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Isaiah 61 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
Isaiah 61 is such an interesting chapter. In Luke 4, Jesus reads the first two verses of Isaiah 61 in the synagogue.
“The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written: [18] The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, [19] to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. [20] He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. [21] He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.””
Luke 4:17-21 CSB
Compare this to Isaiah 61.
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; [2] to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, [3] to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the LORD to glorify him.”
Isaiah 61:1-3 CSB
What do you notice? Jesus quotes verse 1 but he stops about half way through verse 2. He ends with, “to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor” but does not include the rest of verse 2. Many scholars have suggested that the reason Jesus stopped is because the rest of Isaiah’s prophecy is yet to be fulfilled, specifically in the End Times.
“There He stopped reading, for “the day of vengeance” would not come until the Tribulation (see Isa 63:1-4). We are living today in God’s “year of acceptance,” the day of grace. Of course, Isaiah is speaking here of the Lord’s ministry to Israel, when He would return to convert their “funeral” into joyous “wedding.” Isa 61:3 pictures the mourners drying their tears and putting on festive garments instead of mourning clothes. Isa 61:10 describes the nation rejoicing as the bride and the bridegroom.”
Warren Wiersbe
Jesus not only read these verses, He interpreted them.
“He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.””
Luke 4:21 CSB
This leads us to the question – who is Jesus? Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of this Messianic prophecy. He claimed to be the great “I AM” (John 8:58). He said no one comes to God – the One True God – except through Him (John 14:1-7). There is no denying that the Scriptures attest to Jesus as being exactly who He said He was.
We are living in “the year of the Lord’s favor!” The “day of our God’s vengeance” is next. The time to repent and believe is now. The day to prioritize your relationship with your Savior is today.