The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me; for he has anointed me (Is 61:1).
When the Prophet Isaiah claimed an anointing by God’s holy Spirit, he was consciously setting himself within a long tradition in the sacred history of Israel. We read, for example, in the Book of Numbers, how God’s Spirit that had been given to Moses spread also among seventy Elders gathered around the Tent, so that all of them prophesied (cf. Nb 11:24ff). Sometimes the descent of the Spirit could be quite alarming, as when King Saul went into uncontrollable ecstasy (cf. 1 Sm 10:11); or the Prophet Micah, filled with the Spirit, listed and denounced Israel’s sins (cf. Micah 3:8); or Ezekiel was shown strange visions, portending terrible things to come (cf. Ezk 2:2 etc.). In the Second part of Isaiah, though, the message we read is above all of consolation. The exiles in Babylon seemed to be a people without hope; a people on whom God’s threatened punishment had already descended. To them Isaiah proclaimed a great reversal; a new miraculous intervention by God: blessing, and mercy, and redemption, and restoration.
Our Lord entered the synagogue at Nazareth, filled with that same Spirit. But applying words of Isaiah to himself, Jesus claimed to possess God’s Spirit in a unique way. He was the fulfilment not just of this particular passage, but of all prophecy, and all law, and of the whole story of God’s dealings with Israel. He was the one Isaiah spoke of elsewhere as God’s Son, and God’s Servant; the one Symeon spoke of (2:25), and John the Baptist pointed to (3:16): the one who was to come. Anointed by the Spirit in a public way at his Baptism (3:22), Jesus was at once Prophet, and Priest, and King: “Christos”, the Messiah.
Of all the evangelists, St. Luke is who most emphasises the place and role of the Holy Spirit. We Catholics hold that the Spirit also filled St. Luke himself as he wrote. We also hold that this same Spirit continues to be poured out on all who read the inspired pages of his Gospel. We symbolise this belief today in a special way, when we enthrone the Gospel book after its solemn reading.
He found the place where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. St. Luke quotes Isaiah very freely here. He follows the Septuagint text, and inserts into it other texts from Isaiah (cf. e.g. 58:6; 42:7). Presuming that our Lord’s sermon was not confined to the one brief sentence we have, surely he himself would have woven such texts into his discourse as he spoke, in the manner of the Rabbis.
And what does Jesus say? He proclaims Good News. In the first place it’s addressed to the poor: that is, to all of us without exception, if only we realised it. Jesus is not a politician promising free hand-outs, nor a revolutionary seeking to overthrow the established order. Much better than that. He wants the poor to know that God loves them, honours them, calls them to Himself, even, or especially, in their poverty. Jesus offers us now the only riches really worth having - the knowledge and love of God; his own peace; the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus makes trustworthy promises of riches beyond imagination to come: life in its fulness; divine glory; fellowship with the Saints and Angels; joy in heaven without end.
In the light of the Holy Spirit we readily see how Jesus fulfils each article in Isaiah’s text. There were his many healing miracles, which would later be reported to St. John the Baptist in prison (8:22). But more deeply, and more universally: Jesus proclaims liberty to those held captive by sin and by death. He gives sight to those blind to God’s greatness and goodness and love. He sets free those enslaved to their vices, or to the deceits of the devil. And he proclaims a new era, a new covenant, a new dispensation: a great Jubilee that will last until the end of the world; when in principle all sins are forgiven, and all lost dignity is restored, and all peoples are invited to take their place at the banquet of the Kingdom.
Who would not welcome such glad tidings with gratitude and joy? Yet - such is the mystery of iniquity, and of the power of darkness - this news is often met with suspicion and hostility; even rejected with hatred and violence. As at Nazareth, so also in our modern secular society. Now many scarcely even know the Name of Jesus, unless to use it as a curse. Nowadays only those with special courage dare even mention it in public.
And that is why each of us needs the anointing of the Holy Spirit, in order that we might bear effective witness to Christ; that we might live according to his Gospel, even when others around us have chosen a very different path; that we might have courage and strength to live out our vocation, even amid so many sources of discouragement and defeat! The Spirit will also guard us against the temptation, especially prevalent nowadays, to secularise the good news. Yes, of course the Gospel has its beneficent effects in this world. It’s on the side of everything that is good and wholesome and healthy. It’s against injustice and oppression. It cries out on behalf of all who are hungry, or homeless, or sick, or suffering in any way. But the centre and focus of the Gospel is the Person of Jesus Christ Himself, Son of God, Son of Mary, our Saviour and our Lord. And the mission of Jesus was above all religious. He came to restore our broken relationship with God; to lift us up to the bosom of our Heavenly Father, to give us a share in his own eternal life.
Today could be an occasion for us deliberately to renew our confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit we bear. United with Christ by our baptism, we are made living members of his Body, and he communicates to us his own Spirit. This Spirit is God Himself present in us; the all-holy God revealing Himself and communicating Himself to us; God praising himself, and interceding for the world, in us and through us; God who is love and communion and life; God who is powerful to overcome all enemies, including sin and death.
And this Spirit is the same whom we invoke over the gifts of Bread and Wine. By his action, the whole mystery of Christ is made present in the Holy Eucharist: for our consolation, and nourishment, and participation.