The blessing of rereading is not memorizing a story, history, or text… The blessing of rereading is the treasures you discover each time you read that story, that history, or that text.
We are very familiar with this story among us, in which Jesus reads in the synagogue a fragment that we find in Isaiah, I quote textually…
Luke 4.16 He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up; and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom, and stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him; and he unrolled it and found the place where it was written:
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim freedom to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind; To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and gave it back to the minister, and sat down; and the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
But it is very likely that we had not noticed that when quoting the text of Isaiah, Jesus does not quote the phrase **AND THE DAY OF VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD** which appears in that text, let’s compare it with Isaiah 61.1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, **AND THE DAY OF VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD**.
If you had already noticed, have you been able to answer the reason why this phrase is not quoted by Jesus?
Before reading any text, a critical eye is necessary, not to criticize God, but the text itself… When we read a text, it is important to understand: Who wrote it? For whom? Why? And the political, economic, and social context… But it is also necessary to be attentive to finding God in those texts, if the text does not contain love for life or for creation among other things, then God cannot be speaking, but surely there is a reason why the text was included in the Bible.
An example of this is the reading that Jesus does, one that excludes a phrase that does not go with the purpose of his ministry, because Jesus did not come to condemn, but to save, nor did he come to seek revenge on behalf of anyone, but to do justice, but his justice is mercy and love for one’s neighbor…
Many times it has been believed (I include myself, but in the past) according to the accounts of the people of Israel where there was death, abuse of all kinds, that it was good because it was done by the people of God and surely by order of God.
Jesus came to correct that perception that was had of God, Jesus cares about life, mercy, and that we love each other, that in that love we take care of each other, we care for each other, we protect each other; FOR ME, THE OMISSION OF THAT PHRASE IS A SILENT CONFIRMATION OF WHAT GOD IS NOT BLOODTHIRSTY OR VENGEFUL… FOR ME, THAT’S WHY JESUS WENT WILD ATTENDING EVERYTHING HUMANITY HAD DISCARDED, FOR EXAMPLE THE NEIGHBOR… and if that is the case, why do we continue wasting our affections in hatred, grudges, and the pursuit of revenge? It is in our hands to take the path that Jesus showed us, let us fill ourselves with love and mercy.
Rosy Hernández
Religión Digital
English version translated with AI