Why did Jesus stop reading Isaiah 61 in the middle in Luke 4?
Jesus stopped because He knew the remainder of the Isaiah 61 verse would not be fulfilled until about 2,000 years later. The first half of the prophecy was fulfilled at His first coming, while the second half still awaited future fulfillment, so He deliberately stopped at the appropriate place.
Les explains that Jesus, reading from Isaiah 61 in Luke 4, stopped in the middle of the verse and said it was fulfilled before their eyes because He knew the rest of that verse would not take place until 2,000 years down the road. Unlike Peter, who was still on covenant ground and could not put a break between verses, Jesus knew the Old Testament prophecies had a gap. Les points out that Psalms 2 showed Christ would come, be rejected, ascend, then come tribulation and the Kingdom, with no hint of a 2,000-year break. The first half of those prophecies were fulfilled at His first coming; the second half are still waiting. Therefore Jesus could stop at the appropriate place.