The Bible
Right Division
The Lord Jesus provided a key example of "right division" as he read from Isaiah:
- Luke 4:16-20
- And he [Jesus after his temptation by Satan] 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. And there was delivered unto him the
book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place
where it was written,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set
at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down.
And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Actually, this passage has several interesting aspects, but now I focus on the
"right division:" we find Jesus has stopped in the middle of a verse!
The complete verse is:
- Isaiah 61:2
- To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our
God; to comfort all that mourn;
Little wonder that people in the synagogue stared.
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Updated May 15, 1997