Lesson for the Lord’s Day
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. Luke 4:16
Here’s an exercise in imagination for you: The principal of the high school from which you graduated contacts you by phone and tells you that you have been selected to be the guest speaker at this year’s graduation ceremony. Of course, you accept this great honour. Graduation day arrives, the ceremony begins, you are warmly introduced by one of your old teachers, and you approach the podium to deliver your message. What do you say? This is somewhat the position that the Lord Jesus was in as He returned to Nazareth after His baptism and temptation.
We get a bit of a glimpse into the silent years of Jesus life, the period between His childhood and His period of public ministry. It was a regular, consistent pattern of His life that He attended the Bible reading on the Sabbath. When did he begin this custom? Although we don’t know, we can speculate that He began as soon as He was old enough to be recognized by the leaders in the synagogue as the preeminent reader in the town. It was His Word; He could present it perfectly. Those of us who have appreciated how wonderfully Alexander Scourby read the Scriptures will admit that Scourby could possibly have placed the emphasis on the wrong word, or otherwise misinterpreted the Word. This was impossible with the Lord Jesus… His reading was always perfect. Have you ever listened to the person who opens the Word during your Assembly Bible readings? Have you ever considered how important it is to get the reading right?
We also have to assume that the Lord Jesus, during those early years, would have delivered many messages explaining the portion of Scripture that he had just read. Again, He would always have given the portion the correct sense and application, because He knew every intent of every verse in the Book. Getting those things correct should be the goal of every person who takes on the task of expounding the Scriptures, or even each person who comments on the Word during an Assembly Bible reading, although none will match the skill of the Author.
If the Bible reading was important for the Lord Jesus, we ought to see it as important, too. – Jim MacIntosh