Post by Mark on Oct 30, 2008 3:33:50 GMT -8
Unlike the typical Christian church service, the synagogue described in the Bible was a place where the entire community had an opportunity to share in the reading and the discussion of the Scriptures. The 
portion for that day (a segment of the Law of Moses) would be divided into as many as seven different readings that men of the congregation would take turns at. The hafTorah, or a segment from the Prophets would be read by a person of honor, either a Levite, the oldest in a congregation, or an honored guest. Since Yeshua Messiah was not recognized as a Levite and was probably not the oldest in the congregation that day, it can be assumed that He was deemed, by this point, as a person highly esteemed in the community.
The portion that Messiah read from in Luke 4:18 was Isaiah 61:1-10. Interestingly, He stopped after reading only half-way through verse 2 (or our witness only quotes the segment of the passage that Messiah would be teaching about). The portion which had just been read was Genesis chapter 20, the story of Abimelech taking Sarah for himself (away from Abraham), not knowing that she was Abraham’s wife. All of the women of Abimelech’s household had become barren because of this, and would have remained so even after Sarah’s return to Abraham, had Abraham not prayed for them to be healed.
This is also the Sabbath just following the holiday Tu Bishvat which celebrates new life and new growth. It is an anual tradition for planting trees.
Within this context, the scroll is laid out before Messiah and He reads, "The Spirit of Adonai is upon me, because of this He has annointed me. To publish glad news to the lowly He has sent me; to restore those broken in heart; to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovery to the sight of the blind; to give freedom to the oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of Adonai…."
The context of this Sabbath, according to the Scriptures that have been read and according to the calendar events taking place, would undoubtedly emphasize moving from barrenness to life, from sickness to health, from captivity to freedom. Within this message was a beautiful word of hope. Now He says something absolutely amazing that would arrest their attention without exception. He says, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears."
The Jewish people could not be more aware of their subjection to Rome than on Tu Bishvat. In an aggricultural region, taxes and tribute followed the aggricultural cycle. As the farmers are beginning to prepare for the earliest harvests that would come in the next couple of months, the Roman presence would increase its visibility and prepare for the receiving of tribute money. The new planting and the joy of hope which always accompanies this time would be sharply diminished, knowing that they must share a portion of it with their oppressors. Messiah’s words could not fall on more receptive ears.
Messiah Yeshua, by these words, is establishing His mission statement, proclaiming His agenda and purpose of ministry. The Engish translation of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures does little justice. Messiah Yeshua is declaring His purpose on earth to bandage the heart that is bursting, to heal those who are dying of emotional hemmorhage. He is calling out those who have been shackled and carried away into captivity (specifically, in context, calling back to Israel those who had been carried away to Babylon). He is releasing those who are left to die in stocks of the inner dungeon. Messiah’s hearers were all over this. This is the message they had been waiting all of their lives to hear. Yeshua was declaring Himself, in this moment, to be the Messiah.
If only He had stopped there, He could have raised an army and marched out to overthrow their Roman oppressors. But He didn’t stop. In the continuation of His message, He said that there are a lot of people out there that can identify with this need for deliverance. There’s a lot of folks that are suffering from exactly the same kind of oppression that each one in that room must have felt. Yet, the examples given in Scripture tell us that just because you can identify with the need doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to see the deliverance. In fact, the examples of the widow of Sidon and the leper of Syria tell us that very often, the ones whom Adonai chooses to save are those who are least expected, and in our estimation, least worthy.
The Jewish platform of deliverance is that "we are the Chosen People. We are the ones whom Adonai has promised to deliver." Messiah’s words must have been a bucket of cold water (filled with ice chunks) thrown in the faces of these worshippers.
Had His message come at any other time or in any other way, they might have dismissed it (or Him) as simply a rogue fanatic. Yet, on this day to declare Himself the Messiah and then suggest that He would not meet their expectaions of the Messiah was too much.
How often we read into His Word our preconceived expectations of deliverance and healing. How often are we disappointed, not because He does not heal or deliver; but because He doesn’t do so in the way or according to the manner that we have prescribed for Him. Adonai has this uncanny way of reminding us that He is in charge, often in ways that we misunderstand to suggest that maybe He isn’t. I’m wondering how many remembered His words in the synagogue when they saw Him hanging on the cross and their own words echoed in their own ears exactly as He had said they would:
"And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself... ." (Luk 4:23 KJV)
Maybe it was true what He was saying all along. Maybe the deliverance that we have been expecting isn’t exactly the sort of deliverance that He has promised to bring.
This makes me a little uncomfortable. I like the way that I have come to interpret the promises of Adonai. I don’t want anyone to come along and start redefining what expectations that I have already set upon. Yet, it is easy for me to forget that He is God… not me. He made the rules and established His own plan from the beginning. My not understanding that plan or my manipulating the text of those rules does not in anyway obligate Him to change direction. I must be pliable and receptive to His teaching and understand that I don’t have the whole picture. He reveals His truth to me by His Holy Spirit, rather than jumps through my hoops of interpretation.
When Messiah returns, what will He bring and how shall He deliver? My answer is less confident that it once was. Yet, His holiness and justice and mercy are undeniable, even if my manner of defining such things is incomplete. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."
portion for that day (a segment of the Law of Moses) would be divided into as many as seven different readings that men of the congregation would take turns at. The hafTorah, or a segment from the Prophets would be read by a person of honor, either a Levite, the oldest in a congregation, or an honored guest. Since Yeshua Messiah was not recognized as a Levite and was probably not the oldest in the congregation that day, it can be assumed that He was deemed, by this point, as a person highly esteemed in the community. The portion that Messiah read from in Luke 4:18 was Isaiah 61:1-10. Interestingly, He stopped after reading only half-way through verse 2 (or our witness only quotes the segment of the passage that Messiah would be teaching about). The
portion which had just been read was Genesis chapter 20, the story of Abimelech taking Sarah for himself (away from Abraham), not knowing that she was Abraham’s wife. All of the women of Abimelech’s household had become barren because of this, and would have remained so even after Sarah’s return to Abraham, had Abraham not prayed for them to be healed.This is also the Sabbath just following the holiday Tu Bishvat which celebrates new life and new growth. It is an anual tradition for planting trees.
Within this context, the scroll is laid out before Messiah and He reads, "The Spirit of Adonai is upon me, because of this He has annointed me. To publish glad news to the lowly He has sent me; to restore those broken in heart; to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovery to the sight of the blind; to give freedom to the oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of Adonai…."
The context of this Sabbath, according to the Scriptures that have been read and according to the calendar events taking place, would undoubtedly emphasize moving from barrenness to life, from sickness to health, from captivity to freedom. Within this message was a beautiful word of hope. Now He says something absolutely amazing that would arrest their attention without exception. He says, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears."
The Jewish people could not be more aware of their subjection to Rome than on Tu Bishvat. In an aggricultural region, taxes and tribute followed the aggricultural cycle. As the farmers are beginning to prepare for the earliest harvests that would come in the next couple of months, the Roman presence would increase its visibility and prepare for the receiving of tribute money. The new planting and the joy of hope which always accompanies this time would be sharply diminished, knowing that they must share a portion of it with their oppressors. Messiah’s words could not fall on more receptive ears.
Messiah Yeshua, by these words, is establishing His mission statement, proclaiming His agenda and purpose of ministry. The Engish translation of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures does little justice. Messiah Yeshua is declaring His purpose on earth to bandage the heart that is bursting, to heal those who are dying of emotional hemmorhage. He is calling out those who have been shackled and carried away into captivity (specifically, in context, calling back to Israel those who had been carried away to Babylon). He is releasing those who are left to die in stocks of the inner dungeon. Messiah’s hearers were all over this. This is the message they had been waiting all of their lives to hear. Yeshua was declaring Himself, in this moment, to be the Messiah.
If only He had stopped there, He could have raised an army and marched out to overthrow their Roman oppressors. But He didn’t stop. In the continuation of His message, He said that there are a lot of people out there that can identify with this need for deliverance. There’s a lot of folks that are suffering from exactly the same kind of oppression that each one in that room must have felt. Yet, the examples given in Scripture tell us that just because you can identify with the need doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to see the deliverance. In fact, the examples of the widow of Sidon and the leper of Syria tell us that very often, the ones whom Adonai chooses to save are those who are least expected, and in our estimation, least worthy.
The Jewish platform of deliverance is that "we are the Chosen People. We are the ones whom Adonai has promised to deliver." Messiah’s words must have been a bucket of cold water (filled with ice chunks) thrown in the faces of these worshippers.
Had His message come at any other time or in any other way, they might have dismissed it (or Him) as simply a rogue fanatic. Yet, on this day to declare Himself the Messiah and then suggest that He would not meet their expectaions of the Messiah was too much.
How often we read into His Word our preconceived expectations of deliverance and healing. How often are we disappointed, not because He does not heal or deliver; but because He doesn’t do so in the way or according to the manner that we have prescribed for Him. Adonai has this uncanny way of reminding us that He is in charge, often in ways that we misunderstand to suggest that maybe He isn’t. I’m wondering how many remembered His words in the synagogue when they saw Him hanging on the cross and their own words echoed in their own ears exactly as He had said they would:
"And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself... ." (Luk 4:23 KJV)
Maybe it was true what He was saying all along. Maybe the deliverance that we have been expecting isn’t exactly the sort of deliverance that He has promised to bring.
This makes me a little uncomfortable. I like the way that I have come to interpret the promises of Adonai. I don’t want anyone to come along and start redefining what expectations that I have already set upon. Yet, it is easy for me to forget that He is God… not me. He made the rules and established His own plan from the beginning. My not understanding that plan or my manipulating the text of those rules does not in anyway obligate Him to change direction. I must be pliable and receptive to His teaching and understand that I don’t have the whole picture. He reveals His truth to me by His Holy Spirit, rather than jumps through my hoops of interpretation.
When Messiah returns, what will He bring and how shall He deliver? My answer is less confident that it once was. Yet, His holiness and justice and mercy are undeniable, even if my manner of defining such things is incomplete. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."
