cor.6:2) has now begun. In Luke this passage is the initial proclamation of the coming of God’s kingdom, equivalent to Jesus’s announcement in Mark 1:15 that “the kingdom of God is near”. In this way, Luke makes clear what the coming of the kingdom means for people who believe in Jesus.