The Messiah and the Church He will build

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 19

Isaiah 61:1-11

It was a Saturday, relatively early in Jesus’ ministry. He was back in His hometown of Nazareth, and, as He usually did, He went to the synagogue. And this time He stood up to read, and they gave Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. Whether or not He asked for that book we don’t know, but He did intentionally open that book to the words you heard this evening from Isaiah 61 and read, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Then He closed the book and began the most important sermon the people of Nazareth had ever heard, saying: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” At first the people were impressed, but as Jesus’ words sank in and they realized what He was claiming, they turned against Him and tried to kill Him. They turned against Him, not only because He was claiming to be the promised Messiah, but because He revealed to them the awful truth that most of Israel was not going to have a part in God’s kingdom. No, Isaiah’s prophecy was to be understood, not about the nation of Israel, but about the new Church of the New Testament era. His prophecy in this chapter covers the whole New Testament, starting with Jesus’ ministry and culminating in the new and perfect life that awaits us on the other side of Judgment Day. And only those who believe the good tidings of the Messiah will be included in the kingdom of God.

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me.” Jesus says in another place that the Father had given Him the Spirit without measure, had given Him the fullness of the Holy Spirit to dwell in Him as a Man. That’s all demonstrated for us in Jesus’ Baptism where the Spirit rested upon Jesus and the Father spoke from heaven, This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Because the LORD has anointed Me. And there’s that word “anointed,” which is where the word “Messiah” and “Christ” come from. By saying that these words were fulfilled in their hearing, Jesus was claiming as directly as anywhere in Scripture, “I am the Messiah. I am the Christ.” Not that He was literally anointed with the Old Testament anointing oil, as the prophets, priests, and kings were. He wasn’t. But He was “anointed” in a spiritual way, sent directly by God the Father to carry out His saving purpose for mankind, to speak the words of God, to act on God’s behalf, to offer Himself up as the sacrifice of atonement for mankind’s sins, to gather a Church to Himself, and to reign over God’s people forever. All of that was included in the Messiah’s mission.

To preach good tidings to the poor. “The poor” in this prophecy are those who recognize their spiritual poverty, their inability to reach God by offering Him their own righteousness. And the good tidings are not the good tidings of wealth or economic improvement, but the good news of another way to reach God, a free way, a way that actually works, the way of being justified through faith in the Anointed One.

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted. For all the physical healings Jesus performed during His ministry, it was the healing of the sad and broken hearts that was His primary task. Hearts that had been broken by their own sins, by the sins of others, by the terrible consequences of sin in this life, and, ultimately, by the reality of death, receive healing from Jesus, comfort in the fact that He came to conquer sin and death and to give eternal life to all who believe.

To proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Again, Jesus never broke anyone out of a physical prison. This was the proclamation of liberty and freedom to those who had been bound by sin and by the power of the devil.

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. That was Jesus’ mission, to proclaim that now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation. As we talked about on Sunday, the terms of God’s pardon, of God’s acceptance, are finally within reach. The Messiah Himself will pay the atonement price with His own blood, and the only remaining “term” of the pardon is to seek it from the Anointed One whom the Father had sent. And when Jesus makes that promise, the Holy Spirit is there, working to persuade sinners to believe it and to receive it.

And the day of vengeance of our God. This isn’t vengeance upon all men. It’s His vengeance on all the enemies of God’s people, and on all who continue to remain enemies of God, refusing the pardon that Jesus offers.

To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty in place of ashes, The oil of joy in place of mourning, The garment of praise in place of the spirit of heaviness. Again, the comfort is for those who mourn, not for those who boast. The beauty is for those who were sitting in the ashes of repentance. The oil of joy is for those who had been crying tears of sorrow over sin. The garment of praise is for those whose spirit had formerly been heavy with depression and despair.

That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” Christ came to make His people flourish and thrive, like trees, to give them life in the kingdom of His Father. That life is planted there by the Lord God Himself, so the glory and the praise for it belong to God alone. As the Psalm says, Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name be glory and praise.

And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. Now, if these words began to be fulfilled in the hearing of those in Nazareth, then this prophecy isn’t about rebuilding Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. It isn’t about rebuilding Jerusalem or the land of Israel at all. It’s about the New Testament Church, which is from the remnants of Old Testament Israel, from Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus, the Anointed One.

Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. Again, it’s Gentiles coming into the Church of Israel and expanding it throughout this New Testament period.

But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, They shall call you the servants of our God. This is exactly what Peter wrote to the New Testament Christians, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

“Their land” has now become the heavenly territories, the mansions that Jesus is even now preparing for His Church, as the Church of Christ finally overcomes all her enemies and receives the heavenly reward, while the enemies of God, who were rich and powerful in this life, are left with nothing.

“For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, And will make with them an everlasting covenant. Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, And their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, That they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed.”

On this earth it was the unbelieving Gentiles who were famous, “men of renown,” as it says in Genesis 6. The true people of God have no power in the world. We’re small. We’re unknown, in many cases. We’re insignificant. And we have to be content with that in this life. But that will all change after Judgment Day, when the people of God finally enter into their glory.

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful 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 with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its bud, As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

While the Church is pictured here basking in the glory of everlasting life, we don’t have to wait till then to rejoice in the Lord and to be joyful in our God. Because already in Holy Baptism He has clothed us with the garments of salvation and with the robe of Christ’s righteousness. Already now we bear the name of the Triune God and have been made heirs of the heavenly lands. The people of Nazareth scoffed at Jesus when He offered them all this, but you have humbled yourselves before God. You have believed in His proclamation of pardon and peace and comfort. And so you belong to the Anointed One. Remember that, and rejoice in it, no matter how bad things get this side of Judgment Day. Because on the other side, you know what glory awaits. Amen.