Sep 25 – Isaiah 60, Isaiah 61, Isaiah 62 Ephesians 4:1-16 Proverbs 23:19-28

Is 61:1-2

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;a

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 favour,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

Jesus would read for this passage – then sit down and declare that it was fulfilled in Him. The Lord anointed Him. But the Lord did it for a specific purpose – the anointing always carries a purpose.

1 – To proclaim good news to the poor. He came with a message of Hope – with Good News. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

 To proclaim liberty to the captives. This is part of the Good news. The gospel is a one of liberty.

Just like God brought a message of liberty to Israel when they were slaves in Egypt, and when they were captive in Babylon – now to all mankind He is bringing the same message.

To those who are slaves to sin – He has come to proclaim freedom and liberty!

3 – To bring sight to the blind. Both metaphorical and physical. To those who are blind to the things of God He came to reveal the truth of God to them.

But He also came to bring healing to many. Many a blind man received his sight.

4 – To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. He came to let the world know that the God whom they had offended was willing to be reconciled to them, and to accept of them upon new terms; that there is now a time of good will toward men.

It alludes to the year of release, or that of jubilee, which was an acceptable year to servants, who were then set at liberty; to debtors, against whom all actions then dropped..

Jesus was saying at this point – He knows who He is and why He is here. He is the Messiah – who has been Commissioned and Anointed and knows the mission.

The Holy Spirit was on Him – and on Him for a purpose.

When He sat down and said – On this day this prophecy is fulfilled – He meant it.

But this phrase can be taken broader today. Clearly when Isaiah wrote it He was talking about the coming Messiah.

But when Jesus came – He changed everything… In John 20 He said to His Disciples “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Here, they are given a commission. Jesus puts His mission upon them. And by extension of that – He puts it on all of us. As the father sent – commissioned me – so I send – commission you.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon us. Why? For exactly those same reasons.

Ehp 4:11-16

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds and teachers. Why do we have them? What’s the purpose?

So that the saints and the body if Christ may be equipped and build up. That’s their job. That’s their purpose. 

But it’s a two sided purpose. It’s not something they can do alone. They can teach, preach and witness until they are blue in the face but it needs to be received by the saints in order to be effective. 

We shouldn’t just be praying that God will give them a word but that we would be open to listen. After all it’s for our benefit. That’s why they work and study and seek God for a message – not just to fill time on a Sunday but so that the church can mature. 

When we are children I think he faith we are tossed to and fro by every strange doctrine and fad. We are easily deceived. That’s why it’s important to be in a church that treats the word if God seriously. 

We all have a part to play in the body, but unless we mature we cannot play that part effectively. When the truth is spoken in live and received by us, the body then every part and joint starts working effectively. Then the body becomes strong. Then we become a church that changes the world. 

Seek people who will teach you… but help them out by receiving and applying that teaching. Some weeks in church the best thing we can bring is our full attention. You’d be surprised how often we turn up without it…