Presbyterian Church of Easton
Sermon Isaiah 61:1-11 “The Spirit is Upon Me”
December 13, 2020
We have arrived at the third Sunday of Advent and are continuing in our study of The Book of Isaiah. So far in Advent, we have heard two voices emerge from this most important book. We have heard the voice of a poet with the people of God in exile after the Babylonians destroyed their city early in the sixth century before Christ. And we have heard from the voice of a preacher accompanying the people of God as they returned to their destroyed city at the end of the sixth century. The common question that was being asked was, Is God still with us? And the answer that is given throughout the book is the Hebrew word “Immanuel” which means, “Yes God is with us.”
We have the same question as we approach Christmas, “Is God still with us?” And the answer still rings true from The Book of Isaiah, Yes! God is with us.
We will get to this, but first, let’s pray. Lord Immanuel, we await your coming at Christmas. Prepare our hearts to receive you. Open our minds and our hearts to believe in you that you are truly God with us. Amen.
When the preacher arrived in Jerusalem with the people of God after being freed from Babylonian captivity by a decree from the Persian King, Cyrus, he saw the ruins of his beloved city. All that remained was a pile of rocks and the people Babylon did not want: the poor, the sick, the homeless, the disabled, and the aged.
Who could blame them for wondering if returning to Jerusalem was worth all the trouble? At least in Babylon, the exiles had jobs, homes, and food on the table. In Jerusalem they have nothing.
The marginalized had heard the poet years before declaring God’s decree of comfort but as yet nothing had happened. Something dramatic was needed to convince the people that God had truly returned to Jerusalem and was with them. So the preacher stood on the ruins of the temple and spoke these words.
NRS Isaiah 61:1 The 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; 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to 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.
The preacher announced that he had been anointed by God; that means that he was the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ. This anointing gave him the authority to speak on behalf of God. The spirit was also upon him so that he could speak as a prophet giving God’s word to God’s people.
The preacher told them that he had brought good news from God, very good news. He was there to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. All of the people knew exactly what this meant. The law of Leviticus mandates that every fifty years a jubilee should be called as God’s way of ensuring justice for all people. Every fifty years all debts were forgiven and all people were permitted to return to their ancestral homes. So if you were a poor widow who was forced to sell your land for food, in the fiftieth year you got your land back. If you were disabled and had to mortgage your land to survive, at the jubilee your mortgage disappeared. So the preacher was telling everyone to return to their homes and rebuild because all of their debts were forgiven and their land was restored.
Restoring the land to the people was God’s offer. But God wanted something in return. Listen to the preacher as he tells the people what they are to do.
4 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.
So the people were told to rebuild their city. And God promised that if they were obedient they would be richly blessed. Listen to the blessings the preacher proclaimed.
5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines; 6 but you shall be called priests of the LORD, you shall be named ministers of our God; you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory. 7
God was promising great prosperity. Jerusalem’s position in international trade will be restored. Then the preacher explained to the people why God was blessing them. Hear what he said.
7 … Because their shame was double, and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot, therefore they shall possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs. 8 For 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. 9 Their 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.
So God will forgive all the evil they have done. All their guilt and shame will be lifted. God will do this to display his glory to the whole world. And God’s people will experience great joy.
How can people know that all of this is true? It seems too good to believe. So the preacher gave his testimony. He told them how he has already experienced God’s grace in his life. And he shared this with the people.
10 I 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. 11 For 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.
This was God’s promise. Let’s hear what happened. Eventually, Jerusalem was rebuilt but it was never fully restored to its former glory. The Persians, the Greeks, and later the Romans occupied and controlled it. The people prayed for the day when another preacher would come, be anointed by God, and proclaim another jubilee year. They waited for the day when the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill, the aged, the widows, and the orphans would return to their ancestral land as God had promised.
Then one day, in the first century, a young rabbi from Nazareth preached his first sermon. He chose for his text that morning Isaiah 61. He had been proclaiming good news to the marginalized people of Galilee. Listen to what happened.
Luke 4:16-21 16 When (Jesus) came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Like the preacher four hundred years before, Jesus was claiming to be the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus was claiming that the Spirit of God had come to him, giving him the authority of a prophet. And with that authority, Jesus had come to proclaim good news to the poor. This good news was a year of jubilee. The people had suffered enough for their sin. It was time to lift the guilt and shame from their shoulders. It was time for God’s blessings to pour down on his people.
That is God’s offer to us in the new covenant. God will bless us with forgiveness. Our guilt and shame will be lifted. All of God’s blessings will pour down on us. This is the gift God gives us at Christmas.
That is the promise God gives us. What is our side of the covenant? What are we supposed to do? We are not here to rebuild Jerusalem from rubble. But we are to build something. Our job is to build the Kingdom of God. And in God’s kingdom, we declare a jubilee. The guilt and shame that bows everyone down will be lifted. And we will experience great joy.
So let’s put 2020 behind us. Let us put the virus, violence in our cities, and a contentious election in the rearview mirror. Let us look ahead to the glorious blessing God will pour down on us as we focus not on ourselves but on our faithful savior, Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, we thank you for all the blessings that you have poured down upon us. We will respond by proclaiming to the world all that you have down for us. And we will proclaim the good news to the poor in our community. We will do this because it will allow your glory to shine everywhere on earth. We pray all of this in the name of our coming Lord, Jesus. Amen.
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