This lectionary guide covers Sundays in the months of October 2012 through January 2013. The Sundays in October and November are in Year B and the Sundays in December and January are in Year C.

October 7, Proper 22 (27)

Job 1:1, 2:1-10—The narrative introduces Job and the plot between God and Satan to test Job. Job receives his first trial, a skin disease, but does not curse the Lord with his lips.

Ps 26—Clearly a psalm that has a setting in the temple cultus, the Psalmist declares his innocence. Of the three similar words “prove,” “test,” and “try”—the Hebrew word for prove is the only one that appears in the Book of Job. Two of the three are words connoting metalwork.

Genesis 2:18-24—God makes animal companions for the first human, but they are found lacking. He puts the human to sleep, removes the rib (or side) of the creature and fashions a woman. The new man and new woman mirror one another, and are perfect companions.

Psalm 8—a psalm about the glories of creation—the works of the LORD, our lord.

Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12—the Epistle details the continuity between the prophets and the Son in revealing God’s work. The Son’s work is the purification of sins, the sanctification of all. Through his death and rising, he became the pioneer of our salvation.

Mark 10:2-16—Jesus is questioned about divorce. Rather than simply repeat the command of Moses, he strengthens the command for his disciples. In Mark’s Gospel (as in Luke’s) there is no exception for the proclamation that a man or woman divorced and remarried is an adulterer. See Matthew 5 for the Matthean exception. Rather unrelated is the blessing of the little children and the warning that whoever does not (receive, welcome, accept) the kingdom/reign of God as a little child shall not enter it.

October 14, Proper 23 (28)

Job 23:1-9, 16-17—Job appears to lament that he cannot simply stand trial before God, and argue his case. At least then he would be answered, but alas, there is no location at which he can find God. Job seems to lose hope, and wishes that he could simply vanish into darkness.

Ps 22:1-15—The familiar opening line as uttered by Jesus on the cross seems to reflect the abandonment that Job experienced. The Psalmist’s lines are most associated with Good Friday, but most human beings can connect with this sense of abandonment.

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15—Amos warns the people that their iniquity will cause God’s judgment to break out against them like a fire. However, there is hope that if they turn from their sins they may live and God will be with them, gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Ps 90:12-17—The psalmist petitions God to turn and give the satisfaction of steadfast love. While the psalmist has clearly experienced hardship, the expectation is that God will prosper his work and manifest divine work in the servants of God.

Hebrew 4:12-16—Jesus, our great High Priest, has been tested just as we are tested, yet without sin. Interestingly, the Greek text represents testing without the connotation of metallurgy so common in Hebrew. The testing that Jesus has gone through along with us is the testing that shows character. This word can also be used to describe testing designed to entice one to sin, but neither temptation nor testing seem to be accurate enough to reflect this notion.

Mark 10:17-21—When questioned about the requirements for inheriting eternal life, Jesus recites many of the Commandments—but indicates that doing those is not enough. He instructs the man to sell what he owns and give the money to the poor, then follow Jesus.

Jesus then explains to his disciples how difficult it is for a wealthy person to enter the Kingdom by using the image of a camel trying to go through the eye of a needle, probably a narrow gate. Jesus assures the disciples that with God all things are possible, including salvation. Afterward, he acknowledges the sacrifices—past, present, and future—of the disciples and promises eternal life in the age to come.

October 21, Proper 24 (29)

Job 38:1-7, (34-41)—The first of the two “answers” God gives to Job as a response to his persistent questioning. God’s response provides no answers other than to note that God’s ways are beyond the scope of human understanding.

Ps 104—A hymn of praise to the works of the Creator.

Isaiah 53:4-12—The conclusion of the fourth servant song, known as the song of the suffering servant. This passage contains textual variants and exegetical issues. Pressing is the question of identity, that has not been indicated in the text, as well as the theological issue of how it was God’s will to crush the servant.

Ps 91:9-16—God promises to protect the psalmist against foes and trouble. The final two verses contain seven distinct actions God will do: deliver, protect, answer, be with, rescue, honor, satisfy, and show salvation.

Hebrews 5:1-10—detailing the work of Christ our great high priest, the mediator between God and humanity. Jesus is the true and perfect high priest as one who shares our flesh and weakness, but has also been made perfect. Note the subtle play in the Greek text of v8: he learned (emathen) through what he suffered (epathen).

Mark 10:35-45—The sons of Zebedee request that they may sit at Jesus’ right and left in Jesus’ glory. The resulting clash between disciples is an opportunity for Jesus’ to stress servanthood and the ongoing lesson that the last shall be first and first last—the exemplar of this is Jesus himself, who came not to be serve but to serve.

October 28, Proper 25 (30)

Job 42:1-6, 10-17—The conclusion to the story of Job has Job responding to God’s second speech by Job concluding that he is insignificant in comparison to God and has no right to question God’s authority. The NRSV reports that Job despised himself and repented in dust and ashes (v6). The Hebrew is more ambiguous, perhaps indicating that Job simply recognizes the status of humanity in the universe. The prose epilogue shows that Job’s fortune is restored, but at no point answers the theological questions posed in the book.

Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)—It is unclear why the Revised Common Lectionary leaves out the middle portion of this Psalm. The whole text praises God for deliverance; the superscript indicates that this was David’s deliverance from King Achish. The Psalm is in acrostic form, and so the lectionary breaks the text unnecessarily. Still, the theological weight comes through. God delivers the faithful and not the wicked.

Jeremiah 31:7-9—An excerpt from a larger section in which God promises the total restoration of Israel. A sign of that restoration is the care for the blind and lame.

Psalm 126—A Psalm of Ascent, a thanksgiving song with a possible liturgical setting—perhaps this is a pilgrimage psalm. The Psalm contains lovely imagery associated with the memory of restoration, and yet seems to indicate that there is restoration still needed. There is clear hope for future restoration.

Hebrews 7:23-28—A continued rhetorical argument and theological statement about Jesus, the true and best High Priest.

Mark 10:46-52—The story of Blind Bartimaeus is the second story of the healing of a blind man in the Gospel of Mark. It forms an inclusion with Mark 8:22-26, that is not read on a Sunday/Feast Day. Between the two healings, Jesus reveals that he is the Messiah three times, but the disciples do not understand. Bartimaeus understands and follows. Notably, the beggar gives away his only possession, his cloak—see also 11:8.

November 1, All Saints’ Day

Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9—This apocryphal text illustrates the Greek influence on Jewish faith. There is no emphasis on resurrection, but rather on the immortality of the soul.

Isaiah 25:6-9—In some traditions, this text is associated with Easter liturgies, including burial. This is a prophecy of the eschatological banquet promised on the day of the Lord, the day the Lord triumphs over death.

Psalm 24—This is probably a gate liturgy or entrance liturgy for the Temple. The first two verses indicate God’s triumph over chaos. The liturgy asks who can enter into God’s presence, answering “those who have clean hands and a pure heart.”

Revelation 21:1-6a—The image of the crystallization of the new age. Death is no more and the new creation, New Jerusalem, and the new heaven and earth, have been established. Revelation seems to draw upon the Isaiah imagery.

John 11:32-44—Lazarus is raised from the dead. This pericope includes the short sentence, edakrysen o Iesus, best translated: “Jesus wept.” It is unclear why the NRSV departed from this classic and good translation. The story, within this context, seems to indicate more that Jesus mourned his dead friend than Jesus’ command over death; Lazarus was resuscitated rather than resurrected—tradition holds that he died again later in his life. Of course, Jesus’ resurrection dialogue with Martha might be beneficial here. Reading the Lazarus story on All Saints’ is a departure from tradition, perhaps aimed at consoling those who mourn through indicating Jesus’ mourning over Lazarus.

November 4, Proper 26 (31)

Ruth 1:1-18—The continuous reading track now takes us to Ruth. There is little to highlight in this section, apart from the beautiful covenantal oath of verses 16 and 17.

Psalm 146—A hymn of praise to the Lord, who does good works. Especially prevalent are the works involved in lifting up the marginalized: the hungry, oppressed, the orphan, the widow, etc.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9—Moses restates the first command in the form Jewish tradition simply calls the Shema (Hear!). The passage indicates the importance of passing along not only the commandments, but the nature of the relationship between God and the Israelites in the form of practice and tradition.

Psalm 119:1-8—Another acrostic, Psalm 119 is a long poem about Torah, the law. This section completes the Alephs, each verse begins with a word that begins with the Hebrew consonant aleph.

Hebrews 9:11-14—Here is another a minori ad majus style argument from the Epistle to the Hebrews. This time the argument shows Jesus to be the true and better sacrifice in comparison to the atonement sacrifices of the Old Covenant. This argument continues through chapters 9 and 10.

Mark 12:28-34—Jesus teaches about the two great commandments, the Shema and Leviticus 19:18b.

November 11, Proper 27 (32)

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17—The RCL tosses aside the narrative of Ruth and Boaz to focus on the link between Ruth and David. This collection of texts at least alludes to part of the story that is missing from the lections.

Psalm 127—A poetic reflection on the vanity of human labor apart from the cooperation of God.

1 Kings 17:8-16—Elijah’s feeding miracle indicates that God provides.

Psalm 146—A Psalm of praise for the God who cares for the marginalized.

Hebrews 9:24-28—Christ, the perfect sacrifice, need not suffer again and again. His sacrifice was made once to conquer sin, though he will return to save those waiting for him.

Mark 12:38-44—Jesus condemns the scribes for seeking honorifics and exploiting the poor. Then, he draws the disciples’ attention to the actions of a widow who gives out of her poverty.

November 18, Proper 28, (33)

1 Samuel 1:4-20, 2:1-10—This long portion tells the story of how Hannah came to be pregnant with Samuel. Note to what a great degree Hannah carries this narrative. This portion of the story narrative is about Hannah and God, not Elkanah or Eli. After Samuel is born and consecrated, Hannah sings to the Lord. The poetry in 2:1-10 is clearly a model of the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).

Daniel 12:1-3—As the Church approaches Advent, the lectionary turns toward eschatological visions. This is one eschatological prophecy from Daniel, promising judgment after the resurrection.

Psalm 16—The Psalmist echoes the sentiments of the song of Hannah, especially that God gladdens the heart and makes the soul rejoice.

Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-2—This is the eschatological thrust of the priestly argument in Hebrews. We are made clean by the sacrifice of Christ and so are prepared for the Day.

Mark 13:1-8—Jesus, on the Mount of Olives, teaches about the end of the age. He calls the calamities to come the beginning of the birthpangs.

November 22, Thanksgiving Day

Joel 2:21-27—The people of Israel hear that God will deliver them and make them glad; they will praise God and be thankful.

Psalm 126—The Psalmist recalls not only the great things that God has done, but also the promised reversal of fortunes in the future.

1 Timothy 2:1-7—Presumably this text is included because it encourages prayers of thanksgiving. It is instructive in that it directs our thanksgiving to God through Jesus Christ as opposed to the secular style giving of thanks encouraged on this civil holiday.

Matthew 6:25-33—This familiar passage is an appropriate counter to the moods of the civil holiday. Jesus tells his followers to consider the lilies of the field rather than worry about their possessions. The first priority for any disciple is to seek the kingdom/reign of God and his righteousness, all else flows from this.

November 25, Christ the King, Proper 29 (34)

2 Samuel 23:1-7—These are the last words of David, including a reference to the everlasting Davidic covenant in verse 5.

Psalm 132:1-12, (13-18)—This Psalm selection not only recounts part of David’s life but again remembers the covenant between David and God.

Daniel 7:9-10, 13—Here is a prophetic vision of the Ancient One in place on the celestial throne with all nations praising him. Note that the title “ancient of days” or “Ancient One” is unique to Daniel.

Psalm 93—A hymn to God, the everlasting king.

Revelation 1:4b-8—It is an interesting choice to use this imagery from the Revelation of John, rather than a more “kingly” one. This passage highlights some of the anti-imperial themes of Revelation, focusing on the glory we give to God and the juxtaposition of God’s throne to the thrones of the old age.

John 18:33-37—Pilate questions Jesus about his kingship, and Jesus responds that his kingdom is otherworldly. Jesus reveals himself to Pilate as the true and perfect king—not like the kings of this world.

December 2, Advent 1, Year C

Jeremiah 33:14-16—A prophecy of the day God will restore Israel and Judah. A sign of this restoration will be the branch of righteousness coming for the house of David. The NRSV, and many others, capitalize “Branch” in order to emphasize the fulfillment of this messianic expectation in Jesus.

Psalm 25:1-10—This Psalm includes a verse about waiting patiently for the God of salvation, (v5) thereby establishing the theme for Advent.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13—Paul writes to the Thessalonians, encouraging them to increase and abound in love, and that the Lord will strengthen them in holiness so that at Christ’s second coming they might be found blameless.

Luke 21:25-36—Jesus tells his followers to be on guard for the eschaton, when the kingdom of heaven will arrive. There will be difficult times preceding the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds, an image from Daniel 7:13 (cf 2 Esdras 13:3).

December 9, Advent 2, Year C

Baruch 5:1-9—This lovely passage from Baruch, an apocryphal book, develops the eschatological imagery of level ground and restoration. Particularly striking is the call to trade the garment of sorrow for the glory of God. This is reminiscent of Isaiah 3:24 and 61:3 among other passages.

Malachi 3:1-4—A prophecy of the messenger of God preparing the way. This messenger is like a refiner’s fire, purifying the descendents of Levi (cf Isaiah 40:3).

Luke 1:68-79—In place of a Psalm the RCL provides a canticle, The Song of Zechariah. This text is a counterpoint to the Magnificat. It sets up John as the indication that the Messiah is near. The canticle is among the Church’s oldest hymns, continually used through the centuries.

Philippians 1:3-11—Another exhortation from Paul praying that the church in Philippi might be found pure and blameless on the day of Christ, having produced the harvest of righteousness.

Luke 3:1-6—Luke quotes the LXX’s version of Isaiah 40:3 as he announces the ministry of John the Baptist.

December 16, Advent 3, Year C

Zephaniah 3:14-20—A call to praise the God of salvation who not only saves, restores, and renews, but does so from the midst of the people.

Isaiah 12:2-6—This is another Canticle in place of the Psalm, this time from Isaiah. It picks up the theme of the Holy One in the midst of the people.

Philippians 4:4-7—One of the great passages from Philippians dealing with the attitude of the followers of Christ in preparation for the Parousia. A particularly lovely musical setting is by Henry Purcell.

Luke 3:7-18—John preaches to the crowds who come for baptism. Luke reports that the crowds were waiting expectantly, with eager longing. In their expectation they mistake John as the messiah. He refutes them by proclaiming the good news, that one comes after will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit.

December 23, Advent 4, Year C

Micah 5:2-5a—The Messianic prophecy foretelling the birth of Israel’s ruler from the small town of Bethlehem.

Luke 1:46b-55—In place of the Psalm, the RCL gives the option to use the Magnificat. The great song of the Blessed Virgin shows the reversals of the kingdom of God (e.g. brought down the powerful—lifted up the lowly). The Greek text is properly verb driven, each verse beginning with a verb: magnify, rejoice, look with care, done, etc.

Hebrews 10:5-10—We return to Hebrews to begin the shift in focus on the incarnation of Jesus into the body prepared for him.

Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)—John leaps within Elizabeth as the unborn Baptist encounters Mary. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaims that Mary is blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of her womb. The optional reading is the text of the Magnificat, made optional to remove redundancy.

December 24, Christmas Eve, Proper I

Isaiah 9:2-7—One of the classic Messianic texts for Christmas: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, the people are released from their burden, the boots and garments of violence will be burned, and a leader will establish peace.

Psalm 96—A call to sing a new song telling of God’s salvation, declaring God’s glory and works.

Titus 2:11-14—“The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all.” The Epistle focuses on the birth of Jesus and the parousia, two parts of the salvific work of God.

Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)—Here is the birth narrative of Jesus. The lectionary allows 15-20 as an option, especially appropriate if Christmas Day II propers are to be used at another service.

December 25, Christmas, Proper 2

Isaiah 62:6-12—First Isaiah recalls the language of Second Isaiah (40:1-3), the people build a highway for their restoration. Salvation comes and gives the people a new identity.

Psalm 97—Praise to the great and powerful God, the king. The verb in verse 11 is passive, light is sown/scattered—this is agricultural language that connotes pregnancy and birth, and the sprouting of plants.

Titus 3:4-7—A fundamental statement of the Christian faith, the Epistle refer to the appearance of Jesus as the manifestation of God’s goodness and loving kindness.

Luke 2:(1-7), 8-20—Assuming Christmas Eve service has already read Luke 2:1-14, the lectionary allows the congregation to skip the first seven verses.

December 25, Christmas, Proper 3

Isaiah 52:7-10—A prelude of sorts to the so-called Song of the Suffering Servant, Isaiah 52:7-10 refers to the restoration and redemption of God’s people as the act of God baring his holy arm (power) so that all the earth can see God’s work.

Psalm 98—A call to sing a new song of praise for God’s victorious work. The whole of creation is to sing at the coming of God.

Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12)—The prologue to Hebrews (vv 1-4) includes some of the highest Christology seen in the New Testament. Christ is, among other things, the perfect revelation of God’s glory. Verses 5-12 are a catena of various scriptural verses interpreted to be referring to or fulfilled in Jesus.

John 1:1-14—The prologue to John serves well with the language from Hebrews. The fundamental Christmas story is that of the Word becoming flesh, and living (lit. tabernacling) among us.

December 30, 2012, First Sunday after Christmas

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26—A recalling of the young Samuel’s life to match narrative of the young Jesus in the Temple.

Psalm 148—All of creation praises God for God has raised up a horn—possibly a shorthand way of writing the fuller “horn of salvation” (e.g. Psalm 18:2, 2 Sam. 22:3). The Song of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79) will use the same Greek word as an adjective to describe Jesus, the horn of salvation; it is usually rendered “mighty savior.”

Colossians 3:12-17—The moral imperatives of the new community built in Christ exist that all might give thanks to God through Jesus.

Luke 2:41-52—Jesus’ parents faithfully make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover. When Jesus was twelve, he stayed behind in Jerusalem, while his parents began their return home. They came back to Jerusalem to find Jesus among teachers, amazing the people with his understanding. Mary and Joseph are astonished, and do not understand Jesus’ response to their anxiety—that they should have expected him to be in his father’s house. Jesus goes with them to Nazareth and is obedient. The narrative ends with the classic end to infancy narrative—much like in 1 Samuel. Mary is once again reported as preserving these “things” in her heart. This reading was normally read the first Sunday after Epiphany, which is now focused on the Baptism of Christ.

January 13, 2013, Baptism of the Lord.

Numbers 6:22-27—the Aaronic blessing formula.

Psalm 8 (see above)

Galatians 4:4-7—Part of the redemptive work of Christ is that he allows us to be adopted as children of God, and therefore we are free and no longer enslaved.

Philippians 2:5-11—The Philippian hymn calls us to have the same “mind” or attitude as Christ, singing the kenotic efforts of Jesus and God’s exaltation of him above all. God gives Jesus the name that is above all names, that at the name every knee should bend.

Luke 2:15-21—The Gospel lesson provides context for the circumcision and naming ritual in verse 21. For many years this day was named after this verse and called the “Feast of the Circumcision.” The shift toward observing the naming, rather than the circumcision is a recent choice. One sees the tension in the choice of Epistle for the day. Is the focus on the name (Phil.) or the participation of Jesus’ parents in the law (Gal. 4:4)? The focus on the circumcision tends to emphasize Jesus’ humanity, the name emphasizes his divinity.

January 6, 2013, Epiphany, Year C

Isaiah 60:1-6—This song of Third-Isaiah has been associated with Epiphany for centuries, though usually as part of a canticle that leaves out verse six. Verse six indicates that foreign rulers are to come to Jerusalem bearing gold and frankincense. One might look to verses 3, 11, and 14 for similar themes.

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14—The psalm also picks up the theme of kings coming to pay tribute to God’s established king, in this case Solomon; the superscript seems to imply that this Psalm was written by David for Solomon. It is understood here as a prophecy concerning Jesus and the magi.

Ephesians 3:1-12—The Epistle focuses on the universality of God’s revelation in Jesus, how it brings gentiles into the boundless riches of Christ.

Matthew 2:1-12—This is the story of the wise men bearing gifts for Jesus. Gold and frankincense make particular sense given the reference to Isaiah 60. Myrrh has been seen as a gift linked to the eventual death of Jesus, though more commonly myrrh was a luxurious fragrance associated with royalty (e.g. Psalm 45:8).

January 13, 2013, The Baptism of the Lord

Isaiah 43:1-7—It seems a stretch that the lectionary associates this passage with the baptism of Jesus. Still, it does say a great deal about God’s desire to redeem and restore the chosen people. God calls the exiles by name and declares ownership over those whom God created for God’s glory. The transfer of focus possible in these readings is that in our baptism God calls us by name and redeems us: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…” (v2a).

Psalm 29—Most translations avoid rendering the first verse with the literal: “sons of God” as opposed to “heavenly beings.” Many relegate the literal translation to a footnote. Heavenly beings might represent the intent of the Psalmist and the active mythology of the composition, but for the sake of this occasion it may be worth considering the literal meaning of B’nai Elohim. The inclusion of this Psalm is no doubt due to the repetition of reference to the voice of God, which figures prominently in the lesson from Luke.

Acts 8:14-17—This lesson represents another interesting choice for the RCL. The focus of the day is on Christ’s baptism, but this passage from Acts focuses on the baptism of those in Samaria—even indicating that baptism did not include the gift of the Spirit. The traditional reading for the day is Acts 10:34-38, properly focusing on Jesus and Christ’s ministry.

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22—John’s baptism of Jesus in Luke is similar to Matthew 3 and Mark 1, but each has its unique features. Here, an important detail is that the voice of God, Holy Spirit, and tearing of the heavens occurs not as Jesus comes up from the water, but rather as Jesus prayed after his baptism.

January 20, 2013, Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Isaiah 62:1-5—Isaiah’s prophecy gives us insight into the long-standing tradition of referring to God’s salvation through the analogy of a wedding. Isaiah includes a name change for Jerusalem, as if these names were the loving pet names of God, the builder and groom.

Psalm 36:5-10—This Psalm selection further emphasizes God’s great, steadfast love for God’s people.

1 Corinthians 12:1-11—Paul lists the gifts of the Spirit given to the community for the common good. Paul’s language seems to assume that the gifts are given and then must be activated. Theologically, this is striking—gifts are given providentially and activated at a separate time.

John 2:1-11—The Miracle at Cana is the first of Jesus’ signs. There is symbolic significance in this story. Many overlook Jesus’ reference to his “hour” (v4). In John’s Gospel, Jesus is never passively brought to the cross, but is actively engaged in revelation at the appointed time. Here, as in 7:30 and 8:20, the time had not come. There is an active transition in 12:23, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

January 27, 2013, Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10—The reconstruction celebration seems to have its climax in the reading of the Torah. This is the first recorded public reading of Torah, and the reinstitution of the festival of Sukkot. It is a participatory reading of scripture, and it is egalitarian—mixing laity and priests, men and women. The ears of all are attentive to the book of the law. The people wept when they heard the readings, but are told to celebrate and not weep. This is the joy of Torah.

Psalm 19—The climax of this Psalm is found in its repetition of synonymous terms for Torah. Torah is perfect and revives, it is sure and makes the wise simple, it is right and rejoices the heart, it is clear and enlightens, it is pure and endures forever, true and righteous, etc.

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a—The semi-continuous reading of 1 Corinthians continues from the previous week, and the preacher should note that this passage is directly linked to Paul’s teaching about the gifts of the Spirit. Together, this is indispensable teaching for the life of the Church, especially as each generation of the Church faces a new challenge of division. One member cannot say to the other, “I have no need of you” (v21).

Luke 4:14-21—Jesus reads from Isaiah in the Sabbath service of a synagogue in Nazareth. The people are amazed as Jesus declares the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled. It is interesting that Luke reports this claim of fulfillment prior to the public ministry of Jesus. Jesus uses the Greek perfect tense, indicating the completion of an action that has present effects. The prophecy is fulfilled before the present effects of fulfillment are reported.