After the baptism of Jesus and then his temptation in the desert Luke presents today’s passage almost as a manifesto at the beginning of his public ministry. Jesus has come to fulfil Scripture. He fulfils particular passages such as this one from Isaiah 61; he also fulfils the more general sweep of the story of the Bible that has been pointing to the Messiah Saviour, and now here he is. Today and tomorrow we hear of some different reactions to what Jesus says and does; which is closest to our own?

The Revd. David Hildred