The future ain't what it used to be. When I was young I was promised that the future would be rocketships to Mars, hotels on the Moon, jet packs, robots, and cell phones. Well, we got the cell phones at least.
This disappointment in the future could be heard on a recent episode of Weekend America. Commentator John Ridley deemed the news of the testing of a heat ray by the United States "the best news ever." "Since childhood," he mused, "how long have you been waiting to say 'set phasers to stun?'" To him it seemed like we are finally getting part of the future we were promised.
In the passage for today Jesus seems to be thwarting the future hope of his audience when he reads from the prophet Isaiah. He reads the part about bringing "good news to the poor" and "release to the captives" and proclaiming "the year of the Lord's favor" but Jesus stops short of the passage which promises "a day of vengeance." Abruptly, in the middle of a sentence, he closes the scroll and denies his audience perhaps what they wanted more than anything - revenge.
And can't we relate? Don't we want our heat rays? Don't we want our grievances redressed? Don't we want our enemies to suffer?
But instead Jesus offers something more immediate. He says, "today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus offers not only hope for the future, but for the present. Today is the day of "good news to the poor." Now is the time for release of the captives. This is the year of the Lord's favor.
Our hope rests not only in a future redemption, but in a present redemption. The world we hope for tomorrow we realize in our actions today.
[Image: Cover art from Captain Future and the Space Emperor by Edmond Hamilton first published in the Winter of 1940.]