The Life of Christ

SECTION 45

Luke 4:16 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.

The customary reading in the synagogue was done first by the priest, then a Levite, and then followed by five common Israelites.

• However, if it was a particularly important holy day, additional common Israelites would be asked to read from the Torah. 13

• Jesus hadn't been back to His hometown since before His baptism, and by now word had reached Nazareth of the acclaim of one of their own.

What would He say?

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Lk. 4:17-19 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 DOWNTRODDEN, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD” (Isa. 61:1-2).

Jesus quoted the famous Messianic prophecy given by Isaiah (61:1-2) as an outline of His purpose for coming. These phrases became His mission statement:

To preach the Gospel to the poor

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To proclaim release to the captives

• To proclaim recovery of sight to the blind (As a side note, Jesus is the only person in the Bible specifically recorded to have ever opened the eyes of the blind.)

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To set free those who are downtrodden

• To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord

It is worth noting what Jesus didn’t include from Isa. 61:1-2 —“the day of vengeance of our God.”

• That would be reserved for His second coming.

Lk. 4:20 And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him.

Jesus probably read from the scroll in Hebrew, but then paraphrased the passage in Aramaic, the common language of the day.

Lk. 4:21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

13 Rabbi Menken, The Everything Torah Book, Adams Media, 2007, p. 18

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