Is 61:1–11. The Glorious Benefits of the Gospel of Christ
If we only looked at the news, we would say things are getting darker, and it doesn’t look like righteousness will ever fill our earth. No wonder we need to feed upon these Kingdom passages in Isaiah. For Scripture tells us that someday the true knowledge of God will cover the earth as the ocean covers the seafloor (Is 11:9). God is going to do something that mere men regard as impossible (Zech 8:1-8). It takes a robust faith to behold Christ now, enthroned in His glory and sovereignty, ruling over all providence (Heb 2:5-9). Thus, in our response to life’s ups and downs, we either go deeper into God or deeper into the world’s deceptive offers. In our text Messiah announces His twofold commission to bring gospel mercy at His first coming, and judgments on unbelievers and comfort to Zion at His second coming (Is 61:1–9). The gospel of Christ is the source of making provisions for eternity.
I. The gospel proclaimed brings release to God’s people (vv. 1-3).
V. 1. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He hath anointed me,” quoted by Jesus as His credentials in preaching (Lu 4:18–21). Yahweh hath anointed Me from the womb (Lu 1:35), and at baptism, with the Spirit “without measure,” (Is 11:2; Jn 3:34; Ps 45:7). “Anointed” as Messiah, Prophet, Priest, and King. “Good news”—the “gospel.” “The poor,” as Lu 4:18 has it; those afflicted with calamity, poor in circumstances and in spirit (Jesus’ word to John the Baptist: Mt 11:5). “Proclaim liberty”—(Jn 8:31–36; Heb 2:15). “Freedom to prisoners”—and of the eyes to them that are bound, as it were blind in the darkness of prison (Is 35:5; 42:7).
V. 2. “Proclaim the favorable/acceptable year”—the year of Jubilee; in Israel debts were cancelled; “liberty was proclaimed to the captives” (Lev 25:8-55). Jesus preaches this text in Luke 4, but stops reading from the Isaiah text at the end of the first line of verse V. 2b – “The day of vengeance” (retribution, chaps: Zech 12-14)— Jesus (Lu 4:20-21) “closed the book” before this clause; for, the interval from His first to His second coming is “the acceptable year” (church age). We are living in the interval right now. Isaiah looks into the future and sees two prophetic ‘mountain peaks’. We can’t see the distance between them—how long the season of favor and open doors of mercy last. The “day of vengeance” will not be until He comes again (2 Th 1:7–9). “Our God”—The saints call Him “our God”; for He comes to avenge them (Rev 6:10; 19:2).
V. 3. “To grant beauty/garland for ashes”—bright-colored garments of praise, indicative of thankfulness, instead of sackcloth, despondency/grief. “Oaks trees of righteousness”—symbolic of men strong in righteousness, not bowed down as a reed with sin and calamity. “Planting of the Lord”—(See on Is 60:21). “that He might be glorified” (display His splendor)—(Jn 15:8, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” Eph 2:10, we are His poem).¹
Our emotions can tell us, ‘life is so troublesome, how can God be for me ; I
might as well settle for mediocrity’.
But Jesus tells us something contrary to our emotions.’ I came to replace your guilty, shame-filled despair with joy inexpressible and filled with glory (
1 Pe 1:8
). He does it by preaching the good news (why sent, Jn 3:17 ).
II. The gospel proclaimed brings renewal to His people (vv. 4-7).
V. 4. “Will build up the ancient ruins”—Jerusalem and the cities of Judah which long lay in ruins (see on Is 58:12). After the Messiah’s Second Advent, Israel will rebuild her ruined cities, even those that had been destroyed many years before. Israel will be so revered that Gentiles (foreigners) will join her (cf. 14:1; 60:10) in her farming and shepherding. As a nation of priests each one will know the LORD, and have access to Him, and mediate on behalf of others, as did the Levitical priests. This was to be one of Israel’s functions in the world, but she will not fully carry out until in the Millennium. Nations will bring their wealth to Israel (Is 60:5, 11).
The setting up of Christianity in the world will repair the rot and decay of false religion and worldliness. Christ raises up from those desolations holy living which had been for many generations been the reproach of mankind. EX. An unsanctified soul is like a city that is broken down and has no walls, like a house in ruins; but by the power of Christ’s gospel and grace it is repaired, put in order again, fitted to be a habitation of God through the Spirit (M. H.). Those released out of captivity are brought out of bondage that we may serve God, in building up ourselves to his glory (Jude 20) and in helping to build up his church. “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing” (1 Thess 5:11).
V. 5. “Strangers will stand and pasture,” wait on you as servants (Is 14:1, 2; 60:10).
V. 6. “But you”—as contrasted with the strangers. Ye shall have no need to attend to your flocks and lands: “strangers” will do that for you; your exclusive business will be the service of Yahweh as His “priests. “While the strangers are keeping your flocks, you shall be keeping the charge of the sanctuary; instead of being slaves to your task-masters, you shall be named the priests of the Lord, a high and holy calling.”
Those whom God sets free, He sets to work; He delivers them out of the hands of their enemies that they may serve Him, Lu. 1:74-75. But his service is perfect
1 Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 499). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
freedom, the greatest honor. When God brought Israel out of Egypt He took them to be to him a kingdom of priests, Ex. 19:6. Believers are a royal priesthood. “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY” 1 Pet. 2:9-10. ‘Heaven’—serve Him day and night (Rev 7:15).
V. 7. “Instead of shame, a double portion”—They shall rejoice in their portion. It is a portion in their land, their own land, the holy land, Immanuel’s land, and therefore they shall rejoice in it, having so lately known what it was to be strangers in a strange land. This shall be a double recompence, more than double, for all the reproach and vexation they were under in the land of their captivity.
The miseries of their captivity were so great that in them they are said to have received double for all their sins (Is 40:2), so the joys of their return shall be so great that in them they shall receive double for all their shame. In Christ’s satisfaction, in which God received double for all our sins; the latter to the fulness of heaven’s joys, in which we shall receive more than double for all our services and sufferings.
III. The gospel proclaimed brings refuge (cov.) to His people (vv. 8-9).
V. 8. “I the Lord love justice”—which requires that I should restore My people, and give them double in compensation for their sufferings. “I hate robbery in the burnt offering”— He hates robbery and wrong. He loves what is right and hates what is wrong with all the intensity of His divine being. Ever since Adam fell, sin has been spreading a culture of death. The world is not ‘normal’ everything is broken. The very philosophies of the world are designed to escape the consciousness of our sin and separation from God, and to offer ways to prove our worth (our ‘OK-ness’).
He loves that justice be done among men, both between rulers and subjects and between neighbor and neighbor, He hates all injustice. And, when wrongs are done to his people by their oppressors and persecutors, He is displeased with them, not only because they are done to His people, but because they are wrongs against the eternal rules of equity. If men do not do justice, He loves to do judgment Himself in giving defense to those that suffer wrongly; punishing those that do wrong.
“I will give them their recompense.” God will be their faithful guide and a God in covenant with them. I will direct their work in truth. God by his providence will order their affairs for the best, according to the Word of His truth. He will guide them in the ways of true prosperity, by the rules of true righteousness. God’s commitment to His own holiness and righteousness is joined to His commitment to us (believers). In His coming Kingdom His will is going to be done on earth as it is done in heaven—a just society. (Mt 6:10). (EX. What is a
utopian?
No Prince of Peace. Today, Cultural
Marxism;
total social justice now! Redemption now! By which all of society is broken down into
oppressors and oppressed . Supposedly revolution is needed. Class, race,
economic inequality is injustice that must be corrected now, by riots and violence if necessary! This what our students are being fed at public universities.)
V. 8b. The Lord’s commitment is in the form of an everlasting covenant. These blessings flow from God giving Israel an everlasting covenant (New Covenant: “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul” (Jer. 32:40-41; Ezek. 16:60; 37:26 —it will be ratified through the sacrifice of Christ, Heb. 13:20).
V. 9. known—honorably; shall be illustrious. “God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us—that Your way may be known on the earth, your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for You will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth” (Ps 67:1-4). people—rather, “peoples.” offspring … blessed (Is 65:23).² People everywhere will acknowledge that Israel is indeed God’s special people. APPL. It is unthinkable that God would not keep His covenant. Invest yourself in the new world He is building (Kingdom consciousness, Kingdom hope—‘
make provisions ’). By seeking first His Kingdom and His
righteousness; that is the will of the Father, the path of endless blessing (
Mt 6:33 ).
IV. The gospel proclaimed brings rejoicing to His people (vv. 10-11).
V. 10. Messiah’s strategy for world restoration. He was ‘man of sorrows’ at His first advent (Is 53:3); but not anymore: “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him” (Heb 9:27-28). Now He is greatly rejoicing, clothed with the ‘garments of salvation’. By His obedience, Christ has earned the ‘equipment’ needed to save sinners (Phil 2:6-11). “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from
2 Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 499). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 5:7-10). Salvation through Christ fulfilling all righteousness in our place (baptized by John the Baptist) (Mt 3:15). How wonderful, His mission was to obey His Father in obtaining our redemption (Heb 9:12). His obedience to the point of death on a Roman cross was the work of a sacrificing Priest. Now He is equipped to save to the uttermost (Heb 7:24-28). His glory as Redeemer is not only resident in His deity, but His glory is associated with the ‘equipment’ He earned and gained by His obedience that He might be our merciful, effectual High Priest (see Heb 2:17; 6:20; 9:11-15). Isaiah sees Messiah being gratified with enjoyment in saving us! Messiah’s influence has all the joy of a wedding celebration. (EX. unfinished poem, C. S. Lewis quote, milk and water). Into this corrupt and sad world, God launched an outpouring of joy that will leave the nations in awe. He is saving people around the world at this very moment and He calls His people to partner with Him in heralding and proclaiming the gospel of joy.
God shall have the glory in all of this, for everyone shall attribute this restoring grace to the blessing of God. All from the nations that see redeemed Israel shall see so much of the grace of God in them, and His favor towards them, that they shall acknowledge them to be the seed/offspring which the Lord has blessed. The prophet is speaking for the redeemed remnant who will rejoice in response to God’s blessings mentioned in 61:1–9. Salvation and righteousness are pictured as clothes worn by the people (cf. God’s “clothes,” 59:17). “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Gal 3:27). The Israelites are characterized by salvation (God’s redeemed people) and righteousness. To picture their joy and blessing a bridegroom wore adorning headgear, like a priest’s turban, and the bride wore costly jewelry. We are here taught to rejoice with holy joy, to God’s honor. Those that rejoice in God have cause to rejoice greatly, and we need not fear running into an extreme in the greatness of our joy. The first gospel song , My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior, Lu. 1:46-47. The salvation God wrought for the Jews, and that righteousness of His in which He appeared for them, made them look as glorious in the eyes of all as if they had been clothed in wedding garments. Christ has clothed his church with an eternal salvation by clothing it with the righteousness both of justification and sanctification. “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD”
(1 Cor 1:30-31). The clean linen is the righteousness of saints, Rev. 19:8. The heirs of salvation are clothed with the robe of righteousness now. By the righteousness of Christ believers are given God’s favor and by the sanctification of the Spirit have God’s image renewed upon them; they are decked as a bride to be espoused to God, taken into covenant with him; they are decked as a priest to be employed for God, and taken into communion with him.
By the Father’s plan, Christ contains everything fitted to meet the sinner’s need.
It is not faith in a salvation plan that saves the soul, but faith in the Person of Christ. The sinner’s dilemma: his conscience rightly condemns him due to his legal guilt in the sight of God. It is Christ’s
heart
and
arm
that the sinner needs. Christ’s
‘heart’ in that holy love made Him go to the cross. His ‘arm’ in that His is capable and willing to save all who come to Him. In Christ, the Godhead finds the way of coming to sinners with open arms while remaining holy, just and true from all eternity.
In Christ, the sinner finds perplexities cleared away, for the conscience of the sinner is like a storm-tossed sea filled with disputes: “I am stuck in certain sins, how do I repent; I fear I am wishy-washy and will go back into the world; perhaps I have committed the unpardonable sin?” Christ answers all these troubles in His own Person. Bunyan’s dialog titled,
Instructions for the Ignorant.
Here are two of his questions: Q.
What is believing on Jesus Christ?
A.
It is receiving Him with all that He is as the gift of God to you the sinner.
Q.
What is in Jesus Christ to encourage me to receive Him? A.
Infinite righteousness to justify you, and the Spirit without measure to sanctify you.
³
V. 11. It says in verse 11 that God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. God will cause Israel’s righteousness to spring up in (be known by) other nations (cf. 61:11; 62:1–2) much as the soil sustains the growth of plants.⁴ In John 12:24, Jesus speaks about a principle of production in agriculture that a grain of wheat must be planted in the earth, and die so to speak before it can be fruitful. Christ is alluding to His own death and resurrection and the immeasurable fruit that will result from His death, burial, and rising. As the earth brings forth her bud, and the tender grass at the return of the year, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth, by virtue of the covenant of grace.⁵
3 A. A. Bonar, The Person of Christ 4 Martin, J. A. (1985). Isaiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 1115–1116). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. 5 Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (pp. 1203–1205). Peabody: Hendrickson.
EX. the way in which God will cause righteousness and praise to spring before all the nations is by our suffering Substitute, Christ, the Lord our righteousness being planted in the tomb and then rising.
CONCLUSION: Evil men under the very best conditions will not do the will of God. It’s difficult to imagine more superior conditions for obedience than Christ on the throne, bodily on earth, and the devil and his angels locked up for a thousand years. But even at the end of the millennium, there will be a massive assault upon Zion by unbelievers. What is needed is what the gospel brings: release, renewal, refuge, and rejoicing to the people of God. Appl. But, how do we know we are one of God’s people? Answer: if you belong to God, then your entire hope is in Christ, you love Him, and love the way God saves sinners through Him. If that describes you, then you are one of God’s people. Those who are the people of God, see that their greatest priority in this life is to make provision for the next life.
When Christ brings a soul to Himself, He plants in that person a new heart that beats for the honor and glory of God’s moral majesty. The saved person has repented of their idolatry, of bringing their affections to created things instead of to God. To truly repent, is to be contrite over not caring about receiving righteousness from God. For, sinners must receive righteousness from God in order to live with God. The great gift of the gospel is the gift of God Himself, and the gift of righteousness and holiness from Him prepares us to live with Him. (EX. Heaven is God’s dwelling place, not a region.)
What is the great value of kingdom vision and kingdom hope? How does this spiritual sight enable us to see through the carnal/idolatrous messaging that we are constantly fed by the world. Provisions for eternity: abide if you are headed to His abode.
ADDENDUM:
The last view the unbelieving world had of Christ was of a man suspended from a Roman cross, a man more marred than any man, a horrific image of shame, agony, weakness, and ignominy. But, my friends, Christ will be vindicated at His glorious second coming and thousand year ‘rod of iron’ rule. God the Father will see to His Son’s honor, publicly. True believers long to see their King vindicated in real time, space, and history witnessed by the nations of the world. (EX. see Christ is worthy to be King.) If Christ is your Savior, He is also your King. Thus, consider what we ought to ask ourselves, “Are we eager for Christ’s return?” “Do we long with all of our being to see our King vindicated?” God the Father is going to vindicate His only begotten Son for all the shame and reproach He endured by sinners against Himself.
God is absolutely committed to His own holiness, the glory of His own moral majesty. Those He saves are transformed by the Spirit so that they are also committed to glorify God’s holiness as well. This is utterly consistent with the gospel which reveals that God wills to be known through the satisfaction of His unchanging standard of righteousness by means of a perfect Mediator. This is all that He might be both just and justifier by the one who has faith in Jesus.
God’s commitment to His own holiness means that He will not jeopardize a single beam of His holiness in order to keep a sinner out of hell. Perfect justice must be meted out in the case of your personal sins if you are to have eternal life with God. The evidences that a sinner has believed savingly is that his controversy with God over what his sin deserves is finished. In his conscience he knows that he deserves eternal damnation and that every bit of His favor with God is supported solely by the righteousness of his Mediator. Each of these truths is foreign to carnal sense and reason; this is why the gospel is a revelation (Rom 1:16-17).