The Messiah has Come Bringing God’s Favor with Him
Truth Taught- At Jesus’ first advent, He brought God’s favor and blessings with Him
Chapter 61 is connected to Chapter 60 by way of explaining who it is that will bring the great promises of Chapter 60. Isaiah will introduce to us who it is that will bring peace and favor to Zion…then we will look to the NT and discover even more clearly who this Person is.
Our Lord Jesus is the One to come who will fulfill the Isaiah prophecies. This section in Chapter 61 is so rich with explanation that it is fitting for us to look together at it this morning. Jesus is the fulfillment of these promises…
Isaiah 11:1–5 (ESV)
11 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
Here we see the first verse of 61 being fulfilled.
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Isaiah 42:1–4 (ESV)
The Lord’s Chosen Servant
42 Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
Isaiah 49:8 (ESV)
The Restoration of Israel
8 Thus says the Lord:
“In a time of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you and give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages,
Many places in Isaiah we read prophecies concerning the Messiah. Jesus fulfills all of them. He truly is the One Isaiah wrote about. He is the anointed One who brings God’s favor and peace to His people who were in darkness under God’s heavy hand of judgement. He brings great glory with Him and He brings His people a great salvation.
All these promises come to a summary statement in Isaiah 61:1-3. It’s as if Jesus took everything the OT had to say about Him and squeezed in into these verses. He is the Messiah. He is the anointed One. He is the promised One. He is the One the world for so many years waited for.
Isaiah 61:1–3 (ESV)
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
1. Jesus Christ Came to Proclaim the Good News (61:1)
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
As we read the Gospels, we are compelled to see these wonderful promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He alone is the only One who can achieve all God declares that the Messiah will accomplish.
To begin with, we should see together that this is the passage that Jesus declares to be about Him. How do we know Isaiah was writing about Jesus? We will see in a moment, Jesus says so…
This event is fulfilling Isaiah 61. Jesus is the One anointed with God’s Holy Spirit to accomplish all God had for Him to do.
John the Baptist preparing the way- fulfillment of the Zachariah prophecy that he will be the one to ready the people for the Messiah.
Luke 1:76–79 (ESV)
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Then we have the baptism of Jesus also fulfilling the Isaiah text about the Messiah.
Luke 3:21–22 (ESV)
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Then we have the genealogy of Jesus showing Him to be King David’s rightful Successor.
Then we see as soon as He does battle with Satan in the wilderness and wins, He goes to Nazareth enters the synagogue and reads our text today from Isaiah and declares this Messiah text is about Him.
Luke 4:14–21 (ESV)
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 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. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
If we are to celebrate Christmas it is vital that we understand what Jesus’ coming being born of Mary is really all about. Why did Jesus come? He will bring God’s forgiveness from our sin.
We are the exiles. We are the poor. We are the captives. We are the ones behind prison doors. Jesus proclaims the Good News and extends to us God’s favor
When Jesus proclaimed that today the Isaiah prophecy has been fulfilled, He meant that on that day, the day He officially began His preaching ministry that the Isaiah text has begun in His massive life-giving work of freeing His people from their sin.
2. Jesus Christ Came to Proclaim the Eternal Year of Jubilee (61:2)
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
year of the Lord’s favor
The word “jubilee”—literally, “the blast of a horn” in Hebrew—is defined in Leviticus 25:9 as the sabbatical year after seven cycles of seven years (49 years). The fiftieth year was to be a time of celebration and rejoicing for the Israelites. The ram’s horn was blown on the tenth day of the seventh month to start the fiftieth year of universal redemption.
The Year of the Jubilee involved a year of release from indebtedness (Leviticus 25:23-38) and all types of bondage (vv. 39-55). All prisoners and captives were set free, all slaves were released, all debts were forgiven, and all property was returned to its original owners. In addition, all labor was to cease for one year, and those bound by labor contracts were released from them. One of the benefits of the Jubilee was that both the land and the people were able to rest.
The Jubilee presents a beautiful picture of the New Testament themes of redemption and forgiveness. Christ is the Redeemer who came to set free those who are slaves and prisoners to sin (Romans 8:2; Galatians 5:1; 3:22). The debt of sin we owe to God was paid on the cross as Jesus died on our behalf (Colossians 2:13-14), and we are forgiven our debt forever. We are no longer in bondage, no longer slaves to sin, having been freed by Christ, and we can truly enter the rest God provides as we cease laboring to make ourselves acceptable to God by our own works (Hebrews 4:9-10). Beloved, Jesus came to set us free and we now live in an eternal year of Jubilee.
day of vengeance
This is also the day of vengeance for all who do not believe. This wonderful time for God’s people will be a terrible time for those who reject the Messiah and do not come to Him for salvation.
The purpose of Jesus’ proclamation is to comfort all who mourn;
Isaiah 49:13 (ESV)
13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
Jesus showed what God’s compassion looked like when He forgave sin and healed the afflicted. At every step of the way, our Lord’s ministry was a picture of the Messiah.
3. Jesus Christ Came to Clothe Us in Righteousness (61:3)
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
In Isaiah’s day, mourners would often sit in ashes and place ashes on their head to show their sad state. Jesus tells us that He is going to replace our ashes with a crown. He has come to lift us up out of the valley of the shadow of death, to open up even our casket, to lift us up out of darkness and cause us to live. To go from death and darkness to life and light. In Christ we are made alive and He gives us a royal crown.
the oil of gladness instead of mourning…
This is an oil that has a wonderful fragrance. No more do we smell like death but He has given us perfume because our mourning is changed to gladness.
Worshippers during the time of King David sang as they entered to praise God…
Psalm 45:7–8 (ESV)
7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
Our Lord has given us a robe of praise and righteousness instead of burial clothes. We were faint of heart because of sin and now our sins have been removed and so has our gloom and darkness. We sing for joy because Jesus has given us everything, we need to be His people.
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
We are the oaks of righteousness planted by God. The oak being the sign of strength and durability.
We are the tree planted by the streams of water…
Conclusion:
He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 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. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Words of Blessing
To you who have had the Good News preached to you
and have had your hearts bound up by God’s love
and have had liberty proclaimed to you
and have had your prison doors opened
and have entered the year of Jubilee
and have been comforted by the Lord
and have been given a beautiful crown in place of ashes
and have had fragrant oil of God’s blessings poured on you
and have been robed with praise
and have been planted as oak trees by God
and now may we bring glory to His name!
This is why Jesus was born of the virgin Mary
This is why He was brought forth into a lowly stable
This is why the angels sang on high
This is why shepherds marveled and wise men travelled to bring gifts
The Messiah, King Jesus has come!!
Resources Used:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Jubilee.html
Isaiah by Edward Young
Words of Blessing
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