Mission Manifesto of Jesus!

Thursday, January 9, 2025

1 Jn 4:19-5:4; Lk 4:14-22

Today’s Gospel highlights the mission manifesto of Jesus. 

A careful reading of Jesus’ mission manifesto would show that it was carefully designed to be inclusive and liberative. 

His mission agenda is his top priority, so it gave his followers a sense of direction about his mission and helped them realize that God was present in their midst. 

At least three points can be highlighted from today’s Gospel text. 

Power of the Spirit: Jesus, who comes to fulfill the will of the heavenly Father, also draws strength from the indwelling Spirit of God. Jesus is an example of the fact that when God’s Spirit is within us, it manifests itself in action. Jesus’ mission lets us understand that our creative, radical, and authentic mission belongs to the inspiration of the indwelling Spirit of God. 

Love of the Periphery: Jesus establishes himself as someone who embraces people from the periphery. He begins his mission from places that people looked down upon in those days. Thus, the liberation that Jesus intends starts from his very choice of places. As such, his priority for the neglected towns and peoples deserves our consideration. 

Liberative Mission: Jesus reveals that the content of his mission is liberation, which is multidimensional, involving the religious, political, and social realms. If the presence of God can only symbolize liberation, then Jesus manifests God in every aspect of his mission. For Jesus, the oppressed can only experience God as liberation. Hence, Jesus designs his ministry from the perspective of the oppressed and marginalized while inviting us to do the same. 

Let us pray that we may give glory to God by reflecting Him in every aspect of our life and mission. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar