Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV) 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach 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, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness 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.
Luke 4:16-21 (CEV) 16Jesus went back to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as usual he went to the meeting place on the Sabbath. When he stood up to read from the Scriptures, 17he was given the book of Isaiah the prophet. He opened it and read, 18"The Lord's Spirit has come to me, because he has chosen me to tell the good news to the poor. The Lord has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free everyone who suffers, 19and to say, `This is the year the Lord has chosen.' " 20Jesus closed the book, then handed it back to the man in charge and sat down. Everyone in the meeting place looked straight at Jesus. 21Then Jesus said to them, "What you have just heard me read has come true today."
Jesus claims that the scripture has come true, but what’s happening?
Blessed are the poor, Jesus said, and the poor heard the good news of their worth to God. They heard the good news that they were not condemned to a life of poverty. The captives were released, released from sin. And Jesus gave sight to the blind, the physically blind and the spiritually blind. People received sight and they received insight into who Jesus was and how He was calling them to live.
And in Jesus people experienced the favorable year of the Lord, which can also be translated as the year of God’s grace. They experienced the unmerited gift of God’s care and God’s favor. The words of Isaiah came true for the people in the days that Jesus lived in the flesh. But Jesus said, "The Lord's Spirit has come to me,” and the spirit of the Lord did not cease to work when Jesus returned to God.
Can we see the words of Isaiah coming true in our time? Could it be that the way these words are coming true may differ sharply from what we have understood and from the way we have hoped and looked for? Sometimes God does not do what we had hoped. Central to the words in Isaiah is the promise of sight, that you and I can and will see God at work in our world, in the lives of people, and in our own lives. Do we fail to see what God is doing because of our expectations of what God ought to be doing? What’s happening? The spirit of the Lord in upon me. God is happening. God’s rule and God’s reign is happening. It happened in Jesus and it’s happening still. Do you see it?
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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