Written by *Below is Pastor Andrew’s preaching outline from Sunday’s sermon, not a word for word manuscript. This is meant as aid in seeing the thought and direction of the sermon.
Intro: looking forward into the New year includes what has gone before and all the more is informed by it.
As we come to 202 one of things that is unavoidable is the year retrospective tv specials: This year even more so because we not only come to the end of a year, but a decade.
We are on the brink of ushering in the 2020s.
End of the year realities:
-We evaluate what went wrong
-We determine how we are going to do better this year
-We wonder hopefully at what may happen
-Some positive some negative
-We take stock of where we are and wonder how we got here
I love the end of the year, but that’s because it allows me an opportunity to trace all the steps that got me to where I am and see God’s hand in directing the steps along the way, even to this very moment here standing and proclaiming God’s truth at SonRise. Looking back at Christmas eve and being able to sing and praise God alongside our wonderful church family here and with those who the Lord blessed me with the opportunity to pastor for a couple years as they searched for a long-term pastor. So, looking back to look forward can be a blessing especially when looking at the one who has provided the present.
When we come to our text today that is exactly what we will be doing, looking back to look forward. Isaiah 61 is a beautiful text that squarely places us hoping for the eternal Kingdom of Christ, yet it also firmly plants us in the present by showing us that the reality of this Kingdom is now, and it draws us back to the past by revealing that the Kingdom was a plan of God for all eternity.
Our passage today takes us to the book of Isaiah to the final sections of one of the most amazing texts of the scriptures. To many the book of Isaiah is the Romans of the OT. It is the proclamation of the Messianic Hope. It is filled with the truth of God bringing salvation to the Nations, through a Servant king who will suffer, rule, and today preach.
Throughout our text we will see the True nature of this Coming Servant whom we have come to know.
The first element we see in the text is the Song of the Anointed One:
I. He Proclaims Hope & Life (1-7)
Isaiah 61:1–2 ESV
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;
- Debate has continued from every generation as to the full nature of speaker. In the midst of Isaiah’s prophetic speech, we have an interjection of a first person’s voice. Leading some to believe this is Isaiah himself reflecting on is call.
-Though it is very different than chapter six and doesn’t seem to reflect any other aspect of His commission.
-Secondly the most logical perspective from the original audience would be two-fold based on the text: this reflects His continued ministry of proclaiming a future, and ultimately it reflected the true servant who not only would proclaim these things but would by his life embody and execute them.
- What is important for us to note in this opening song is firstly the message he brought:
- Good news to the Poor
- Binding for the Brokenhearted
iii. Liberty to the captives
- Freedom for Prisoners
- A Year of Jubilee unlike any they had experienced
- A Dave of Justice (vengeance)
The message proclaimed to a people broken and destitute is that it will not last. The Lord has not forgotten His people. He will restore. he will bring life to that which is broken and dead. As the world around them fell and the judgement of God for the sins of His people was leveled against them, Isiah in this text is proclaiming that it will not last. The anointed one will proclaim Hope:
Jesus is the one who Proclaimed this truth:
Luke 4:16–30 ESV
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?” And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.
Jesus Uses this text at the introduction of His ministry in the Gospel of Luke. This is his first sermon after his anointing and temptation.
And as Adam pointed out last week, when we hear Christ citing scripture, He cites it in context and with the full meaning of the text.
Christ was the true prophet King:
He was anointed by God (Seen in the Holy Spirit descending upon him at His Baptism)
-The Sequence of events is all part of God’s unfolding plan
Christ Came as a preacher, proclaiming the God news…
Mark 1:14–15 ESV
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Matthew 4:17 ESV
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
He was the Good News. he was their hope He was the one who would bring the victory they longed to see.
The first audience to Find hope in this passage would have been the returning exiles from Babylon following their exile for sin. They would have found hope looking to the future, examining the past and looking forward.
Here Christ takes the mantel onto himself declaring that here and now that day they longed for had come.
-this is not a small thing that Jesus does.
-They people knew exactly what he was saying
-For some this was a joyous moment for others a moment of blasphemous presumption.
-However, the people responded didn’t change the reality of the moment: the true servant king had come to bring a new life to His people. One free from the burden they had known.
So, in this moment Christ Proclaims hope
- Good news to the Poor
- Binding for the Brokenhearted
iii. Liberty to the captives
- Freedom for Prisoners
- A Year of Jubilee
This moment reflects His current ministry while the remainder of the text remains in the background as we see it unfold day by day as the Lord brings the World to His final including plan.
The unread text of Isaiah 61 is not ignored but rather Jesus places it in the behind His current task. His ministry on earth brought the first half to fruition, while his ministry in heaven and upon His return will secure and bring forth the second half.
He is bringing a new and lasting year of Jubilee the year of the Lord’s favor was one where everything was returned to its original state and all were given rest.
-It is a sabbath yes of sabbath rest.
Listen to the Words He describe of the new people He will create:
He is building people and giving them a new hope:
Isaiah 61:3–7 ESV
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. 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; but you shall be called the priests of the Lord; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; 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.
Christ has transformed His people into those who worship and glorify him. The chains are gone. the Ash has been put away and we now stand in praise and glory before him to give Glory to Him.
He has done a work that we could not.
He transformed us.
He proclaimed the truth, and he transformed us by it.
-He changes gives us a new life
-He removes the ash from us
-He anoints us with oil
He gives us new clothes
He makes us righteous
Psalm 1:3 ESV
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
He also gives them a new and lasting mission:
-To rebuild cities: Original context: Jerusalem
Our context the world through the church. Every tribe and tongue will sing praise to our God and so we see the world transformed
Exodus 19:6 ESV
and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
1 Peter 2:9–10 ESV
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. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
II. He Acts for Justice (8-9) (The Song of the Father)
Isaiah 61:8–9 ESV
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 Himself now enters the picture with the declaration of Why he is acting:
-he acts for Justice
-He acts for His People
-He acts to create a people
-A People who will inhabit the earth
-A people blessed by the Lord
Throughout the Book of Isaiah there has been the call that God would save the nations. In the previous section the idea of the nation’s being servants reflects that God has brought all peoples to himself.
The message of Christ is one that sees the Father creating a new people. An everlasting kingdom of priest who will worship and praise Him.
He will be a blessing to all people and through His Son every nation is blessed.
Genesis 22:17–18 ESV
I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
All the nations are blessed by God through the Savior who will bring us an everlasting joy:
For the Text concludes with one last voice: the voice of the people whom he has save:
III. He Brings Salvation (10-11) (The Song of God’s People)
Isaiah 61:10–11 ESV
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.
Here is the voice of the redeemed:
-The work of God brings a song to our hearts:
-God will create in us righteousness and praise.
-Not our own But His son’s
Revelation 19:6–8 ESV
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Application:
New Year Same Gospel
New Year Same mission
New Year Same Christ
Conclusion:
-As we look back over the past year, I hope you can see the way the Lord has transformed you from one degree of holiness to the next.
-As we approach this new year, I hope we remember the proclaimed word of God calling us out of darkness into his light. I hope we trust in His work on the cross that made a people who were not a people. Who bought us with his blood?
-Do we appreciate our God who has made us his own. Gave us a family and a hope. Didn’t leave his people in ruin.
-He didn’t leave us destitute in the gutter, but gave us his life making us His bride, giving us His righteousness.
SonRise Community Church 