The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
The Prophetic Office of Christ
Beloved of the Lord......From our catechism we should all remember that Jesus is our Prophet, Priest, and King. Today’s lesson concerns only one of these three, namely the Prophetic Office of Christ. In our minds now let’s consider what exactly a prophet is, and how is Christ our prophet? Well a prophet is a spokesman for God. The work or office of a prophet is to declare to the people God’s Word and God’s will. In the Old Testament God sent many prophets to His people, with various messages from God, and those who heard God’s Word and obeyed were blessed, but those who despised God’s Word were punished.
As for Christ THE Prophet, He was different from all the Old Testament prophets, for He truly was the Son of God, God incarnate….in the flesh. He was like the other Old Testament prophets in that He was true Man, but at the same time He was True God, even coming forth from the bosom of the Father. John 1:17 and 18 tell us, “the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” Moses was a prophet and Christ was and still is a prophet, but Christ far exceeded Moses because Moses was born from the womb of His mother, but Jesus came forth from the bosom of the Father. When the Son of God spoke God’s Word upon earth, God Himself was speaking, having come forth from the heart of God Himself. This also is why when Jesus was baptized, the Father’s voice spoke from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him.”
That’s why we’re here today. We are here to listen to, to hear the words of our blessed prophet speak, whose name is Jesus Christ. And that’s another quick point, whenever and wherever in this world the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached or spoken by any man, woman, or child, Jesus our Prophet is speaking through those words because Jesus said “He that heareth you heareth Me.” He is not merely a prophet who is gone and lifted up to heaven, but this prophet comes to us today by preaching and teaching grace into our hearts. And if you listen carefully to all Jesus says, you will hear God Himself speaking to you from His heart, even from the bosom of God the Father. Thus Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.” Blessed are they who hear God’s Word, the words of Jesus our Prophet, and so believe.
As for Christ THE Prophet, He was different from all the Old Testament prophets, for He truly was the Son of God, God incarnate….in the flesh. He was like the other Old Testament prophets in that He was true Man, but at the same time He was True God, even coming forth from the bosom of the Father. John 1:17 and 18 tell us, “the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” Moses was a prophet and Christ was and still is a prophet, but Christ far exceeded Moses because Moses was born from the womb of His mother, but Jesus came forth from the bosom of the Father. When the Son of God spoke God’s Word upon earth, God Himself was speaking, having come forth from the heart of God Himself. This also is why when Jesus was baptized, the Father’s voice spoke from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him.”
That’s why we’re here today. We are here to listen to, to hear the words of our blessed prophet speak, whose name is Jesus Christ. And that’s another quick point, whenever and wherever in this world the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached or spoken by any man, woman, or child, Jesus our Prophet is speaking through those words because Jesus said “He that heareth you heareth Me.” He is not merely a prophet who is gone and lifted up to heaven, but this prophet comes to us today by preaching and teaching grace into our hearts. And if you listen carefully to all Jesus says, you will hear God Himself speaking to you from His heart, even from the bosom of God the Father. Thus Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.” Blessed are they who hear God’s Word, the words of Jesus our Prophet, and so believe.
I. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me.” Let’s begin first this morning by noticing certain words. Note the words: meek, brokenhearted, captives, them that are bound, all that mourn, the spirit of heaviness. All these words and phrases concern the broken sinner whose heart is penitent. A meek person is not proud but humble, submitting to God’s will. One whose heart is broken, fears God’s wrath saying, “What is God going to do to me because of this sin!” As for the word captive, these are they who feel the captivity of sin and so long to be free of their sins. Those that mourn concerns those who have experienced sorrow in their hearts over sin. These regret what they have done and so have a spirit of heaviness within. How can you be joyful when you feel sin’s guilt in your heart? So let’s make a very crucial point: the grace and forgiveness Jesus brings to us in His words cannot be received in our heart, unless our heart has experienced the fear of God’s wrath. If we have never experienced in our heart true fear of God or terror in our conscience, the love Jesus shows us through the cross can never properly be received! Grace is something that needs to be received by faith alone, and if not received man dies in terror and without hope. The purpose of the Law hence is to smite, break, and destroy that natural and wicked pride we all have, so we become trembling sinners, penitent, happy to hear the Gospel when it comes. Simply put, we need the Law. If in our heart we find little reason to go to church, or only a little love for Jesus the Son of God, or if when its time to commune there is no strong urge within to receive the body and blood of Christ, that’s a sure sign we need to get back into the Law of God and study His commandments. Let’s remember again how far we have fallen short of God’s glory. Psalm 53 says, “God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
That brings us back again to our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen carefully now to Jesus who is speaking to you, and listen to what He is saying in a resolute and determined voice. He says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach the good tidings unto the meek.” This is the Prophetic Office of Christ, His work, His calling as He was anointed by the Father to do. He was anointed also by the Holy Ghost, for it was according to His human nature, that He was filled with the Holy Ghost, eager to give and preach forgiveness to those who lived in darkness. Even so Jesus said, “I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness.” Just think of the Baptism of Christ, and how the Holy Ghost descended upon Christ in the form of a dove. The Spirit thus anointed Christ to go forth and preach the Gospel. Yet before this happened the Bible says the Spirit drove Christ into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. For our sake Jesus overcame every temptation and was victorious, and after this Jesus traveled to His home town Nazareth, and on Saturday the Sabbath He went into the synagogue.
Do you know what He did there? He went to the front of the church, sat down, and because it was His turn to read, He took the Bible and read Isaiah 61, verses one and two. In front of the congregation Jesus solemnly said, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.” After reading these words the Bible says, “He closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.” They were looking upon Him with wonder, because He just told them by Isaiah’s prophecy He was indeed THE Messiah, THAT Prophet, anointed by the Holy Ghost to preach the good tidings of remission of sins. Sadly they didn’t believe Him, yet this formal began His three short years of public ministry. The rest, as they say, is history.
Again, this is how Jesus is our Prophet, for He was not only the Priest who sacrificed Himself for our salvation, but also the prophet thereafter whose duty it was to preach this sweet remission of sins to all the world. He came to set all captives free by saying, “Thy sins be forgiven thee, go in peace” and “Son be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee!” This is freedom, true liberty from the devil’s power. When a person tries to earn forgiveness of sin by good works and deeds, they are living under the spell of Satan’s power. But when Christ preaches His forgiveness and grace is free to mankind by His blood shed on the cross, those who believe are no longer under Satan’s power. We still sin, though we don’t want to, yet we know by faith even these sins are forgiven, and heaven is still our home. The devil can vex us and tempt us, but he has no real power as long as our faith is in Christ the Lamb. Our sins were buried in the tomb of Christ, and we know the devil cannot unbury them and place them back upon us. No! Christ has removed them, erased them, even drowned them all in the depths of the sea. Even so the prophet Micah said, God “will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
But let’s look at our text again. In verse two Jesus came “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” This does not mean the door to heaven is open only one year, but every year all the way to the Last Day, we sinners through Christ are acceptable to God by the remission of sins. The entire New Testament is that “acceptable year of the Lord.” Jesus sinners doth receive. It then will be a “day of vengeance” only to those who do not believe, but actually despise the Gospel. Do you despise and loathe in your heart the blessed news that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who came forth from the bosom of the Father to save you from sin? If you do not despise that its because you believe it, and “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Going further the Bible says, Jesus gives to those that mourn “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning” even “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” How beautiful this is! By way of our sins naturally we must return to dust and ashes, but Jesus gives us beauty to replace these ashes. This is His own beauty and holiness, hence our song “Beautiful Savior, King of Creation, Son of God and Son of Man.” Sinners find all beauty in Jesus, for by the words He has spoken we see the pure grace and love in His heart He has for us, though we don’t deserve it. Even so He gives us “the oil of joy” which is the spirit of happiness and song because the Holy Ghost comforts our hearts. Isaiah then calls us “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” The Hebrew word behind tree here implies strength, particularly an oak tree. We are strong trees because we possess the righteousness of Christ. If the devil is like a lumberjack he has no ax, saw, or chainsaw strong enough or sharp enough to take us down, because Jesus is the Lord our Righteousness. We are holy in God’s sight, a tree which cannot fall, because our roots are anchored deep in the Rock of Jesus Christ. He alone is our glory! Finally….
That brings us back again to our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen carefully now to Jesus who is speaking to you, and listen to what He is saying in a resolute and determined voice. He says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach the good tidings unto the meek.” This is the Prophetic Office of Christ, His work, His calling as He was anointed by the Father to do. He was anointed also by the Holy Ghost, for it was according to His human nature, that He was filled with the Holy Ghost, eager to give and preach forgiveness to those who lived in darkness. Even so Jesus said, “I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness.” Just think of the Baptism of Christ, and how the Holy Ghost descended upon Christ in the form of a dove. The Spirit thus anointed Christ to go forth and preach the Gospel. Yet before this happened the Bible says the Spirit drove Christ into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. For our sake Jesus overcame every temptation and was victorious, and after this Jesus traveled to His home town Nazareth, and on Saturday the Sabbath He went into the synagogue.
Do you know what He did there? He went to the front of the church, sat down, and because it was His turn to read, He took the Bible and read Isaiah 61, verses one and two. In front of the congregation Jesus solemnly said, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.” After reading these words the Bible says, “He closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.” They were looking upon Him with wonder, because He just told them by Isaiah’s prophecy He was indeed THE Messiah, THAT Prophet, anointed by the Holy Ghost to preach the good tidings of remission of sins. Sadly they didn’t believe Him, yet this formal began His three short years of public ministry. The rest, as they say, is history.
Again, this is how Jesus is our Prophet, for He was not only the Priest who sacrificed Himself for our salvation, but also the prophet thereafter whose duty it was to preach this sweet remission of sins to all the world. He came to set all captives free by saying, “Thy sins be forgiven thee, go in peace” and “Son be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee!” This is freedom, true liberty from the devil’s power. When a person tries to earn forgiveness of sin by good works and deeds, they are living under the spell of Satan’s power. But when Christ preaches His forgiveness and grace is free to mankind by His blood shed on the cross, those who believe are no longer under Satan’s power. We still sin, though we don’t want to, yet we know by faith even these sins are forgiven, and heaven is still our home. The devil can vex us and tempt us, but he has no real power as long as our faith is in Christ the Lamb. Our sins were buried in the tomb of Christ, and we know the devil cannot unbury them and place them back upon us. No! Christ has removed them, erased them, even drowned them all in the depths of the sea. Even so the prophet Micah said, God “will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
But let’s look at our text again. In verse two Jesus came “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” This does not mean the door to heaven is open only one year, but every year all the way to the Last Day, we sinners through Christ are acceptable to God by the remission of sins. The entire New Testament is that “acceptable year of the Lord.” Jesus sinners doth receive. It then will be a “day of vengeance” only to those who do not believe, but actually despise the Gospel. Do you despise and loathe in your heart the blessed news that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who came forth from the bosom of the Father to save you from sin? If you do not despise that its because you believe it, and “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Going further the Bible says, Jesus gives to those that mourn “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning” even “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” How beautiful this is! By way of our sins naturally we must return to dust and ashes, but Jesus gives us beauty to replace these ashes. This is His own beauty and holiness, hence our song “Beautiful Savior, King of Creation, Son of God and Son of Man.” Sinners find all beauty in Jesus, for by the words He has spoken we see the pure grace and love in His heart He has for us, though we don’t deserve it. Even so He gives us “the oil of joy” which is the spirit of happiness and song because the Holy Ghost comforts our hearts. Isaiah then calls us “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” The Hebrew word behind tree here implies strength, particularly an oak tree. We are strong trees because we possess the righteousness of Christ. If the devil is like a lumberjack he has no ax, saw, or chainsaw strong enough or sharp enough to take us down, because Jesus is the Lord our Righteousness. We are holy in God’s sight, a tree which cannot fall, because our roots are anchored deep in the Rock of Jesus Christ. He alone is our glory! Finally….
II. The Gospel of Christ continually builds His Church. The Bible now says, “they shall build the old wastes….the former desolations.” “They” here are the believers of the New Testament, who by preaching and teaching build the Church, Christ being the cornerstone. In verse five you see the words strangers and aliens. These are the Gentile masses who once were outside the Church, but by the power of the Gospel came into the Church by faith believing with much joy. In verse 5 Isaiah says, “strangers shall stand and feed your flocks” and the “sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.” This means the Gentiles would become the priests and ministers who would serve the Jews God’s Word by preaching. In the New Testament it is mostly Gentiles who become preachers and teachers of the gospel, and we of the New Testament know that every Christian is a priest.
Finally “Ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.” This does not mean the Jews of today will be given physical wealth from Gentiles, nor are the Jews today still somehow God’s chosen people as Reformed churches often teach. But we “eat the riches of the Gentiles” when we in the Christian Church simply become servants of one another, ministers of one another by faith. Regardless of our name, Jew or Gentile, Black or White, Asian, African, American, we are all redeemed by the same blood, so we give our riches to one another, by the good works we do loving Jesus who loved us first. To put it into perspective, on any given Sunday, if we light the candles, change the flowers, change the altar clothes, clean the kitchen, serve the hotdogs, wipe down the tables, assemble to meet and make decisions, namely whatever we do in love and service for one another, we really are enjoying the riches of one another, the riches of grace which moves within each believer to perform such good works. Indeed it is written, “Ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.” Jesus Christ is our boast. Jesus Christ is our glory. Amen.
Finally “Ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.” This does not mean the Jews of today will be given physical wealth from Gentiles, nor are the Jews today still somehow God’s chosen people as Reformed churches often teach. But we “eat the riches of the Gentiles” when we in the Christian Church simply become servants of one another, ministers of one another by faith. Regardless of our name, Jew or Gentile, Black or White, Asian, African, American, we are all redeemed by the same blood, so we give our riches to one another, by the good works we do loving Jesus who loved us first. To put it into perspective, on any given Sunday, if we light the candles, change the flowers, change the altar clothes, clean the kitchen, serve the hotdogs, wipe down the tables, assemble to meet and make decisions, namely whatever we do in love and service for one another, we really are enjoying the riches of one another, the riches of grace which moves within each believer to perform such good works. Indeed it is written, “Ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.” Jesus Christ is our boast. Jesus Christ is our glory. Amen.
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