Given the length of today's readings, especially if the long form of the reading from 1 Corinthians was used in your parish, you received a small taste of what the Israelites experienced listening for a half-day while the priest Ezra read out the law. And chances are, the homily you heard today was longer than the one Jesus gave in the synagogue at Nazareth in our Gospel.
The passage from Isaiah on which Jesus comments is really, like this Gospel reading, a mashup of two passages: Isaiah 61:1-2 and Isaiah 58:6. In his commentary on what He read from Isaiah, Jesus tells those gathered in his hometown synagogue that today what they just heard is fullfilled in their hearing. You see, Jesus is the Word of God incarnate.
Jesus is the Torah, Nevi'im, and the Ketuvim personified. In English words, He is the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings in person. While certainly inspired words, what we have in Sacred Scripture we might call the words of God or the word of God in contrast to the Word of God.
On this word of God Sunday, it bears reminding ourselves that, as Christians, we are not really Ahl al-Kitab (i.e., "people of the Book"). We are the people of the Resurrected and Risen Lord, who is Himself the Word of God.
I think it's hard for us to understand what a provocation Jesus' words were to those who heard him in this pericope of Luke's. Keep in mind, Nazareth was likely a small village of no more than several hundred people. Everyone not only knew everyone, but most of the Nazarenes were likely related to each other in some way. Jesus was of one them.
After going off and gaining some measure of fame teaching in synagogues in other Galilean towns and villages, Jesus came back home to Nazareth. On the sabbath, He went to worship in what Luke clearly indicates was likely the synagogue of His youth. In Catholic terms, He returned to the parish in which he grew up, where everyone knew Him. After reading passage(s) from Isaiah about the Messiah, He sat down, which was the posture for teaching, and told them with virtually no gloss, "I am the Messiah."
Turning back to Nehemiah, the People of God were so eager to hear the word of God that "they knelt down and bowed before the LORD, their faces to the ground" as their posture for listening. Talk about reverence! According to Luke, how do the worshippers in the Nazareth synagogue respond to Jesus revealing Himself to them as their long awaited Mesisah?
After asking "Isn't this Joseph's son?", they dispute His claim. Far from backing down, Jesus basically tells them that it comes as no surprise that they don't believe Him because their fathers didn't believe the prophets but some gentiles did and God blessed them for it. This really pissed them off. So much so that they tried to kill Him by running Him off a cliff (see Luke 4:22-30).
The contrast between the two responses couldn't be more stark. Believing in Christ is a scandal. In 1 Corinthians 1:23, Saint Paul says that "Christ crucified" is "a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles." "Stumbling block" is a translation of the Greek word skandalon, which is the origin of the word "scandal" in English.
Just as He is really present in the consecrated bread and wine, the Lord is really present in the proclamation of the inspired of words of Sacred Scripture in the assembly (see Sacrosanctum Concilium, sec. 7). In fact, the liturgy is the premiere place for the proclamation of and commentary on the scriptures. This is why preaching is so vitally important! Through the inspired words of God, the Word of God is made present.
As our Gospel clearly shows, Jesus didn't come merely to comfort. He came to provoke. Faith in Christ, if it is really faith, provokes everyone who believes in Him. Through the Holy Spirit, which is always at work through the scriptures, each is provoked in the way s/he needs to be, at least the ones who listen with open ears and hearts.
Saying "Jesus is Lord," at least when said by the Holy Spirit, is a bold declaration, a provocation. It is a provocation both to the one who makes this proclamation as well as those to whom it is proclaimed.
What hearing the Word of God means, in the words of our Blessed Mother found in our Gospel for last Sunday, which came from John, is "Do whatever He tells you" (John 2:5).
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