Children love a bedtime story. The stories are part of the allure, but it’s the time spent with Mom or Dad, those few minutes of extended interaction, as well as the chance to postpone sleep just a little longer that brings the child willingly to bed.
Just one more! Just one more, please!
As parents, we have to be able to signal that our story time is finished; the last tale has been shared; the end is come; and there is nothing else to be told.
How do we do that? We close the book.
In that singular activity, we send our child a signal. Our words stand inviolate. We’ve answered his or her plea, and we won’t change our minds. We mean what we say, however nicely we say it. The story has been told; it’s time to move on; and we will brook no argument.
The Jews of Jesus’ time were not ready to accept that he was the Messiah, not when they realized he was not there to lead the nation into battle to defeat their Roman overlords. No, they wanted that version of their Messiah. A new story, they demanded. We want the story of the conquering warrior that comes with sword and spear to cast our chains aside. We want the story of David, of Solomon, and of battles won in the name of Jehovah.
Instead, Jesus closed the book.
In Luke 4:15-19 we read of Jesus in the synagogue, and he opens the scroll of Isaiah. He reads, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach to the poor; to heal the brokenhearted; to deliver the captives; give sight to the blind; set the captive free; and proclaim the Year of the Lord.”
That was not the story the Jews wanted to hear, and Jesus knew it. However, he had a way to deal with that, to signal that the story was complete; the prophecy had been fulfilled; and that there would be no sword or spear to cast Rome’s chains aside.
Luke 4:20 tells us Jesus did what all parents do with restless children: He closed the book.
Literally.
“And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.”
There was no other story to be told. The Old Covenant had been fulfilled, and the New Covenant sat in their presence. Lights out; good night; not even a glass of water to extend the moment.
It was time for the Jews to cede the day of the Old Covenant to the New. It was time to turn loose of what they’d held to so tightly and grasp at what they’d been given: spiritual renewal, emotional freedom, and salvation through the upcoming cross.
That was the story Jesus told, and then he closed the book.
When we listen to Jesus, we will want no other story. His is the only one we need to hear.
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