The Revised Common Lectionary for this Sunday begins with Isaiah 61, which Bible nerds might recognize as the text Jesus chose as his inaugural sermon in Nazareth. His speech in Luke 4, however, is a rather sloppy rendition of verses 1 and 2 that omits Isaiah’s “binding up the brokenhearted,” changes “opening of the prison to those who are bound” to “set at liberty those who are oppressed.” He also adds “recovering of sight to the blind.”
His recitation is at variance with the Septuagint (LXX) and the Great Isaiah Scroll, which was composed and stored in caves near the Dead Sea by the time He was born. Of course, you can’t blame him since his mother was also prone to exegetical hiccups. Mary displays the same creative reordering of scripture in her Magnificat in Luke 1, which happens to be another text for Advent 3.
What’s the takeaway?
Not only is it cute that mom and son share similar exegetical SNAFUs, but it’s also significant that in each of their introductory addresses, Mary and Jesus select scripture that draws upon the martial imagery of God. It makes sense since if God is a man of war, Mary is a military spouse, and Jesus is a “brat.” The good news is not just dependent upon military families, the Holy Family are military dependents.
To dig deeper, subscribe to First Forward, where I’ve already uploaded my RCL reflections for Advent 3. Paid Subscribers can scroll onward for a little enlisted exegesis since I unfold my thoughts by typing, too. Everyone else just has to wait until the episode is made public next week and/or this ☧ost is transferred to The Training Room.