Ezra and Nehemiah... not names we are likely to find on a modern marquee somewhere! But these were individuals who played significant roles in shoring up the self understanding and spiritual identity and strength of God’s People when they returned from Babylonian exile to the land of God’s promise to them.
Within the limited number of verses from the Book of Nehemiah included in today’s readings, we see both men in roles of leadership. In this scenario, Ezra’s knowledge of the Law is manifest not primarily in offering “do’s and don’ts,” but in offering a blessing for the people that arises from God’s goodness in giving the Law and from the people’s being those intended to benefit from God’s Law and from God’s goodness. Elsewhere in the Books of Ezra and of Nehemiah, we see that the welfare of God’s People has been transferred by God from the Babylonian Kings Cyrus and Darius in the context of Israel’s Captivity to these men of Israelite lineage, knowledge, and religious faithfulness.
Today’s Gospel, from the beginning of Luke, presents Jesus as he comes to the synagogue in Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry. Whereas Ezra had proclaimed that a new day had begun as Israel began to live its restoration, Jesus proclaims that the new day has come in him. Both the Law and the Prophets are to be fulfilled in him. The true restoration from humanity’s deepest exile or captivity will be accomplished in Jesus.
If we are living “a year that is acceptable to the Lord,” what does that look and feel like? Paul says a great deal about how this looks and feels in the portion of his letter to the Corinthians we read today. Because of Jesus Christ, we all have been given to drink of the one Spirit of God. Each of us has been blessed with gifts that are from God and that are meant to be exercised as a spiritual offering back to God. We have been given gifts specific to each of us, and we have been given gifts in a manner meant to complement and strengthen the gifts of others. In suffering or in honor, in weakness or in strength, in the truth of our sinfulness or the truth of God’s mercy, we are called to be one in Christ, restored fully in Christ, grateful to be able to serve him who is Christ!