“The
Messiah and the Church”
Isaiah
61:1-11
June
18, 2023 YouTube
After talking about the future of Israel – the incorporating
of the Gentiles into Israel – all those true believers throughout time and
space – how God will bring them into the light and transform them – all we who
believe, he turns to looking at the office of the Messiah and the prosperity of
the Church.
First, the office of the Messiah.
Isaiah begins this section with words that will be familiar
to many of us:
“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; to proclaim the year of
the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who
mourn; 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.”
The remnant would understand that as they heard these words
– as the remnant returns from exile – they are first about Isaiah, and his
preaching before, during, and after the exile.
Making known to them the sin that caused them to go into exile, the discipline
they had to suffer. They understood that
the mission – the office – of Isaiah as Anointed One – was that of the man God
chose to indwell with God the Holy Spirit to speak God’s Word to the people. In
the return to Jerusalem, he preached comfort and deliverance to the people –
without neglecting God’s need to be just and punish sin – and that all these
things, with the restoration of Jerusalem, are done to glorify God.
We will remember that this is the section that Jesus read
from in the Temple to announce the beginning of His ministry:
“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. And the
scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found
the place where it was written, ‘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, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favor.’ 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. And he began
to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. ‘And
all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from
his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?’” (Luke 4: 16-22, ESV).
Jesus is announcing that He is the fulfillment of the
office of Messiah – of the Savior.
Whereas Isaiah is a type – or picture – of Who the Messiah would be –
Jesus is announcing that He is the fulfillment of this text – He is the Savior
that all of the Scripture speaks of and promises.
Jesus reads the texts and says that God the Holy Spirit
indwells Him. He is the Savior – if you
understand the Scripture, He is fully God and fully man in One Person, and He
is indwelled with the Holy Spirit.
We will remember:
“Then
Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John
would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you
come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting
for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus was
baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were
opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming
to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 13-17, ESV).
We’ll
only take time to note one thing here:
The Holy Spirit rested on Jesus – God the Holy Spirit came and indwelled
the Person, Jesus, in His humanity.
And Jesus announces that He, as the Anointed One, as the
Messiah Who is indwelled with God the Holy Spirit, His work is “to proclaim
good news to the poor, …to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the
year of the Lord’s favor.”
As the people listened to Jesus, they would hear Him say
that He came to preach to them and to deliver them from evil and its effects,
and “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The year of the Lord’s favor was understood to be the Year of Jubilee –
as commanded in the Old Testament. That
Law said that the nation of Israel had a national clock, and over the years,
people went into debt, some even became servants to work off their debt, and
these debts were worked on for forty-nine years according to the clock of the
nation, but on the fiftieth year – the Year of Jubilee – all debts were
forgiven, all property went back to its rightful owner, and so forth. Jesus came to pay all the debts owed by all
those who would every believe.
John the Baptist understood what Jesus was saying, still he
had his doubts, so, while he was in prison, he makes sure he had not been
mistaken, and Jesus makes reference to our text:
“The
disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of
his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to
come, or shall we look for another?’ And when the men had come to him, they
said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, “Are you the one who is to
come, or shall we look for another?”’ In that hour he healed many people of
diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed
sight. And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:
the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf
hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And
blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Luke 7:18-23, ESV).
Jesus’
answer to John is, “Yes, I am the Messiah.”
Now, notice, as Jesus reads the text in the Temple, He stops
short: He read up to, “to proclaim the
year of the LORD’s favor,” but He doesn’t read the second part of the couplet:
“and the day of vengeance of our God;”
Why?
Jesus is alerting His listeners – including us – that the
office of the Messiah – the Savior – His Work would not be fulfilled in His
first coming. From the Incarnation and
Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension,
we see the first section of our text Jesus comes to heal and set free all those
who will believe in Him.
Remember what Jesus told Nicodemus, “For God did not send
his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might
be saved through him (John 3:17, ESV). In Jesus’ first coming, He did not come
to condemn the world, but to fulfill the Scripture about Him for the sake of
the announcing of the Gospel and its effectiveness. When Jesus returns, it will be in judgement
against all those who never believe.
When Jesus does return, He will comfort all of His people
who mourn. He will take away their
ashes, faintness, and deep sadness, and He will dress them in festal clothes,
making them glad and full of praise – all who believe in Jesus as Savior. And God will plant them as oaks of
righteousness – the strength of the righteousness of God’s Own will be greatly
strong, and all these things will be done so God will be glorified.
The office of the Messiah includes initial foreshadowing
like Isaiah’s preaching to the captives before they leave and as they return to
Jerusalem – assuring them that the promises of God will come to pass, and
finally, this text is fulfilled in the two comings of Jesus the Savior. First, He comes to heal and free His people
from their sin, and when He returns, He will punish those who never believe and
transform His people and bring them into His kingdom.
Second, the prosperity of the Church.
Again, this is a text we interpret in layers: first in the days of the return of the
remnant to Jerusalem, and then, as Jesus told Peter, “And I tell you, you are
Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18, ESV). The Church in the days of Isaiah – believers
in the Savior to come – and the Church – believers from the days of Jesus –
will grow and be brought into the Blessedness of God because God so wills it to
be.
As the remnant returns to Jerusalem, Cyrus tells them and
all the nations around Israel, that the nations will work to rebuild Jerusalem
and the nation and provide everything they need to be fully restored. And, so, of the Gentiles we read:
“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. Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners
shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;”
Paul writes, “For they were pleased to do it, and indeed
they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual
blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings”
(Romans 15:27, ESV).
God promises the remnant through Isaiah that the Gentiles
of the nations around them will not only rebuild the nations, but be shepherds,
plowmen, and vinedressers for them. They
shall care for and raise the livestock and produce of the nation.
Jerusalem – the nation – will be changed as far as who she
is and what she will do:
“but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they
shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;”
Although not every person of Jerusalem could function as a
priest of the Temple, each one of them could point to the necessity of
sacrifice for sin and for the preaching of the whole Word of God.
How do we bring this relationship into the understanding of
the Church as we know it today – believers in Jesus, the Messiah?
Without getting into a full exposition of this verse, let
us understand that there is and will always be a distinction between believers
and non-believers, as John says, “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the
first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be
priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years”
(Revelation 20:6, ESV). And Peter writes, “But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may
proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light” (I Peter 2:9, ESV).
In Isaiah’s day, the remnant is promised, “you shall eat
the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your
shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice
in their lot; therefore, in their land they shall possess a double portion; they
shall have everlasting joy.”
In the remnant’s return, they would find themselves with
far more than they had ever had before the exile. And God continues this provision
in the Church today, so all we who believe savingly in Jesus – the Church – are
more prosperous that we could ever imagine.
Do we doubt that? I could say, “if the Church is more
prosperous than I could ever imagine, why don’t we have central air? Why don’t we have a pipe organ? Why isn’t the building in perfect shape? Why aren’t the pews full?“ And so forth.
God may bless the Church with physical things – He does at
various times and in various locations – but the prosperity of the Church is
best found in reading the Bible, learning Who our Triune God is, obeying Him in
all that He has said, and proclaiming the Gospel to the world – from which
work, the Holy Spirit will bring every one God intends to save into the Church
and His Kingdom. That – above all
physical things – is prosperity. Though
God does bless His people with physical prosperity as well.
“For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I
will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting
covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their
descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge
them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.”
God is a God of justice, and so, Jerusalem was sent into
captivity. God gives justice for sin, but
in His Mercy, not what we deserve.
Rather, God makes a covenant with Israel – with the Church. As Paul explains, “And in this way all Israel
will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will
banish ungodliness from Jacob’; and this will be my covenant with them when I
take away their sins” (Romans 11:26-27, ESV).
The Church is prosperous from Adam through Isaiah and
Jerusalem and through all those who will ever believe savingly in Jesus throughout
time and space. God blesses His Church physically,
but even more so, spiritually, as He provides for justice for sin and the
salvation of all of His people – bringing them as treasure into the Church.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for showing us in Your Word the
mercy You show to Your people after their discipline – as we see in the return
of the captives to Jerusalem, and the deliverance of God’s people in the first
coming of Jesus. We thank You for showing us that You Bless Your Church and
will bring all of Your elect through our sin and the evil in the world that we
would be saved, and You would be glorified. Help us to live lives pleasing to
You – lives of obedience, as we remember Your office and work of the Messiah
and in the prosperity of the Church. In
Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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