Carl Witty
05/20/15
“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 brokenhearted, 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.” Luke 4:18-20a
Some phrases or words of Jesus teach us in a special way. This statement of Jesus was spoken soon after His temptation and His return to His hometown of Nazareth. He entered the synagogue as He regularly did, and took His turn reading. His selection was from Isaiah 61:1-2, which He applied to Himself. The Word read The Word. Jesus was the only one who could fulfill the prophecy and bring completion, or closure, to the words of Isaiah.
There is a longing within us for closure. We have the need to see the way things will work out, how a thing will end. The life and mission of Jesus is a study in achieving closure.
Jesus fulfilled prophecy. Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 53 points to Jesus. In Acts 8:23, the eunuch was reading this passage when he met the evangelist, Phillip. Phillip used this prophecy as a beginning point to preach to him about Jesus, resulting in the baptism of the eunuch. Jesus “closed the book” on Old Testament prophecies about himself. In Luke 24:25-29, He is shown explaining to two disciples the things the Old Testament scriptures said about Him.
The books of the Old Testament are incomplete in the sense that all point to something in the future or are a part of something to be continued. These books are installments of a larger story. Jesus “closed the book” of the Old Testament. On the cross, Jesus said “It is fulfilled.” His death marked the end of the Old, the beginning of the New. He said of Old Testament teachings, “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” Matthew 5:17. The inspired writer of the book of Hebrews wrote in 9:15-17 “And for this cause He is the mediator of the New Testament. That by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a Testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.” Thus the book was closed when Jesus died.
In the Old Testament, God is gradually revealed. The predictions and prophecies point to Jesus as the last revelation and last revealer, of God’s Will. In Hebrews 1:1-2, “God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds.” Jesus delivered God’s last words to mankind, Revelation 22:18-19. Nothing further is to be added, nothing can be taken away. He has, according to 2 Peter 1:3, “given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” Jesus “closed the book” on New Testament teaching by the revelation of God’s Will through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ will one day “close the book” on that which is now future for us. The kingdom, or church, will be delivered by Jesus unto the Father at the end of time, 1 Corinthians 15:24. There are many chapters in the history of our world, Jesus will finish each of these chapters. Each of us has a personal story of life, Jesus will end our story. In Revelation 14:13, a voice from heaven commanded John to “write: Blessed are the dead who die in The Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says The Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” The same book of Revelation, in a message to the church in Smyrna, proclaims Jesus as the “First and the Last.”
Our need for closure, for seeing the end of things, is answered in Jesus Christ. Our absolute confidence and trust in Him who does all things well will sustain us through the stresses of life. Jesus invites all kinds of people, with every conceivable problem which life can bring, to come to Him. “Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” Matthew 11:28-30.