Jesus Given the Book of Isaiah to Read - Luke 4:17

Luke the physician shared how Jesus, “came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read”, and in chapter four and verse sixteen of his book Luke shared how, “there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias” where we read:

And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias.

And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

The verse reads, “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias.” Luke began with the words, “and there was delivered unto him” or “and there was handed and given to Jesus” “the book of the prophet Esaias” which means “the scroll, small book or document in which were written the words of Isaiah which means Jehovah's help who was moved by the Spirit of God and hence his organ or spokesman who solemnly declared to men what he received by inspiration, especially concerning future events, and in particular such as relate to the cause and kingdom of God and to human salvation”. Luke shared how someone gave Jesus the “scroll of Isaiah”.

The verse goes on to say, “And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, ...” Luke continued with the words, “and when he had opened the book” which means “and at the time and moment Jesus unrolled the scroll of Isaiah”, “he found the place” or “Jesus discovered, recognized and detected the portion of scripture” “where it was written” which means “where the following words were delineated or formed in letters upon the scroll”. Luke shared how Jesus “unrolled” the “scroll of Isaiah” and located the “portion of scripture” where the words in the next verses were written down.

When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we see what Jesus did after He “stood up to read” in the “synagogue”. Someone gave Him the “scroll” of “Isaiah the prophet”, and because He knew all the scriptures, He located the portion where Isaiah wrote the prophesy found in the next verses. Let us be mindful of this: Jesus knew the scriptures, and the “volume” of them speak of Him. As King David wrote concerning the Messiah in Psalm forty and verse seven, “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me”. God's desire is to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and those who are wise will pay attention to Jesus' reading this scripture and yield their lives to Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".