I’ll make it obvious to you in just a few moments. So I’m beginning another series today, and my series will be interrupted in a very nice way by the Bishop Ken Bombay. And so I’ll be preaching about this until he gets here, and then after he’s gone, I’ll continue on. And so I want to ask you a question. You’ve read in the Gospels how Jesus showed up in the synagogue on an occasion, and somebody handed him the scroll, and he read out of the book of Isaiah. And then when he finished reading out of the book of Isaiah, He sat down, but he continued to talk.
So he read from the scripture standing here. Then he sat down beside the podium, or nearby, in a very unique chair. That chair was called and known as the seat of Moses. Did Moses actually sit in that chair? Not highly likely, because there was a seat of Moses in every synagogue. And there was a reason for that. So Jesus read from the scripture. Then he sat in Moses’ chair, and he made comments about what he just read. I want to talk to you today and next Sunday, in a few Sundays hither, about what was going on at that moment.
And there will be other scriptures that will be relating to it. So Matthew’s chapter 11 and verse 30. Matthew 11 and verse 30. I’ll start with verse 28. Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. I bet you can help me finish the rest of those words, right? For my yoke is easy, and my burden, my yoke is easy, my burden is light.
That has something to do with the chair as well, and then I wish to read from Luke’s Gospel, chapter 4, 16 to 21. And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, because now you see he was living in Capernaum. But he came to Nazareth where he’d been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And it’s always been a mystery to me. Did anybody just walk into this synagogue and read? I hope to answer that for you in the coming days.
He walked in, and without asking for permission, He read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book of Isaiah, He found the place. So he had to go through, as one would search through. He found the place where this was written, and he read it out loud. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of the sight to the blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. He then closed the book. He gave it again to the minister, which would tell you, he’s done reading, and he sat down. But then he continues to speak.
