The Messiah’s Mission: Isaiah 61:1-3

Early on in Jesus’ ministry, He traveled to Nazareth and was given the opportunity to read the scripture to those present. The passage that Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah doesn’t sound prophetic on its surface, but when looking at how Jesus interpreted and applied this passage into His own life and ministry, many people are able to see that this set of verses is very relevant when describing Jesus’ life.

Let’s read what Isaiah wrote, then dive into the event where Jesus references this scripture.

Our Old Testament passage for this episode is found in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 61, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 1, Isaiah writes:

¹ The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
² To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
³ To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

In this opening to chapter 61, Isaiah looks forward to the Messiah as one that proclaims freedom, victory, and comfort to God’s people. In these verses, we get the impression that what Isaiah is writing about is deliverance for God’s people.

Fast forward to the New Testament, Jesus steps onto the scene, and Luke’s gospel describes Jesus traveling back to Nazareth to spend Sabbath with those He grew up with. Let’s read about what happened, which is found in Luke, chapter 4, and we will begin in verse 14:

¹⁴ And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ And He closed the book, 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.”

We’ll stop reading here, and save the last portion of this event for next week, where we discover another subtle prophetic link present, as well as a sudden shift in the attitudes of the people who were listening.

Instead, near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He draws a direct connection to His upcoming ministry, and the exciting and uplifting words of Isaiah. In Jesus’ own words, drawing from a passage the Holy Spirit directed Isaiah to write, He describes the reason why He came.

Jesus came to “preach the gospel to the poor”. When looking at this phrase that was written about Jesus’ ministry, I find it amazing that, as prophesied, Jesus focused on sharing God’s message with the lowest rung of society’s ladder. While I don’t doubt that a good percentage of those listening to Jesus were monetarily poor, I wonder if poor in this context could also mean poor in ways that are more than money. In a spiritual angle to this phrase, I wonder if Jesus came to share, encourage, and uplift those who could be described as being poor in spirit, which is another way of saying that they knew they had fallen away from God and were looking for a way back.

Jesus came to “proclaim release to the captives”. In this phrase, I believe Jesus fulfilled this idea in a spiritual sense more than in a literal or political sense. I also find it interesting that Jesus is described as “proclaiming release”, but not on directly releasing – at least in this phrase. In my mind, this phrase makes the most sense if we understand Jesus to be releasing people who are trapped in sin. Another, similar angle we could use is that Jesus came to proclaim God’s love and forgiveness towards those who felt as though their lives were held captive by sin.

Jesus came to give “sight to the blind”. While this phrase is easily understood in Jesus’ miracle healings, and on giving literal sight to many who were blind, the spiritual angle of Jesus’ words is that He wants to give spiritual sight to those who were spiritually blind. In John 9:39-41, after healing a literally blind man, Jesus briefly talks with some Pharisees present who Jesus suggests were spiritually blind, while they insist that they can see. Jesus came to help those who were willing to spiritually see past their preconceived ideas surrounding what God was doing and open their eyes to the ultimate Messiah that He sent into our world.

Jesus came to “set free those who are oppressed”. In an oddly chiastic, or poetic way, this phrase connects nicely with the phrase about proclaiming release for captives. While earlier, Jesus draws attention to proclaiming freedom, in this phrase, Jesus actually sets free those who are oppressed. In one spiritual understanding of this phrase, Jesus came to set free those who were oppressed by the extensive lists of spiritual rules and regulations that were present during that era. Jesus also spiritually freed those who were carrying the weight of sin and the emotional load of its consequences. Jesus accomplished this by giving His life on the cross.

Jesus came to “proclaim the favorable year of the Lord”. Through Jesus’ life and His ministry, He paid the penalty for sin, and opened the way for humanity to receive God’s favor. While I suspect that on one hand, the year Jesus died could be understood as being the favorable year of the Lord, a case could be made that the year Jesus was born as a baby was that favorable year. Other options include the year the angel spoke to Zechariah breaking centuries of silence which we focused on earlier this year, or even a year that is still to come, which would be most closely connected with Jesus’ return and the end of sin. This phrase spiritually makes sense when understanding that whenever the favorable year of the Lord is, the only reason it is favorable is because of what Jesus did for us.

In this scripture written by Isaiah, and drawn upon by Jesus, we get a beautiful overview of Jesus’ life and ministry, and Jesus’ mission to this world.

Also, in an interesting way, we see in these five phrases, five big phases of Jesus’ ministry throughout history: In the early points in history, God sets the least likely people apart for Him. God proclaims freedom for the Israelites who were living in captivity after having set them apart. When Jesus walked the earth, He gave sight to the blind, and through His death, He set free those who were oppressed. In the last portion of History, Jesus is ready and eager to proclaim the year of God’s favor, and the point in time when sin will be forever sent to the past.

While I have no idea whether this broad understanding of these five phrases is an understanding that fits all the details, even if this angle on this passage misses the mark, I can see Jesus’ ministry to this world and to humanity as being a fulfillment of all these ideas and themes.

Jesus came to preach the great news; Jesus came to proclaim release; Jesus came to give sight to the blind; Jesus came to set free the oppressed; and Jesus came to announce that through Jesus’ sacrifice and His gift, God wants to pour His favor onto you, and He wants to redeem you for eternity.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to accept the gift that He offers to you through what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God through what the Bible teaches us about Jesus.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!