Read & Absorb Isaiah in Five Daysनमूना

Day Five: Jesus Quotes

Morning: Isaiah 59–66

You’ve most likely read Isaiah 61:1–2 before, or perhaps you remember hearing it come from Jesus’s mouth. He quotes most of it in Luke 4:18–19 when he begins his ministry. To set the stage, he has just walked through the temptation in the wilderness and returned to Galilee, to Nazareth, where he grew up.

Jesus steps into his hometown synagogue, unrolls the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” Imagine what people were thinking as he read! This clearly references the suffering servant we discussed two days ago.

The Scripture continues, “He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. ‘The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!’” (Luke 4:20).

First, take note that Jesus sits down. This is symbolic of fulfillment. When you finish a task, you sit down. When Jesus ascended to the Father, he sat down, having done all he’d been tasked to do. “When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand” (Mark 16:19).

Jesus told the hometown crowd that this simple carpenter from within their ranks had far more to him than they realized. By equating himself with the suffering servant, he told them he was the fulfillment of scripture, revealing himself as their promised messiah without coming out and saying it directly. Those who knew the scriptures well would have been quickened and possibly perplexed.

Even more telling is what Jesus didn’t read. He left out a sentence from verse two. He ends with God’s favor but doesn’t read, “and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies” (Isaiah 61:2). Why?

Two possible reasons:

One: He did not want the nation of Israel to think he was coming as a military dictator, a triumphant king to vanquish Israel’s oppressor, Rome. That would be too shortsighted and did not pertain to his initial mission on earth. He came to seek and save the lost, not to kill people who held power over Israel. The power he would subdue was much deeper, more insidious—the power of hell itself.

Two: He would fulfill the latter part of verse two at the end of time. He allowed the comma to be a period for the time being. There would come a time of divine judgment when all the wrongs would be righted, but it was not that day.

Lord, I’m astounded at the beauty of scripture, how you perfectly fulfilled it, and how you will continue to do so in the age to come. Thank you for completing the work you intended to do on the cross. Thank you for delivering me from the domain of darkness to your marvelous light! Amen.

This plan has been adapted from the book, The 90-Day Bible Reading Challenge by Mary DeMuth. https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/516387