I'm losing track of years, not just the months and weeks! But yes, I'm sure our paths have crossed. I certainly remember your signature farewell, 'Ciao'!
But I guess we still have reasons to disagree!
Tell me, what do you understand from the passage Luke 4:16-32? Why were the eyes of the congregation 'fastened on him'?
Isaiah 61:1 is talking about Isaiah, not a Messiah, or a Jesus Messiah.
Isa 1:1 The vision of
Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and
it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
Isa 1:8 And the daughter of
Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as
a besieged city.
Isa 1:26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning:
afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
Isa 1:27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts
with righteousness.
Isa 7:1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
Isa 7:2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate
with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.
61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon
me (Isaiah) because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the
day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Isa 61:4 And they shall
build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former
desolations, and they shall
repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God;
for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh
himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth
herself with her jewels.
Isa 62:1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and
for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp
that burneth.
Isa 62:2 And the nations (foreign)
shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory:
and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
Isa 62:3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
Isa 62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken;
neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but
thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land
Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
Isa 62:12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD:
and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
Isa 64:10 Thy holy cities are a wilderness,
Zion is a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
Isa 64:11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is
burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
Isa 66:9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut
the womb? saith thy God.
Isa 66:10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
Isa 66:11 That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.
This was a split war between the North and South. The South had 10 tribes and foreign power. The trembling North had two tribes and part of a third. This is why Ahaz needed a sign from YHVH that he was with them.
EDIT - I thought I should add for clarity's sake, - that there are a couple of passages within Isaiah which some Jews consider to be about the coming Jewish Messiah. However they are within a larger story of a war, Isaiah 11 for instance, but 11:13 makes it plain we are still in the same war noted in Isaiah 1:1, and 7:1 - 2.
Isa 11:13 The envy also of
Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of
Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
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