On November 20, 2009, to considerable media fanfare, a group of 140 senior Christian leaders issued ‘The Manhattan Declaration.’ In brief, it calls for Christians to defend three “fundamental truths about justice and the common good”:

1. the sanctity of human life,
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife, and
3. the right of evangelicals to protest the first two items without recrimination.

It is germane also to note that in media quotes, as in various other interactions over the last several years, some of the prime movers  this declaration intend it as a corrective for the rising generation of evangelicals.  These are the core concerns for our time, the Declaration maintains, concerned that the recent broadening of social, economic, and political engagement will lead to a dilution of efforts over these three issues.

In matters of social practice, economic policy, and political engagement – no less than in matters of spiritual truth and personal salvation – we are called to follow Christ’s teaching and his example.  Notably, both his words and deeds in part confirm the Manhattan Declaration, and in part challenge it.  In particular, Jesus’ Nazareth Declaration concurs that Christians should not only preach the gospel, but should also engage social, economic, and political issues.  At the same time, it refutes the attempt to narrow the focus to the proposed – or any other set of – three particular issues.

One Declaration, Four Interpretive Contexts

Luke introduces the public ministry of Jesus with him at the temple, offering the Scripture reading and exhortation.  Jesus clearly intends the citation to be programmatic for his public ministry, setting out his values and establishing his agenda:  “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” In modern parlance, it serves as his mission statement.

¹⁶He [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

On the face of it, the Nazareth Declaration is ambiguous.  Each of its agenda items is capable of carrying either metaphorical or literal sense:  ‘good news to the poor,’ ‘freedom for the prisoners,’ ‘recovery of sight for the blind,’ ‘release [for the] oppressed,’ ‘the year of the Lord’s favor.’  Are these the spiritually or the materially poor?  The metaphorically or the literally imprisoned?  The analogically or physically blind?  Is the oppression from human powers, or from spiritual forces?  Moreover, at least three of its key remedies are, in some contexts, explicitly spiritual in meaning:  ‘preach good news’ or ‘evangelize’ (euaggelizomai), ‘freedom’ or ‘forgiveness’ (aphesis), and ‘release’ or ‘forgive’ (aphiemi).

Which meaning and application does Jesus intend, purely metaphorical and spiritual or also literal and physical?

A fundamental axiom of biblical interpretation is that context establishes meaning.  Four contexts influence the understanding and application of Luke 4.  First, Jesus is citing Isaiah 61:1-2 (LXX), so we do well to understand the original meaning of these words in that context.  Secondly, he does not simply quote, but adapts 61:1-2a, inserting one line from Isaiah 58. Thirdly, within the Gospel of Luke, Jesus’ statement of mission (4:16-21a) leads directly to the crowd’s response (4:21b-30).  Fourthly, the two-part account of Jesus’ teaching and the crowds’ reaction (4:16-21a,21b-30) is linked with a two-part account of Jesus’ initial acts of ministry.  (4:31-41).  Notably, all four contexts point in the same direction:  Jesus understands his ministry to include not only bringing spiritual salvation but also addressing a wide range of physical, social, economic, social, and political issues or needs.

Isaiah 61. Isaiah writes against the backdrop of spiritual alienation and physical suffering.  Israel persisted in rebellion against God, and so he finally summoned an enemy empire to destroy the nation, demolish their cities, and deport their leading citizens into exile.  But by the second half of the book, Isaiah anticipates Israel’s eventual restoration to God, and return to the land.

So when Isaiah originally spoke these words, he did not perceive the crisis as spiritual or socio-economic-political, but as spiritual and socio-economic-political.  It was the judgment of God that subjected them to their enemies and thrust them into exile.  They were in socio-economic-political crisis because they were in spiritual crisis.  Correspondingly, then, when Isaiah promised remedy to the crisis, what he had in mind was not just a metaphorical restoration to God, but a physical restoration to the land, to freedom, to health, and to prosperity.

This background does not necessarily control Jesus’ use of the passage, but it certainly is a factor to consider.

Isaiah 58. Given that Luke records Jesus as reading from the scroll of Isaiah, the addition he makes to the quote from Isaiah 61 is pregnant with intent.

Jesus adds a promise to release the oppressed, apparently from Isaiah 58:6.  If some scholarly opinion is correct, that New Testament quotations of the Old Testament often intend not only the cited phrases, but also the general thread of the original passage, then this addition is highly significant.

Isaiah 58:3a quotes ancient Israelites engaged in dispute with God:  “Why,” they ask, “do you not hear us when we pray, even if fast?”  “Because,” God replies, “even while fasting, you exploit your workers, and fight with each other.”  What God wants is justice, liberation of the oppressed, feeding of the poor, sheltering the homeless, and clothing the naked.  “When you do these things,” God replies, “then I will hear your prayers” (58:3b-9).

In quoting Isaiah 58, then, Jesus establishes his mission as doing what Isaiah faulted his contemporaries for failing to do:  he rescues the exploited, opposes injustice, liberates the oppressed, feeds the hungry, shelters the homeless, and clothes the naked.

Luke 4:16-21a, 21b-30. Luke conjoins Jesus’ teaching with the crowd’s reaction, as two parts of the one incident.  Remarkably, the crowd’s initial positive response segued almost immediately into skepticism.  Jesus’ retort was incendiary.  Worship led to riot, as the crowd sought to kill Jesus.  For present purposes, the actual content of the dispute is less urgent than its simple occurrence:  Jesus’ mission did not intend to create hostile response, but inevitably did on occasion; for his part, he entrusted his well-being to God.

Luke 4:16-30, 31-41. Luke clearly intends these two accounts to serve together as introduction to Jesus’ public ministry.  In 4:14-15, Luke introduces the section with a summary statement:  Jesus returns to Galilee, word spreads throughout the countryside, he teaches in the synagogues, and is well received.  In 4:42-44, Luke concludes the section with a corresponding summary statement:  Jesus withdraws into the wilderness, a crowd tracks him down and begs him to stay, but he insists on traveling to other towns, in order to preach in the synagogues there also.

The comparable introduction and conclusion unites the section as a single unit; so does the parallel in structure and content.  The first half contains two parts:  Jesus’ reading in the synagogue (4:16-22a), and the congregants’ response to him (4:22b-30).  The second half also divides into two parts:  Jesus’ exorcism of a demoniac (4:31-37), followed by his healing of a sick woman (4:38-41).  The content is also complementary:  Jesus sets out his mission statement (4:16-22a), then he acts out his mission statement (4:31-41).

What is Luke’s point in connecting Jesus’ teaching in Nazareth with his healing in Capernaum?

Jesus teaches the gospel and he acts the gospel.  Moreover, when he acts the gospel, he does so by addressing both spiritual and physical ailments (though admittedly such a distinction may be anachronistic), both demon-possession and physical illness.

Pulling all this together, the Nazareth Declaration confirms one thrust of the Manhattan Declaration and refutes another.

Jesus’ mandate extends beyond preaching eternal salvation, to addressing physical, social, and economic needs.  He does not merely preach about a coming reign of God; he inaugurates that reign both in word and in deed.  This is what Isaiah 61 expects of the Spirit-filled redeemer; it is what Isaiah 58 faults the nation of Israel for neglecting; it is the point that Luke makes in combining Jesus’ first ministry teaching with his first ministry healings.  In so doing, Jesus is not merely pursuing his unique calling; he is setting out the content and scope of the gospel.  So the Manhattan Declaration is right to eschew spiritual isolationism, and to advocate not only preaching salvation but also engaging in the pressing social, economic, and political issues of the day.

At the same time, the Nazareth Declaration undermines a major thrust and purpose of the Manhattan Declaration.  Neither Isaiah nor Jesus restricts their issues to three, let alone these three.    Isaiah 58 specifically condemns Israel for its exploitation of workers and for violence, and underscores God’s demand that his people pursue justice, liberation of the oppressed, feeding of the poor, sheltering the homeless, and clothing the naked.   At the very outset of his ministry, Jesus explicitly sets out his mission and the scope of his concern.  And it is broader than the triumvirate of abortion, gay marriage, and our right to protest on those issues without recrimination.  His concern reaches to the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.

In short, in calling us to reach beyond preaching forgiveness of sin, to include engagement with the pressing social, economic, and political issues of the day, the prime movers behind the Manhattan Declaration do us a service.  We owe them a debt, though less for this recent proclamation than for the modeling over years of faithful ministry.  In fact, by the very act of declining the restricted priorities of their Declaration, we are actually affirming the value of their own ministries among children, prisoners, and so forth.  More importantly, in expanding the parameters to include the exploited, the poor, the homeless, the immigrant, and the enslaved we are granting priority to the Nazareth Declaration.

Ben Lowe is the author of Green Revolution: Coming Together to Care for Creation (IVP 2009) and is based out of Wheaton, IL, where he works as a community and campus organizer.  Chuck Lowe is currently a pastor in Boston, and was formerly a missionary and seminary professor in Singapore.