“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,”
And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written — the scroll of Isaiah handed to Jesus by the attendant is the occasion for the programmatic self-disclosure of the Nazareth sermon. The finding of the place suggests deliberate searching rather than random opening — Jesus is looking for a specific text. The Isaiah scroll is the appropriate vehicle for the messianic announcement because Isaiah is the Gospel of the Old Testament.
Church Fathers on Luke 4:17
The Lord having overcome the tempter, power was added to Him, i.e. as far as regards the manifestation of it. Hence it is said, And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.
By the power of the Spirit he means showing forth of miracles.
Now He performed miracles not from any external power, and from having as it were the acquired grace of the Holy Spirit, as other saints, but rather as being by nature the Son of God, and partaking of all things which are the Father’s, He exercises as by His own power and operation that grace which is of the Holy Spirit. But it was right that from that time He should become known, and that the mystery of His humanity should shine forth among those who were of the seed of…
Read all 31 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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