Jesus’ Midrash on Isaiah’s “Fifth” Servant Song, Part 1

Read the series.

Yeshua was in His small hometown, Nazareth. He had probably read the Scriptures aloud in the local synagogue many times before, and would have been known to all. Yet this was the first time He read thusly after His ministry had been launched and His fame widespread.

Many locals wondered if He might be the Messiah—or perhaps the expected Moses-like prophet.¹ The nature of the text He read demanded comment, but Yeshua’s bold but brief commentary enraged and antagonized his listeners.

Modern Jewish customs were formulated in ancient times, yet we cannot always pinpoint when these customs congealed. In our day, most synagogues follow a schedule for reading Torah portions and Haftorah portions (from other parts of the Old Testament). In the ancient Judaism of Jesus’ day, it seems probable that synagogues did indeed follow a schedule for the reading of Torah, but also likely that the reading of the prophets and the rest of the Old Testament was flexible.

When the text says that Yeshua “found the place where it was written” (Luke 4:17c), does this mean He chose this particular text? Or does it mean He was finding an assigned passage? We cannot know for sure, but my instincts tell me the latter. The incident is a dramatic one, and the drama is amplified (and more providential) if someone besides Jesus chose this messianic text.

John Lightfoot argues that in ancient times, as in modern times, readers were allowed to skip over certain portions of an assigned reading or to add additional portions from elsewhere.² If such is the case, we cannot know for certain if Jesus stopped reading intentionally at the point that Luke might indicate, or whether Luke only quotes a portion of the text He read. Once again, it seems more dramatic if Yeshua stopped at Isaiah 61:2a and more likely. If my guess is correct, then where He stopped is significant.

Let me remind the reader that “haftarah” passages are non-Torah portions from the Old Testament that are thematically matched with Torah portions for synagogue readings. Which Torah reading would Isaiah 61:1-9 been coupled with? Jan-Willem en Joceline Van den Bosch–Westra postulates:

Isaiah 61:1–2 might have been included in haftarah in Jesus’ days, but then got excluded from haftarah lists, because of the bad relationship between Christians and Jews and because it was cited in Luke 4 in the New Testament…I think Isaiah 61:1–9 could have been part of the haftarah of Nitsavim (Deut. 29:9–30:20), telling about the year of jubilee and the returning from exile.³

The phrase, “year of the Lord’s favor,” is often understood to refer to the year of Jubilee, and I believe rightly so. This special year was to occur every fifty years: all debts were canceled, all properties reverted to their original family owners, and slaves were granted their freedom.

Let’s take a look at the text itself, Luke 4:16-19.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.

The Midrash About the Nature of the Messiah’s Ministry

Many consider Isaiah 61:1-3 to be the fifth “Servant Song” included in Isaiah. However, since the text itself does not mention the word “servant,” many exclude it from the list. Whether or not a true “Servant Song”—or something very much like one—does not really matter. It is clearly messianic in nature, and prophesies the nature of the Anointed One’s ministry.

The portion quoted by Jesus (at least as recorded) is Isaiah 61:1-2a.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

What Luke does not record Jesus as saying (Isaiah 61:2b-3) follows:

…and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

David Stern comments:

Verses 18-19 quote Isaiah 61:1-2a but do not include the immediately following words, “…and the day of vengeance of our God.” Although normally a citation of Scripture implies the surrounding context… here Yeshua may have stopped short so that he could say, ‘Today, as you heard it read, this passage of the Tanakh (up to but not including the “day of vengeance”) was fulfilled…’ For at his first coming he healed and brought Good News of the Kingdom and salvation…it was not his time to take vengeance or judge…⁴

Thus we have Christ’s two comings neatly divided, one set fulfilled at Yeshua’s first coming, the other set awaiting fulfillments at His second.

We will progress further on these subjects in our next installment.