Luke 4:18-19

The passage Jesus read was Isaiah 61:1-2 a (cf. Isaiah 58:6). This passage prophesied the mission of Messiah. It is appropriate that Jesus should have read it at the beginning of His ministry and that Luke should have recorded it here. As the Servant of the Lord, which the context of the Isaiah passage contributes, Messiah would possess the Spirit. He would also be the bearer of good news (Luke 1:19; cf. Deuteronomy 18:18; Isaiah 40:9; Isaiah 41:27; Isaiah 52:7). Luke highlighted Jesus’ prophetic ministry of proclamation (Luke 4:24; Luke 7:16; Luke 7:39; Luke 9:8; Luke 9:19; Luke 13:33; Luke 24:19). Moreover Messiah would bring release to the oppressed (cf. Luke 7:22).

The reference to the favorable year of the Lord is an allusion to the year of jubilee when all the enslaved in Israel received their freedom (Leviticus 25). It points to the messianic kingdom but is more general and includes God’s favor on individual Gentiles as well as on Israel nationally.

Jesus stopped reading before He read the words "and the day of vengeance of our God" in Isaiah 61:2 b. This is a reference to the Tribulation, among other judgments. The omission highlights the gracious nature of Messiah’s ministry then compared with its judgmental character in the future. [Note: See Gary Yates, "The Use of Isaiah 61:1 (and 58:6) in Luke 4:18-19," Exegesis and Exposition 2:1 (Summer 1987):13-27.] One writer listed many passages in addition to Isaiah 61:1-2 that contain prophecies with a nearer fulfillment of some statements and a farther fulfillment of others. [Note: J. Randall Price, "Prophetic Postponement in Daniel 9 and Other Texts," in Issues in Dispensationalism, pp. 159 and 160.]