 |
| Hebrew Scroll / Hebrew Text of Joshua 1:1 Be sure to read from right to left. |
A
scroll was handed to the man. He unrolled it to a particular passage and read.
No spaces… no punctuation… no distinction of upper case and lower case… no
chapters and verses.
Possibly
local folks looked at each other and nodded with pride. The local boy had
“gotten him a good larnin’.”
I
suppose it is possible everyone may have been so impressed with being impressed
that they really did not hear what the man read.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me;
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
And to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
And to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.
I
imagine smiling faces as he handed the scroll back to the presiding Rabbi. Then
came the eyebrow-popper.
As
he continued to speak the stunned congregation may have struggled to remember what he
read. When reality sunk in they would have understood he had just claimed to be
the mysterious Messiah spoken of in that prophecy.
It
is not difficult to imagine men leaning toward each other. “Did he just say
what I think he just said?”
We
do not know remarks immediately following this declaration. Perhaps his
“gracious” speech came from another of the cameo sketches of the character of
the Messiah.
The LORD executes justice for the oppressed,
Gives food to the hungry.
Gives freedom to the prisoners.
Opens the eyes of the blind.
Raises those who are bowed down.
Loves the righteous.
Watches over the strangers.
Relieves the fatherless and widow.
Gives food to the hungry.
Gives freedom to the prisoners.
Opens the eyes of the blind.
Raises those who are bowed down.
Loves the righteous.
Watches over the strangers.
Relieves the fatherless and widow.
Whatever he said, he put on the table the identifying marks of who he
was… and is. Whether he added that text to his talk is not known. What is known is he made a claim... a big claim... and the people knew it then better than we realize it today as our eyes hurry over the account.
No comments:
Post a Comment