There are people today drowning in despair, hopelessness, and distress. The pressures come from both within the human heart, adverse circumstances, and the constant messaging of bad news. It was certainly true in the land of Israel as Jesus burst on the scene. Roman occupation was now nearly a century old when Jesus’ ministry began. The state of mind of the people was mixed, with some accommodating, others resisting, and the majority just trying to get by. Taxes were high, freedom was limited, and hope for a better future fading. The Scriptures promised something better and now the answer was just on the horizon. Jesus’ first coming was the fulfilment of much of what the Old Testament promised. Jesus came, healing the sick, setting people free from pain, torment, and hopelessness. Jesus brought a life of freedom and healing into the poor and afflicted in the land. Early in Jesus’ ministry He came to His hometown where He read from the prophet Isaiah and told His neighbors and friends that this was the day Isaiah prophesied or had spoken about.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue was fastened on him. He began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’[i]
Jesus was telling them that He was the Messiah, the anointed one sent from God to bring good news to the poor, freedom to the captives, release to the prisoners and a proclamation of God’s year of favor, or as many theologians believe to mean, a year of Jubilee. Warren Wiersbe explains what happened during the year of Jubilee and its significance.
The background of this passage is the ‘Year of Jubilee’ described in Leviticus 25:7ff. Every seven years, the Jews were to observe a ‘sabbatical year’ and allow the land to rest. After seven sabbaticals, or forty-nine years, they were to celebrate the fiftieth year as the ‘Year of Jubilee.’ During that year, all debts were canceled, all land was returned to the original owners, the slaves were freed, and everybody was given a fresh new beginning. This was the Lord’s way of balancing the economy and keeping the rich from exploiting the poor.[ii]
When we speak of the Lord’s favor, we are speaking of a year of rest, blessing, and the experience of freedom and healing. Yet, it is also a special time in a nation’s, or a person’s, life. After Judah had gone into captivity, God promised a restoration through the ministry of Isaiah.
This is what the LORD says: ‘In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, “Come Out”, and to those in darkness, “Be free!”’[iii]
God restored the nation back to their homeland under Cyrus, the Persian, when he sent the captives back to their homeland. But this text has a more personal meaning to each of us, as Paul states to the Corinthians.
For he says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.[iv]
Salvation is found in a person, and He is present among us. God desires to reveal His favor to you. Isaiah 61 was being fulfilled in Jesus’ coming and also in looking at the context in which Isaiah was explaining the amazing transforming that would happen when Jesus would come on the scene, not only historically but into each of our lives. There are three realities to help us understand what was about to transpire and has now been fulfilled in the person of Jesus which can help us experience a life of freedom and healing.
THE FIRST REALITY THAT BRINGS FREEDOM AND HEALING IS THE IDENTITY OF THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR IT HAPPENING IN OUR LIVES
These promises can only be fulfilled through faith in the Messiah, the Anointed One. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the one that brings freedom and healing in our lives. It is not a program, or a method, but a person who does this for us. We need to respond to Jesus in faith. It all points to Him.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,[v]
Who had ‘the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord’ anointed and for what purpose? Throughout the book of Isaiah, we read of the servant of the Lord, so that we can only come to one conclusion. God, himself, will save his people.
This is what God the LORD says — the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.[vi]
We need to understand that in this poetic part of Isaiah, what is being communicated is that God, Himself, will come and save His people from the prison house of sin’s consequences. God will lead these captives out by His hand. This speaks of God’s personal interest in each of our lives, guiding us into the truth of His love and grace. Jesus is not only fully human, but He is God in the flesh. He came to lead us all out of our captivity to sin and all its consequences: broken relationships and separation from God. Who then are the poor that the Messiah, which means anointed one, has come to proclaim this message of hope, freedom, and healing? Who are the poor, the brokenhearted, captives, and prisoners? John Oswalt describes who they are.
Those who are so broken by life that they have no more heart to try; those who are so bound up in their various addictions that liberty and release are a cruel mirage; those who think that they will never again experience the favor of the Lord, or see his just vengeance meted out against those who have misused them; those who think that their lives hold nothing more than ashes, sackcloth, and the fainting heaviness of despair. These are they to whom the Servant/Messiah shouts ‘Good News!’[vii]
Can we see the image of being led out by God from our spiritual blindness in which we were in a state of darkness? Prior to coming to Jesus, we do not understand. We are in essence blind to spiritual realities. The opening then of the eyes is not just physical but here it speaks primarily of the blindness we have toward God. We are living in the dark, or in ignorance, and then God comes and opens our spiritual eyes, and we begin to grasp the meaning and significance of life. Jesus quotes Isaiah 61:1-2 in Luke 4 regarding Himself and His ministry. Jesus is the fulfillment of what Isaiah is prophesying about. John Oswalt explains that this is more than mere words.
Here the Servant/Messiah himself is the one who brings the good news of God’s triumph. Because he has done what no one else could do (53:4-5, 10-12; 59:15b-21; 63:1-6), he is not only the preacher of the good news — he is the good news, able to give (v. 3) what he announces.[viii]
THE SECOND REALITY THAT BRINGS FREEDOM AND HEALING IS THE MINISTRY OF THE ANOINTED ONE
Jesus then came to His people as the One anointed by God, the Father to fulfill God’s purposes for humanity in our condition of brokenness and pain. Here we have the task laid before Him.
A. Proclaim or preach the good news.
A messenger is anointed with good news. Words are very powerful as they can bring hope, encourage the discouraged, and comfort the broken hearted. We are bombarded by words every day, in which it is estimated that the average person is exposed to 20,000-30,000 words each day. Many of these words are neutral, but some are damaging, while others are insightful, helpful, and encouraging. In our world of high visual stimulation, we can minimize the importance of words, particularly the form of communication called preaching, but the Bible explains to us that preaching is a powerful form of conveying God’s truth and enabling people to respond to God in a meaningful way.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’[ix]
Before we assume that Paul is only speaking of people who preach vocationally, we need to be reminded that we as believers are all called to preach the gospel to others. It is one of the most meaningful tasks that God has assigned us. What is the outcome of preaching? It produces faith in our hearts in which we respond to Christ by faith and experience freedom and healing.
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. [x]
B. God’s anointed was sent to bind up the brokenhearted.
Here the idea is that the wounds will be bandaged up. Earlier in the book of Isaiah, where the prophet is challenging the people with their rebellion against God, we have this graphic picture.
Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil.[xi]
Now with the arrival of the Messiah, God will bandage their unbandaged, oozing wounds that were the result of their sin. They were in no shape to help themselves and needed a physician to attend to their moral condition. The gospel is for those who recognize their true state and condition.
Rather, it speaks to all who are distressed and in trouble for any reason, including sin. …As Jesus would say later (Matt. 9:12-13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:31-32), he had not come to announce good news to those who were comfortable and in control, but to those who were in deep trouble. To such persons, God’s victory over all that is holding them in bondage is good news indeed.[xii]
C. God’s anointed came to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness to the captives.
The idea here is tied to the year of Jubilee; where restoration of what was once ours is restored. A restoration of purity, peace, and joy. God’s forgiveness gives us a new beginning. A new start in our lives. In the book of Joel, we have the warnings and consequences of rebelling against God, but when repentance occurs God promises restoration in our lives. It was true of the nation of Judah, but equally true in each of our lives as we turn our hearts to God and then comes promises of restoration.
Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the LORD has done great things! Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten —the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you.[xiii]
God was about to restore what had been destroy because of their years of rebellion and then the consequences of a destroying army. How does this apply to us on a personal level? When we come to Christ, He forgives and begins the process of transformation in our lives, restoring blessings that were once lost. This may not be the same circumstances as before, but God will bring about a new wholeness and create healthy relationships in the future.
D. Comfort the mourners with a garment of praise.
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.[xiv]
We have already mentioned the year of the Lord’s favor or a Jubilee, and now we come to entrust all vengeance to God, for the evil perpetrated against us. God comes to comfort the mourners. Those who mourn over their sin, as Jesus expressed in the Sermon on the mount. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:4).”
We are speaking primarily here of those who mourn over their sin, but it also includes those who mourn over losses. Andrew Davis explains the significance of these promises both for Israel but also to those who hear and respond to the gospel of Jesus.
The recipients of this good news are pictured as in a desperate condition throughout this chapter: they are “poor,” “brokenhearted,” “captives” and “prisoners” who “mourn” and are clothed with “ashes” and “despair.” They live in “ruined cities” devastated for generations (v. 4). They are disgraced by the mocking nations (v. 7). They are plundered by “robbery and injustice” (v. 8). It seems difficult to imagine how a verbally proclaimed message could achieve such a triumphant release and lavish enrichment.
But this is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ does. This prophecy of Isaiah would have been first seen through the lens of the Babylonian exile and the restoration of the remnant to rebuild the promised land. But Jesus took these promises to an infinitely higher level. The true captivity that Christ came to destroy was captivity to sin and to Satan (John 8:32, 34). He said it was by knowing the truth that such captives were set free. Thus proclamation of the gospel sets captives free! So also Jesus’s healing ministry was seen as a work of liberation from the power of Satan, the “strong man” who guards his captives fiercely (Luke 11:21–22). When Jesus healed a bent old woman, he proclaimed that Satan had bound her and he had set her free (Luke 13:16).[xv]
THE FINAL REALITY THAT BRINGS FREEDOM AND HEALING IS THE RECIPIENTS WHO RECEIVE THE MINISTRY ENTRUSTED TO THEM
God does not just do a work in us, but then God begins to do a work through us. We become co-laborers with God. Peter describes the fulfillment of this Isaiah text as he reveals that we become a priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. Peter uses the metaphor of the Temple which was made of stone. The temple is a place where God dwells, but now by His Spirit, God lives within those who surrender to Him.
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God, once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.[xvi]
A. A ministry of restoration.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.[xvii]
We know from Scripture and history that the Jews returned to the land after their captivity and rebuilt the temple, the city of Jerusalem and saw their land restored. They had the support of the Persians and wealth was given to them to accomplish this purpose (Ezra 6:7-10, Neh. 1:8-9). How does this apply to us, God’s covenant people today?
People’s lives are laid waste by sin, as are whole human societies all over the face of the earth. The trail of wreckage left by sin has only one chief Rebuilder: Jesus Christ. And Christ has chosen to rebuild lives and societies by his transformed people. We are the rebuilders of “ancient ruins.” So verses 4–9 picture the mission of the church, now unfolding for twenty centuries, to build the new Jerusalem living stone by living stone, quarried from Satan’s dark kingdom. Certainly the church has done literal rebuilding of physical ruins: after earthquakes, after wars, after floods, the church is there to help rebuild. But the real rebuilding of ruins is done within a single human heart who genuinely repents of sin and turns to God through Christ. The rubble of personal sin is cleared away, and a “righteous tree” grows up for all to see.[xviii]
B. God promises rewards.
For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them.[xix]
C. God will bless our children.
Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.[xx]
D. Finally, God will cause us to delight in him because of his eternal gifts of grace.
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.[xxi]
The end of this amazing work of grace is restoration in our lives is that we respond to the call of Jesus is to worship Him.
Jesus came to set us free from our sin, our brokenness, and our pain. God’s forgiveness gives us a new beginning, a new start in our lives. There is a wonderful joy in coming to know Jesus and experiencing God’s kingdom in our lives. To experience forgiveness, to be set from addictions and dissatisfaction, to experience a peace and a contentment in our lives is an incredible gift that Jesus brings into our lives, when we accept him as Lord and Savior. We all are serving something or someone. We can be serving ourselves, our addictions and feelings or we can surrender to the One who is our Creator, our deliverer and lover of our souls. Who will we choose to serve? The year of God’s favor is a message of God’s salvation for our current challenge and state of being.
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[i] Luke 4:16-21, The New International Version of the Bible, Zondervan, 2011.
[ii] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Comforted, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 156.
[iii] Isaiah 49:8-9.
[iv] 2 Corinthians 6:2.
[v] Isaiah 61:1.
[vi] Isaiah 42:5-7.
[vii] John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 40-66, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 565.
[viii] Ibid, 564.
[ix] Romans 10:14-15.
[x] Romans 10:17.
[xi] Isaiah 1:4-6.
[xii] John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 40-66, 565.
[xiii] Joel 2:21, 23-25.
[xiv] Isaiah 61:2-3.
[xv] Andrew M. Davis, Exalting Jesus in Isaiah, (Nashville, TN: H & B Publishing Group, 2017), 362-63.
[xvi] 1 Peter 2:4-5, 10.
[xvii] Isaiah 61:4-7.
[xviii] Andrew M. Davis, Exalting Jesus in Isaiah, 364.
[xix] Isaiah 61:8.
[xx] Isaiah 61:9.
[xxi] Isaiah 61:10-11.
