Scripture reading: Luke 1:46-55.

Sermon text: Isaiah 61:1-11.

Guest Devotional: Morgan Elizabeth Alexander.

April 27, 2011, will scar the memories of Tuscaloosa residents for the rest of our lives. The devastation we experienced that day focused the attention of the world on our area as entire sections of the city were transformed into mangled ruins. Most of us could not imagine that life would continue past that day as we struggled to make sense out of the catastrophe that had destroyed so much.

However, the world soon saw the other side of Tuscaloosa: The grim determination to recover from the worst disaster most of us had ever seen. Within hours, the citizens of our area banded together to help one another recover. Total strangers freed trapped residents; volunteers helped the wounded and carried them to an overwhelmed hospital where supervisors later revealed every employee reported for work without receiving a phone call. Even people who had lost everything reported for duty.

I think the events of April 27 help us better understand what Isaiah’s audience felt when they reached Jerusalem in 539 B.C. following the Persian decree of freedom for Babylonian captives. The Jews who returned from exile found a broken city; ruins lay everywhere, including the broken stones of Solomon’s temple, the greatest treasure of their nation. Only the help of Almighty God would enable the people to restore their city and nation to their former glory.

The words of Isaiah inspired the people to rebuild Jerusalem and Judea. In this Advent season, these words also remind us that God continues to inspire us to build something infinitely greater than a shattered city. We have received good news to proclaim to the world, good news that will help initiate a new  and eternal creation.

Although this passage falls in the prophecies that applied to the Jews who returned from exile in 539 B.C., the identity of the speaker in verse 1 reveals that Isaiah’s prophecy here spoke to a different audience. The clues here reveal that Isaiah doesn’t see himself as the announcer; he sees someone else as proclaiming this prophecy. We can also see that this prophecy remains unfulfilled; its fulfillment will come at a later time in human history.

We find our first clue in the phrase, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me.” Although the Holy Spirit indwelt the prophets on the covenant era, this phrase points beyond the Old Testament era to another person on whom the Holy Spirit would descend.

Our second clue comes in the next phrase: “because the LORD has anointed me.” Although every king of the house of David received an anointing at his enthronement, the Holy Spirit did not descend on these kings. Nor did every prophet receive the anointing mentioned here. The word “anointed” here comes from the Hebrew word “masûah,” which in the Greek was translated at “chriow” — the verb form of the term “Christ,” which means “Anointed One.”

When we put these clues together, we realize Isaiah prophesied of one the world would know as the “Christ.” We also see confirmation of this in Jesus’ baptism, where “the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove” (Luke 3:22). Jesus claimed to fulfill the first verses of this prophecy (Luke 4:17-21). As a Son of David, Jesus would inaugurate a new kingdom which would encompass the world, not merely a small client state of the Roman Empire. We can see that Isaiah foresaw the ministry of Jesus, speaking to a people defeated by the Greeks and Romans, a people who clung to their prophecies of a Messiah with a desperate hope that He would bring freedom from the Gentiles and restore their nation. Isaiah also foresaw a new kingdom in which sin will never gain a foothold on the people of God.

Isaiah foretold that Jesus will “bring good news to the poor.” Few of us today had to worry about eating something for breakfast this morning, all of us at worship came from a comfortable home this morning. We speak of poverty, but few of us know anything about it personally (thank God). However, the poor composed the vast majority of Judea’s residents in Jesus’ time. The word “good news” here was translated into the Greek as “euangelion,” which we know in English as “gospel.” Jesus would proclaim good news to the poor of the land, to those oppressed both by the Roman occupiers and the religious authorities in Jerusalem.

Isaiah also prophesied that Jesus would “bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” The Jews of Jesus’ day would suffer more heartbreak than we care to imagine. Their ancestors had returned from exile and attempted to restore their nation, only to see it fall again into the hands of Greek tyrants bent on forcing Hellenism on the Jewish people. The books of the Maccabees record the stories of the Jewish martyrs. Then, just as the Jews finally drove out the Greeks, one of their own rulers invited the Romans to come and settle a dispute. Once the Romans arrived, they never left. All this foreign occupation had broken the hearts of the people. You’ll notice that Jesus constantly brought hope to the people who met Him.

Jesus also would “proclaim liberty to the captives.” The Greek and Roman emperors would often require client kings to send their children to their capitals to insure their good behavior. Herod’s sons Aristobulus and Alexander had both lived in Rome as insurance against a rebellion against Caesar Augustus. In Jesus’ reign, no one would serve as political captives.

Jesus would release those “bound in prison” as well. In Jesus’ reign, none will break the law, because the new covenant will ensure that everyone knows God’s expectations of humanity. Jeremiah would later prophesy, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33).

Jesus will also “proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God.” Most people fail to connect these promises. What does favor have to do with vengeance? We can connect these promises only in the framework of injustice. Jesus will reign perfectly, rendering perfect justice. He will also punish those in authority who have abused their station for their own benefit.

Jesus will “comfort all who mourn.” As I preach this message today, 2 of my high school friends mourn deaths in their lives. Many of us here have suffered from death this year; we face our first Christmas seasons without those we love. Jesus promised, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Jesus comforts those who mourn by demonstrating with His own resurrection that we will meet our loved ones again.

In the Old Testament era, those who mourned often cast ashes on their heads. Jesus will replace the ashes with a “beautiful headdress.” This phrase reminds us of the beauty of the headpiece worn by the high priests of Israel. The “oil of gladness” also reminds us of a promise God had made in the Psalms: “you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions” (Psalm 45:7).

The next prophecies speak to Jesus’ restoration of humanity as well. “They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” Although the Jews had rebuilt Jerusalem beginning in 539 B.C., the city remained only shadow of its former glory. If you travel to Israel today, you can’t help but see ruins everywhere as armies have obliterated everything in their paths. One day, we will never again have to rebuild what war has destroyed.

The next promises speak to the people of God, the Jews. The “strangers” who had oppressed the Jews will serve them. The Jews had failed in God’s command to serve as a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6). Jesus will replace their “shame” in their failure with a “double portion” and “everlasting joy.”

Jesus will accomplish this because He loves “justice” and hates “robbery and wrong.” Jesus will not only give “recompense” for their sufferings, but He would also make an “everlasting covenant” that will stand for eternity. As Jesus restores humanity, everyone will recognize the Jews as the “offspring the LORD has blessed.”

These blessings will cause us all to join in everlasting rejoicing. Our “garments of salvation” will outshine even the garments of the high priest. Our rejoicing will increase as God causes “righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”

As we read these glorious prophecies, many of us will look around and wonder, “Where are they? Why hasn’t Jesus fulfilled these words? Why does He wait?” The Jews of Jesus’ lifetime on earth expected Him to fulfill these promises then; today, we still await their ultimate fulfillment.

I think Jesus continues to wait because He has given us the privilege and responsibility in participating in the fulfillment of this prophecy.

The Jews of the first century A.D. expected Jesus to fulfill this prophecy in their lifetime. They expected their “anointed one,” the Messiah, to bring back the captives from Rome, elevate the poor, and rebuild Jerusalem so that it exceeded even the splendor of Solomon’s time. The Jews expected Jesus to wreak vengeance on the Greeks and Romans. The Jews expected Jesus to elevate their nation and relegate the Greeks and Romans to plowmen and shepherds.

Jesus, of course, had a different enemy in mind.

Jesus proclaimed, “The kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15); He blessed the poor; and He proclaimed liberty, but not from the Romans. Jesus first conquered sin and death, the greatest enemies humanity has ever faced.

With His death, Jesus brings good news: We have freedom from sin. With His resurrection, Jesus has bound the broken hearts with the sure and certain hope of eternal life.

Jesus told His disciples, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). On the day of Pentecost, A.D. 33, the Holy Spirit swept through believers, empowering them to proclaim the “gospel,” the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, to the people of Jerusalem. In the centuries since, the Church has proclaimed the gospel throughout the world.

Until Jesus returns, we must proclaim the good news of His death and resurrection wherever we go. Whenever others confess Jesus as Lord, they become part of the new creation. They, too, will experience the freedom from judgment and from the penalty of eternal death.

At His return, Jesus will perfectly fulfill this prophecy: removing the shame of sin, bringing liberty from death, and giving humanity cause to rejoice for the first time since Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden. We shall experience the fulfillment of Advent as we celebrate eternally in the presence of Jesus Christ, the Anointed One.