Isaiah 61 and Luke 4 are familiar passages to most who have studied the Bible—but I recently noticed something I had never noticed before: Jesus edits Isaiah.
Love it Eric. But these days people who do what you demonstrate Jesus did are accused of “proof texting.” Are we allowed to do what he did, to find the parts of a passage that make the point that we intend to make and disregard the rest? Is his practice a pattern to imitate or simply something for us appreciate, in light of his unique identity?
Ha! I didn’t think of that, but you’re right. Jesus IS proof texting. My short answer to your question is: No, this kind of proof texting is reserved for Jesus. We can assume he had special insight that gives him a pass, don’t you think? Still, it does raise the interesting question of why God’s words (via the prophet) would need to be edited, at all.
Love it Eric. But these days people who do what you demonstrate Jesus did are accused of “proof texting.” Are we allowed to do what he did, to find the parts of a passage that make the point that we intend to make and disregard the rest? Is his practice a pattern to imitate or simply something for us appreciate, in light of his unique identity?
Ha! I didn’t think of that, but you’re right. Jesus IS proof texting. My short answer to your question is: No, this kind of proof texting is reserved for Jesus. We can assume he had special insight that gives him a pass, don’t you think? Still, it does raise the interesting question of why God’s words (via the prophet) would need to be edited, at all.