Why does Jesus start his public ministry (in Lukes gospel) by quoting the prophets?
Every five years we Rooneys hold a Family Reunion. Some families – perhaps yours – can hold one every year, because the vast majority of their clan are “localized” within a 100-mile radius. However, our Rooney clan spreads across the USA from coast to coast, with around 200 ancestors flowing just from “my” (now the “first”) generation alone. We gather to have fun, to renew bonds with kin, and especially to tell stories and to “remember.” In our First Reading (Nehemiah 8) the scriptures are read to a few generations who had never heard the truth proclaimed and shared (i.e., God’s Word). It was very important to “hear and remember,” because without God’s word to guide them, they were bound to fall into a pagan lifestyle. It became important thereafter to have the community assemble and “listen” again to the “history of salvation” as they remembered it from the time of Moses, by listening to God’s Word – holy Scripture. Now Jesus comes forward and quotes Isaiah 61, telling the people of N
