At the start of any new century, it is natural to look forward and imagine a world shaped by new possibilities. The start of the 21st century began with the dream of a world no longer divided by ideological wars, instead, with the World Wide Web, and global markets opening up, we would live peaceful and prosperous lives. Inevitably the dream was shattered by the events of 9/11.

At the start of the 20th century artists and poets dreamt of a world shaped by the new industrial forces that allowed humanity to reach out beyond the limitations of our bodies. To fly, to travel at speed, to conquer space and time. It was the age of the ‘Uber menschen’,

Or ‘Superman’.

The Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti captured this spirit in what he called a ‘Futurist manifesto’(1909). In it, he rails against the past and condemns the conservative forces that have held Italy back from the industrial revolution. He glorifies speed, and aggression, praising war for its purifying, ‘hygenic properties’.

Here is a taste of the manifesto.

“ We want to glorify war - the only cure for the world- militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of the anarchists, the beautiful ideas which kill, and contempt for women.’ Article 9

“We want to demolish museums and libraries fight morality, feminism, and all opportunist and utilitarian cowardice.’ Article 10

The manifesto is horrifyingly prophetic of the age that witnessed the destruction of the First World War and the rise of Fascism, but it is also a testament to a spiritual malaise that has condemned humanity to war, oppression, and injustice down the ages.

Jesus’ manifesto

It is this destructive, anarchic, malign spirit in humanity that Jesus confronted in what is sometimes called Jesus’ manifesto.

In the Gospel passage in Luke 4: 14-21

‘The spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’

The ‘Jesus manifesto’ sets out his programme for the Kingdom that he had come to establish. However, this vision of a universal, inclusive family was received with violence by the crowds who heard, as this passage makes clear. The townsfolk of Nazareth were not interested in a universal family they wanted a kingdom for themselves.

Vision or Mission?

In setting out his manifesto Jesus rejects the options that lie behind most manifestos: Popularity, power, and prosperity. These were the options that Satan had offered to him in the wilderness.

Populists offer vision, but often it is driven not by a sense of mission but by the seductive lure of power and domination. Jesus rejected these options as a possible route to success. He knows they could only lead to oppression and injustice, instead as his manifesto makes clear, Jesus has three fixed points on which he anchors his mission: The power of the Spirit, the proclamation of the Word, and the appointment, or as Luke calls it the ‘The anointment of God’.

The power of the Spirit: ‘Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit’ Luke 4:14. The power that Jesus exercised came from God not from the crowds that followed him. It was a power that was able to transform the crowds into disciples and equip them for ministry.

The proclamation of the Word: ‘He has appointed me to preach good news to the poor’. The message Jesus proclaimed was good news for everyone, but it was not a populist message. It called for a reordering of priorities and placed a value on the lives of the most despised in society.

The anointing of God: ‘Isn’t this Joseph's son they asked’. Jesus was a local boy but his mission from God was to the whole world. Jesus had come not just for his own, but for those who were outside the community of friends and family.

As a Church seeking to fulfill the Jesus mission, we too are to reject the tools employed by populist leaders relying not on human strength, but empowered by the Spirit of God, committed to the Word of God and compelled by God’s calling on us.

Manifest or Mission?

Though this passage can be understood as a manifesto, looking to a future world order, I believe, it is better understood as the fulfillment of the mission of a loving God who has from the beginning of time set his heart on restoring his creation, defaced by errant humanity, through His anointed Servant.

Jesus manifesto echoes words written by Isaiah 500 years before:

Isaiah 61: 1 – 4

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”

This ‘Manifesto’ might, in fact, be described in another sense of that word:

Manifestation or demonstration is sometimes known by the theological term Epiphany. It is the unveiling of the anointed Servant foreseen by Isaiah. In this sense, Jesus is identifying himself as the Servant, coming to fulfill his God-given mission.

Not Revolution but ‘Re-Creation’!

Jesus’ mission is much more than a revolution, it is the ‘Re-Creation’ or rebirth of God’s creation through the death and resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ. His death, far from being the end of his career, was the fulfillment of it, the culmination of long years of prophetic words, now fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Luke gives us a sense of Jesus' ultimate victory over violence and death in the picture he paints of Jesus as he walks calmly through the crowds, intent on killing him.

Luke 4: 29/30

“And they rose up and drove him out of town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.”

Jesus, the victorious Saviour, just passes through this mob of violent humanity on his way to glory! Humanity has continued along the ruinous path of destruction for centuries, but Jesus, the Prince of Peace has given us another path that we are called to follow, empowered by His Spirit and guided by His Word. The peaceful Messiah has given us a vision of a world without war, without injustice, without oppression, in which the ultimate enemy, death itself is defeated and humanity restored to life in all its fullness.

Rev. Simon Brignall

O God of peace, you have established Jerusalem as the Lord’s house and place of peace, and have called on all who live there to love you and prosper. Instill in all – Jews Christians, and Muslims – a hunger for justice and dignity and a resolve to end the distrust that culminates in violence.

Please hold in your prayers the grieving families of our parish, especially we pray for the Abel Smith family and the Douglas-Home family.