I sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, opened my Hebrew Bible to the Jerusalem postcard marking my place, and began to read:
The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah…
Three words in, I stopped.
I was reading Isaiah 61. Which meant that despite all the debate about whether first century Jews spoke Hebrew or Aramaic, I could be sure that these exact Hebrew words came out of my Messiah’s mouth:
Ruach Adonai Yehovah alai
The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is on me
ya’an mashach Yehovah oti levaser anavim
because anointed has Jehovah me to announce to the meek;
shlachani lechabosh lenishbrei-lev
sent me to bind up the broken-of-heart,
likro lishvuyim dror
to call to the captives, “Liberty!”
vela’asurim pkach-koach.
and to the bound, “Prison-opening!”
Likro shnat ratson leYehovah…
To proclaim the year of favor of Jehovah…
and just as He begins the second sentence, He stops, closes the book, sits down, and says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
That’s my Redeemer’s heart.
