Scripture for Sept. 3, 2007 see http://scripmed.blogspot.com

Dear Readers: Please, use http://scripmed.blogspot.com for the readings
from tomorrow up to Saturday/Sunday Sept. 9th.

Scripture for Monday, Sept. 3, Lectionary #431: I Thessalonians 4:13-18,
Psalm 96:1-5,11-13. Luke 4:16-30:

In John's Gospel, Nathaniel who comes from the town of Cana, says this
about Jesus' home town of Nazareth, "Can any good come from Nazareth?"
Now Nathaniel is described by Jesus as an eventual disciple who is totally
honest, that is, a person without guile as Jesus puts it. In thinking
about this, we have to answer the question and strongly cry out, "Yes"
something good can come out of Nazareth, namely Jesus! As we enter the
pages of another Evangelist today, we find that the beginning of Jesus'
active ministry is inaugurated in a synagogue or gathering place for study,
worship, and socializing. The synagogue is in Nazareth and Jesus is chosen
to read from the Haphtorah or second reading from the prophet Isaiah. He
does so according to the ritual and custom of the synagogue service on a
Sabbath. It may be the only first century reference to the service and it
is found in the Gospel of Luke our Gospel for the coming weeks before
Advent. Jewish scholars and friends have told me this is an historical
reference to the synagogue of the first century and it is found in Luke who
wroted around 85 A.D. The reading is correctly identified as a scroll not
a book and the passage Jesus is reading is a powerful one dealing with
social justice and concern for the poor, the widows, the lonely, and the
crippled. The passage comes from Isaiah 61:1-2; 58:6 (see also Luke 7:22).
Jesus is faithful to the customs of his time and observes the sabbatical
practice of also reading from the Prophets after a selection from the
Torah. As a guest, Jesus is invited to read from the prophetic scroll. He
then interprets the passage in a challenging manner that first captures the
attention of the listeners and then infuriates them because of his applying
it to his own people, the Israelites. They threaten to throw him over a
cliff, but he miraculously escapes. He proves the point of his sharply
pointed midrash on the passage by making it applicable to the present
moment. He thus is a person and prophet who is without honor in his own
native town. He is simply the son of Joseph and comes from Nazareth. We
return to our "Yes" to Nathaniel's question and affirm that Jesus is the
best person ever to come from Nazareth and maybe the only one we are
talking about during this twenty-first century. Amen.