Luke 4:17

And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book and found the place where it was written,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened upon him.

Opened the book ... This was a roll, similar to those that may be seen in Jewish synagogues until this day.

The place where it was written ... This was Isaiah 61:1f, wherein the great prophet had foretold the coming of Messiah's kingdom in the appealing metaphor of these words read by Jesus. There are two ways of misunderstanding this prophecy: (1) by those who view Christianity as being merely a revolutionary movement intent on emptying jails and raising economic standards, and (2) by those who fail to accept the Christian fundamentals of aiding the poor and relieving the afflicted. Nevertheless, the great stress of the kingdom of Christ is spiritual, the "poor" including even the rich who know not the Lord, "captives" being primarily those who are taken captive by the devil to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26), and "the blind" having certain references to such people as the secular and materialistic Pharisees, of whom Jesus said, "I came into this world, that they that see not may see" (John 9:39).

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord ... This is a reference to the times of the Messiah, as proved by the word "anointed," used earlier in the passage.

Closed the book ... The attendant to whom Jesus gave the roll, after reading from it, was a minor official of the synagogue, a kind of factotem who performed many services.

The eyes ... fastened upon him ... The intense interest that focused upon Jesus after the reading from Isaiah was probably induced by the choice of the passage read, and the manner of Jesus' reading it.