At Synagogue With Jesus / Part 3

First there were the benedictory prayers. Then there was the recitation of the Shema. Next came the eulogies of praise for God. Now for the reading of the Torah.

According to Edersheim, this would have been divided up into regular readings so that the entire Law would have been covered in a given time period. In Edersheim's day the custom was to read the entire five books aloud each year. However, in Jesus's day it was likely that it took three or three and a half years for an entire cycle to take place. This would only have amounted to a little more than a chapter a week.

A chosen individual, perhaps the ruler or one of the rulers of the synagogue, or maybe a member of the congregation, or even a guest would walk to the platform. The chosen scroll would be taken from the ark and handed to him. He would unroll it to the correct place and begin to read aloud . . . in Hebrew.

At the time of Christ Hebrew was no longer the spoken language of the Jews of Palestine. The language of the people was Aramaic--the language of the empire (Medio-Persian) they had served under during their captivity in Babylon. Although Aramaic was the spoken language (probably Jesus's first spoken words were in this language), the traditionalists of their ecclesiastical hierarchy were very slow to translate the Scriptures into it. Thus, the Law was still being read aloud in Hebrew and a translator would have been standing right beside the reader giving a running translation into the Aramaic.  Later, in the post-temple period following the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD, these translations were done in writing and made official.  They were known as targummim or the Targum. Our translator could have been an official or, in a small town like Capernaum, may have been just a layman or even a boy.  As long as he was capable of the task he was qualified.

One at a time they came forward and read their portion.  The translator would translate each.  Then would come the reading from the Prophets.  This would be less methodical.  Sometimes a portion might be chosen which was connected somehow with the Torah readings of the day.  Sometimes a synagogue might be engaged in the systematic reading of them similar to that of the Torah.  Sometimes, as in the case of Jesus at the synagogue of Nazareth in Luke 4, the teacher would choose whichever portion he wished and expound upon that.  Observe:

Luke 4:[16] 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. [17] And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

[18] “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,
[19] to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

[20] 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. [21] And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 

That day Jesus was the one who stood up (on the platform) to read from the prophets. This would have been set up ahead of time, as Jesus was already an itinerant rabbi with a growing reputation. They brought him the Isaiah scroll and he reads his chosen portion. Observe that no translator is present. Reading from the Prophets was less formal than the reading of the Torah (influence of the Sadducees) so often the readers from the Prophets simply provided their own translation as they read, which is likely what Jesus did here. What we have, then, in our Lukan passage, is a translation into Greek of what Jesus had translated into Aramaic from what he was reading in Hebrew.

After he reads his portion he sits down in the seat next to the podium. Recall that all Scripture was read while standing, but teaching was always done from a sitting position. So Jesus sat and began to teach. Sermons would have been an exposition of any or even all of the passages that had been read that day with an application into everyday life. Jesus chooses to expound upon his own text from Isaiah. Observe that the teaching was perhaps a bit less formal than what we might think, for Jesus responds to some questions and remarks from the congregation.

So how does our service end? Perhaps we should end it in the way the service ended that day in Nazareth. The congregation, being offended by the words of Christ (not his manner, but his truth), left the service abruptly, carrying him out to the edge of a hill to be thrown off. They were attempting to stone him for pointing out that in previous times in the biblical narrative, when the Hebrews were in rebellion to God, God had shown grace to Gentiles. They did not want to hear this.

And so official Judaism rejected her Messiah. But true Judaism lives on, not in bloom, but in full flower, and those who are the children of Abraham by faith, both Jews and Gentiles, are among her congregants--including our friend Mr. Alfred Edersheim. And witness Paul's words in Romans 11:

11:[1] I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. [2] God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? [3] “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” [4] But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” [5] So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.