Today, as you listen

What Jesus read aloud in Nazareth came from Isaiah 61, and he stopped mid-sentence. He read as far as the year of God's grace. The words after that, about the day of God's vengeance, he left out. That year of grace called to mind the year of jubilee, when slaves went free and families got their land back.

Today, Jesus says, in your hearing. Not some day. You can admire a promise for later without it asking anything of you. A promise for today calls for an answer. And grace comes first: here he leaves the judgment aside.