And He Closed the Book
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me...
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. (From Isa 61:1, 2)
20 And he closed the book,...(Luke 4)
At the beginning of Jesus' public ministry He left the wilderness and returned to Galilee and then eventually to Nazareth. People marveled at His teaching. It was understood that He had no formal training (John7:15). However, it was His custom to read in the local synagogue. He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus unrolled it and found the passage that we would understand to be the 61st chapter. He read part of the book (what we would understand to be Isa 61:1-2a) and then stopped. He closed the book and did not go on. Many Bible teachers and hermeneutics professors tell us that the context is king. As I said, Jesus never went to seminary. Instead of being a doctor of theology, He is the Word of God. It should never be surprising to us that Jesus knows what He is doing.
The rest of our verse 2 in Isaiah 61 continues,
...and the day of vengeance of our God;...
Jesus did not read that and with good reason. He unashamedly taught that hell was real and did not hide God's righteousness from them. But that was not His mission at His First Coming. At His birth the angels proclaimed,
Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased. (Luke 2:14 NASB)
Jesus was sent by the Father to be empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to tell everyone that God is not angry with anyone. (God was not angry with anyone because they are sinners. However, if anyone hates Jesus and God's mercy through Him, that becomes a different thing.)
Jesus came to reveal what the Father is like. He came to offer to Israel the Messianic Golden Age Davidic Kingdom. He came to demonstrate God's love by allowing His own blood to be poured on the ground. He came to gather the entire family of Adam, Jews and Gentiles together. He came to destroy the works of the devil who deceived mankind. Jesus came to destroy death itself. He came to offer the never-ending, never-beginning, uncreated, eternal life of God to undeserving sinners. It would take more than a man to do this and yet, a man would be the only way to accomplish the redemption of the earth. The wisdom of God sent Jesus, Who had the DNA of Adam but also the DNA of God Himself. Jesus, the God-Man, was filled to an unlimited measure with the Spirit of God. His mission? To demonstrate the love of God with the power of God and to give His life for men.
800 years earlier Isaiah saw the goodness of God toward His people and the severity of God against His enemies. When Jesus came the first time, He primarily wanted to show the love of God toward men. Of course, He knew the complete story. He knew that most people would refuse Him but His offer of eternal life was for whoever would trust in Him for salvation. Jesus, that day in Nazareth, read about the Spirit's anointing to proclaim the goodness of God. He stopped short of reading about the terrible vengeance of God. He closed the book – for now.
So Jesus read part of the book of the prophet Isaiah. He stopped short of telling all that the prophet had written about. He closed the book and sat down. He had told about the mission of Grace that he was sent for. He did not elaborate on the vengeance of God at this point. It is interesting and telling to note that Jesus did something similar to this again toward the latter part of His ministry.
At the end of Jesus' public ministry, His disciples asked Him about the end of the age and about His promise to come again. Jesus answered their questions by describing some real unpleasant things. He spoke at length about deception and tribulation or, in other words, persecution which would characterize the entire Church Age. Then Jesus said that immediately after the greatest and most widespread part of the persecution (Matt 24:29) the Lord will be seen on the clouds of heaven. There will be loud trumpet blasts and angels everywhere as He gathers His people. Then, Jesus strangely stops the chronology. He does not say anything about a white horse, rivers of blood everywhere, or a sword going out of His mouth to destroy the enemies of God. He says some important things about being ready for His unexpected return. He speaks at length about Millennium (Kingdom of Heaven) parables. But He stops giving the disciples the order of end-time events. Jesus stopped short of telling them the rest of the story. Why?
Jesus commissions the disciples to tell all of the Gentiles all of His teachings, including what He just told them about end-time events. Jesus' lengthy answer to His disciples' question about end-times in Matthew 24 parallels what John tells us in the book of Revelation about 6 of the 7 seals (Rev 6). Jesus goes up to the 6th seal event and then stops and tells them (and us) no more. Although Jesus knew all things, He got to a certain place and then, in effect, abruptly “closes the book”. Why?
John was one of Jesus' apostles. Much later, though, he is given the message of the book of Revelation. In chapter 10:11 John is told to prophesy again. Five times the book of Revelation is called a prophecy. In it John is functioning as a prophet, like Isaiah was. He gives a comprehensive description, much of it symbolic and from the viewpoint of the spirit realm, of the future all the way to the creation of a new heaven and new earth. Jesus, knowing all this since He is the Word of God, chooses to tell His disciples about events up to the sixth seal and His spectacular return then strangely stops. Why?
Jesus says nothing about the trumpet and the bowl judgments. He knows all things. Why does He not talk about any of these things? Jesus commanded His disciples to teach all the things that He said to them. Jesus wants to prepare His believers for the events of the end-times. He wants to have the believers for all the long Church Age to yearn for and love the thought of His return to gather the saints. It seems He does not want to make the very final judgment of God to be required learning for the new baby saints of the Church Age. He does, however, use John to write the book of Revelation and He even promises a special blessing upon those who hear or read it. Jesus wants to prepare His people for persecution, which He promises to us. It seems He does not want the truth of the trumpet and bowl judgment to be essential required reading for the new beginners' class. Besides, while believers may face the wrath of men, nature, and even Satan, they do not face the wrath of their Father.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Thess 5:9 NASB)
Aug 26, 2025