Nazareth was the home of Jesus from a child, and He returned there after His baptism and the trial by Satan. On the way He taught the people of other towns, and began to do miracles, so they told of Him through all the country, and honored Him; some spoke of Him as the Messiah (John 1:4141He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. (John 1:41)).
We would expect the people of Nazareth would honor Jesus most of all, but they did not. He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day to teach them, as that was the time they met to hear the scriptures read and to praise God. They had the Old Testament in Hebrew — not all in one book, but written on separate rolls.
Jesus stood up to read, and the roll of the prophet Esaias (Isaiah) was handed to Him. He turned to the last part of the writing and read these words aloud to the people: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (See Isaiah 61:1-21The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (Isaiah 61:1‑2)).
Jesus closed the roll and returned it to the man in charge, and sat down. Then He spoke to the people, and said, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” That meant Jesus was Himself the One anointed by God to bring them all blessings, that He was their Messiah. He had not proclaimed this of Himself, but in words written of Him long before.
Why Jesus Stopped Reading
“To preach (or proclaim) the acceptable year of the Lord” meant that the time of God’s favor, long promised, had come. The people were in great trouble because of their sins, from which no one could free them, only the One sent from God. All they needed to do was to believe and welcome Him, and all the blessings would follow.
If we read those words which Jesus read, in the book of Isaiah, we find that Jesus stopped reading in the middle of a sentence: when He had read of the time of God’s favor, He closed the roll. If He had finished the sentence, He would have read, “and the day of vengeance of our God,” which meant the time when God will punish all sin.
We learn from Jesus’ stopping before those words, and from other scriptures, that He did not then come for judgment, but to show God’s favor, or love, most of all by giving His life to save all who will believe from judgment. It is still the time of God’s favor, but the words, “the day of vengeance of our God,” must also be fulfilled, as these words tell, “The Lord ... is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come” (2 Peter 3:9-109The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2 Peter 3:9‑10)).
The people in the synagogue at Nazareth listened intently to Jesus, and wondered at His kind words: they were glad to hear of good news to the poor, that the blind would see, and of all the blessings to come. But others did not believe in Him.
Further Meditation
1. What did the Lord Jesus mean when He said, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears”?
2. We benefit greatly by the Lord’s long patience with us while we are learning HIs lessons. How is He showing you patience at the moment? In what ways did He show His long patience with Israel? Will that day of vengeance ever come?
3. There are many wonderful prophecies about the Lord in the book of Isaiah. You would find your time very well spent if you were to read The Prophecies of Isaiah Expounded: God’s Purpose to Bless Israel and the Nations Under the Reign of Jesus Christ, the Messiah written by B. Anstey.