A Revolutionary Message
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Luke 4:16-21, NASB
Nothing like returning home to have the honor of preaching to those who knew you as a child. They now viewed Him as an accomplished rabbi or teacher. As a result, they asked Him to take the Scripture reading and the homily on the text.
Probably known as the boy "who was a bit different," Jesus had come a long way since His boyhood days in that village. And He was different, but in ways that they did not suspect. He had in fact become the most famous person ever raised in Nazareth. Stories of His teachings and miracles had spread everywhere. He was truly a celebrity. It was only natural that He should have the honor of the Sabbath service.
His choice of a text is an interesting one. But how He treated it is even more so. Jesus considered the passage from Isaiah 61:1, 2 as Messianic. He read the first part of the verse and probably commented on it afterward as He explained its message.
In essence it set forth the Messianic role in terms of the cup-of-cold-water theology that we examined in the story of the woman at the well, and message that had formed a large aspect of His teaching and healing ministry up to that time. He had preached the gospel to the poor, set at liberty those who were oppressed by disease and sin, healed the blind, and proclaimed that the kingdom was at hand.
So far, so good. Then He did two things. First he failed to read the last part of the passage, which read: "to proclaim...the day of vengeance of our God" (RSV), thereby signaling that His mission would be divided into two parts: the arrival of the kingdom of grace during His first advent and the arrival of the kingdom of glory when all would be made right at His second coming.
His first words were that Isaiah's Messianic prophecy had been fulfilled. It was a claim that He was Himself the expected Messiah.
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Luke 4:16-21, NASB
Nothing like returning home to have the honor of preaching to those who knew you as a child. They now viewed Him as an accomplished rabbi or teacher. As a result, they asked Him to take the Scripture reading and the homily on the text.
Probably known as the boy "who was a bit different," Jesus had come a long way since His boyhood days in that village. And He was different, but in ways that they did not suspect. He had in fact become the most famous person ever raised in Nazareth. Stories of His teachings and miracles had spread everywhere. He was truly a celebrity. It was only natural that He should have the honor of the Sabbath service.
His choice of a text is an interesting one. But how He treated it is even more so. Jesus considered the passage from Isaiah 61:1, 2 as Messianic. He read the first part of the verse and probably commented on it afterward as He explained its message.
In essence it set forth the Messianic role in terms of the cup-of-cold-water theology that we examined in the story of the woman at the well, and message that had formed a large aspect of His teaching and healing ministry up to that time. He had preached the gospel to the poor, set at liberty those who were oppressed by disease and sin, healed the blind, and proclaimed that the kingdom was at hand.
So far, so good. Then He did two things. First he failed to read the last part of the passage, which read: "to proclaim...the day of vengeance of our God" (RSV), thereby signaling that His mission would be divided into two parts: the arrival of the kingdom of grace during His first advent and the arrival of the kingdom of glory when all would be made right at His second coming.
His first words were that Isaiah's Messianic prophecy had been fulfilled. It was a claim that He was Himself the expected Messiah.
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