Christmas Weekday, Thursday – 07th January 2021 — Gospel: Lk 4,14-22
Empowerment of the Prophet
In today’s gospel, Luke likes to stress the prophetic aspect of Jesus’ ministry being accompanied by the Holy Spirit. As we know, the Holy Spirit in Luke leads, fills, and empowers people for prophetic work. Characters such as Zechariah (Lk 1,15; 1,67-69), Elizabeth (1,41), Simeon (2,25-32), and John (3,16) experience the Spirit and proclaim truth through the filling of the Holy Spirit (4,14). Today’s text opens with Jesus returning in the power of the Spirit to Galilee (4,14). Then in the synagogue, Jesus reads a quotation that refers to the Spirit of God. The same Spirit that brought him back to his home town, Nazareth is now rests on him for the purpose of proclaiming the good news (4,18). Before this in the wilderness, Jesus himself was filled with the same Holy Spirit (3,22) that strengthened him to overcome the temptations. So, when Jesus is being led here by the Spirit, it means clearly that he is a recognized prophet, who is always empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, little later, Jesus openly states about himself as a prophet (4,24).
