This is a favorite passage of mine from Isaiah. Isaiah reflects on his calling from God to be a prophet of hope and challenge: hope to those who are pressed down by injustice and challenge for those who are comfortable with the way things are. We also see something of a dialogue: Isaiah thinks about his calling and God proclaims that the future will be hopeful as justice grows and flourishes. The setting for the passage is probably when the people of Judah returned from the Babylonian exile to find their cities destroyed. It offers a word of hope for us as we seek to build up our troubles city in the power of God's justice.
One more thing I love about this passage is from the New Testament. During Jesus' ministry we often read that he went into the synagogue on a Sabbath to teach, but we only once hear much about his teaching: Luke 4. Jesus is teaching in his hometown of Nazareth and the beginning of this passage is the one he reads. As the first thing we read about his ministry, it is something of a mission statement: preaching good news to the poor and oppressed and comforting those who mourn. Jesus tells the crowd, "Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." May we follow in his footsteps.
God bless,
Sam
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
1The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; 2to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory.
4They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
8For I the LORD love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the LORD has blessed.
10I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being 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 with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
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