Isaiah’s Passion – part 1
Isaiah 61:1-62:12 (61:1)
October 20, 2024
Tonight we come to a wonderful section of Scripture
In this wonderful book of Isaiah.
We get a couple of chapters where we move inward
To the heart of the prophet who is preaching it.
Chapters 61 and 62 give us a look at the heart and passion of Isaiah.
This is the man who has seen all that God has revealed.
• He has seen God’s salvation.
• He has received God’s salvation.
• He has been commissioned to preach God’s salvation.
And here we get a look at his heart in all of this.
And one of the things that makes this extremely interesting to us,
Is because not only do we see here the heart of Isaiah,
BUT WE ACTUALLY SEE HERE THE HEART OF CHRIST.
Jesus quoted the beginning of this passage
When He went to His hometown of Nazareth.
Luke 4:16-21 “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
What we are looking at in Isaiah is not just the passion of Isaiah,
It is the passion of Christ.
And why wouldn’t it be,
For they were both anointed with THE SAME SPIRIT who is from God.
This is why we have also repeatedly said
That in this final segment of Isaiah; Chapters 50-66,
It is not just Isaiah preaching to Israel, it is Christ preaching to Israel.
So we get a wonderful look and a wonderful reminder
Of the missionary heart of God.
And we get a reminder of the effect of God’s Spirit upon His people
And what sort of passions He produces in their lives.
I suppose the best way to get started would be to say it like this.
Christ will save His people Israel.
• The means through which He will save them is His own sacrifice.
• The method through which He will save them is the preaching of the gospel.
• The motivation for preaching the gospel comes from His Spirit.
With that, let’s begin looking at this wonderful section of Scripture
Which quite frankly should make missionaries out of us all.
We cover two chapters here.
Chapter 61 shows us: THE PROPHET’S COMMISSION
Chapter 62 shows us: THE PROPHET’S COMMITMENT
Both are important.
#1 THE PROPHET’S COMMISSION
Isaiah 61:1-11
There are a couple of general observations that must be noticed
Before we get into the specifics of the message here.
ONE is that clearly the commission of the prophet is A PREACHING COMMISSION.
• We see in verse 1 he is commissioned “To bring good news to the afflicted”
• We also see in verse 1 that he is commissioned “To proclaim liberty to captives”
• We see in verse 2 he is commissioned “To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD”
The commissioning here is a preaching commission.
And hopefully everyone understands that aspect
Of the calling of Christ upon our lives.
Romans 10:13-15 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”
Paul himself was gripped by that understanding.
Romans 1:13-15 “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”
And again:
Romans 15:20-21 “And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; but as it is written, “THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.”
We could really spend a great deal of time here
Just reading and commenting on all the verses in the New Testament
Where Paul either spoke of his own preaching
Or where he encouraged someone else to do it too.
We just make sure we all understand that
The universal expectation for all believers
Is that we proclaim the gospel to the world.
We are NOT here talking about the specific role of pastor or even the set-apart role of missionary as those who are vocational ministry.
What we are talking about here is the expectation that
ALL BELIEVERS ARE TO BE PROCLAIMERS OF THE GOSPEL.
THIS IS THE METHOD that God has ordained as that which will bring salvation to the lost.
God is sovereign.
• We certainly believe in His sovereign election.
• We see that even with Israel; He has chosen them and He will one day save them.
BUT THE METHOD God will use to draw His elect to Himself
Is the preaching of the gospel.
God’s election is NOT A LOOPHOLE.
FOR EXAMPLE:
God has chosen to save Israel,
• But He will not save them apart from their faith in Christ.
Being elect does not mean that you don’t have to believe in Christ,
It simply means that God will one day bring that person to faith in Christ
Because He has chosen them.
God has chosen to save Israel,
• But He will not save them apart from them hearing the gospel proclaimed to
them.
Being elect does not mean that you don’t need to hear the gospel,
It simply means that God will make sure that they one day hear the gospel
And believe it so that they may be saved.
And this is the role of believers in the mighty plan of God’s salvation.
We aren’t sovereign – we don’t do the electing.
We aren’t sufficient – we don’t do the saving.
But we are sent – we do the proclaiming.
You see that clearly here
In Isaiah’s understanding of his commission from the LORD.
And certainly that makes sense, for we have all read Isaiah 6.
Isaiah 6:8-10 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”
So hopefully that part is clear to you.
• We are not just commissioned to be nice people; though kindness is important.
• We are not just commissioned for good works; though good works adorn our
gospel.
• We are not just commissioned to smile and be happy; though certainly
believers ought to be.
We are commissioned to take the good news of the gospel
And proclaim it to a lost and dying world,
For it is through the gospel that God will draw out His elect to Himself.
ISAIAH KNEW THAT.
• He knew that Israel was lost.
• He knew they were deaf, dumb, and blind.
• He knew they had rebelled against God.
• He knew that only a remnant was going to be saved.
But he also knew that the only way that was going to happen
Was if he went and proclaimed the gospel to them.
That is clear here in our understanding.
The SECOND thing that is clear here is that the catalyst that caused Isaiah to be a preacher of the gospel was God’s Spirit.
He said in verse 2, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me…”
And what an important understanding we get from this as well.
IF I WERE TO PUT IT BLUNTLY
We would just say that what makes someone a proclaimer of the gospel
Is very simply that they are filled with God’s Spirit.
When the Spirit of God moves in, the gospel starts being proclaimed.
And again we could spend a long time here.
Think about the apostles:
Luke 24:44-49 “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. “You are witnesses of these things. “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Up until this point
• We know them only as cowardly men who fled during times of difficulty.
• Even at the giving of this command they are hiding in the upper room out of fear of the Jews.
• Jesus knew that they had no power in and of themselves to take the message of the gospel to the Jews.
They needed the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
• It is the Holy Spirit who provides the power to proclaim the gospel.
• It is the Holy Spirit who provides even the desire to proclaim the gospel.
For one, this is who He is.
John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,”
Make no mistake, the Holy Spirit is a missionary.
Or we could read in John 16
Of what we have commonly called “The Fingerprints of the Holy Spirit”
• And we find that His main role and purpose it to convict of sin, to guide into
the truth, and to glorify Christ.
He is the catalyst who gives us the desire to proclaim the gospel
And He is the source of the power for us to do it.
Consider Paul here again.
Remember when Jesus blinded him on the Damascus road?
God then sent Ananias to him:
Acts 9:17-22 “So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.”
Where did Paul all of a sudden get this zeal to proclaim the gospel to everyone?
• He was “filled with the Holy Spirit”.
And though Paul doesn’t always mention it that way,
You see the effect of the Holy Spirit all throughout His ministry.
Romans 1:11-13 “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.”
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Where did that passion come from?
It was the effect of the Holy Spirit in his life.
I’m just telling you that when the Holy Spirit moves into your life
The first thing He will do is make you a missionary.
You see that throughout the Scriptures.
• He gives the desire.
• He gives the boldness.
That is why Spurgeon said:
“Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”
Now, I would NOT be so brass so as to say
That if you are not currently preaching the gospel
Then that means you do not have the Holy Spirit.
But I will say this.
If you are saved and you are not preaching the gospel
It is because you have fallen into a state of carnality and fleshliness
And you need to repent and ask God to use you once again.
We can look to Timothy as an example here.
Life was hard, Timothy was afraid, and he wanted to quit.
Paul wrote to him:
2 Timothy 1:6-11 “For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.”
Timothy had backslidden.
And let’s be honest, that happens to us sometimes.
Paul told him he needed “to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you”.
For it is the Spirit who would give Timothy
The boldness and eagerness to preach the gospel once more.
So it is possible for a true believer, who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit,
• To backslide and become fleshly
• And sort of start to put their light under a bucket,
• But that would be in opposition to the work of the Spirit in their lives.
The Holy Spirit is a missionary.
So those are just two observations we make pretty quickly
Here in Isaiah 61 that I think are important.
When the Spirit of God indwells a person
He makes them a proclaimer of the gospel.
Certainly that is what happened with Isaiah.
But with that being said, let’s take a little closer look
At this commissioning of Isaiah.
We understand that it was a commission to proclaim truth.
We’ll ask:
What was it that he was commissioned to proclaim?
Well there were two things:
1) THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION (1)
(1) “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;”
Here Isaiah reveals WHAT He was called to preach.
We remember in His commissioning in chapter 6
He was commissioned to, “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim”
That is to say that, he was told at the outset that his ministry would not be successful in the way we like to measure success.
• When he went out to preach he was not going to see the masses flock to him in salvation.
• He was not going to see scales fall off of eyes and people repenting of sin.
Isaiah’s ministry would be an exposing ministry.
He was going to preach and prove the hardness of their hearts,
The blindness of their eyes, and the deafness of their ears.
I don’t know a single preacher or witness today who does not experience that same ministry on some level today.
Everyone who proclaims the gospel in our culture knows what it is to explain the gospel and get no response from those you preach it to.
That was primarily Isaiah’s ministry.
That would be the effect of his ministry.
But it doesn’t tell us specifically what he would preach.
“So what did Isaiah preach?”
• Did he just go out and talk about people’s blindness?
• Did he just go out and talk about people’s deafness?
NO.
What did he do?
He preached the gospel.
LOOK AT IT HERE.
He said that God’s Spirit had “anointed” him.
“To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;”
That is to say, God sent him to the blind and deaf and stubborn
And told him to go and tell them how to be free.
Certainly when we approach those in sin
Part of preaching the gospel is showing them their sin.
• That is what the Law is for.
• If you don’t show them their sin they are never going to be prone to repent of it.
But calling out sin is not the end game of our preaching.
We call out sin because we have the answer for it.
We expose iniquity because we know how it is forgiven.
We expose sinfulness because we know where freedom is found.
Isaiah didn’t relish that these people were blind.
He went to blind men and offered them sight.
It was in their refusal to listen to his offer
That they revealed how debilitating their blindness had become.
But Isaiah didn’t enjoy them staying there.
• He was an optometrist for the spiritually blind.
• He was an ear doctor for the spiritually deaf.
• He was a cardiologist for the spiritually hard-hearted.
The grief he faced was that so few patients would listen to him.
When he went into his vile world he went “To bring good news to the afflicted;”
“afflicted” is AW-NAWV
It means “poor, humble, needy”
It is people who have been run over by the truck of life.
Certainly they were in that condition as a consequence of their sin,
But Isaiah had “good news” for them.
That good news was that there is mercy and forgiveness in the Lord.
Do you remember Isaiah’s first sermon?
He spoke to afflicted people.
Isaiah 1:5-9 “Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil. Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. Unless the LORD of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.”
That is what you call afflicted people.
• They had been beaten from the top of their head to the sole of their feet.
• They had been run over by their enemies.
In that same sermon Isaiah told them why they were in that condition.
Isaiah 1:4 “Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.”
• You are run over and afflicted
• The reason is that you have sinned against God and abandoned Him.
• Your iniquity has put you under a place of discipline.
He even revealed that their religion had done nothing to fix the problem.
Isaiah 1:11 “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.”
And:
Isaiah 1:14 “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.”
But is that how Isaiah ended the sermon?
He just showed up and said, “Boy you sure have angered God and now God is thumping you. Good luck!”
NO.
He offered “good news to the afflicted”
What was the “good news”?
Isaiah 1:18-20 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. “If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land; “But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword.” Truly, the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
That is what he preached.
• There is forgiveness.
• There is restoration.
• There is cleansing.
I have good news for sinners!
God is merciful and He will save.
That is what Isaiah preached.
We read that:
(1) “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted”
Isaiah spoke here of a “broken” or “crippled” or “wrecked” person.
The word speaks literally of broken bones.
That is what he said in chapter 1.
Isaiah 1:6 “From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil.”
That word “bandaged” there is the same word
Translated “bind up” here in chapter 61.
Isaiah looked at a people who had been beaten and broken and no one was caring for them.
• Sure it was their own fault.
• Sure it was God who had beaten them.
But it was also God who commissioned Isaiah
To go and offer them a sling.
And that was his message.
• I have come to offer you healing in your affliction.
• I have come to offer you peace in your suffering.
The God whom you have offended, who has afflicted you
Is offering you mercy and restoration.
He came “To proclaim liberty captives And freedom to prisoners;”
What kind of “liberty”?
What kind of “freedom”?
Something kind of interesting here.
We know that Jesus quoted this verse as He was the fulfillment of it.
Luke 4:18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,”
So when Jesus quoted it, He said:
“to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed”
Well I see two of those here in Isaiah’s statement,
But I don’t see Isaiah mentioning about “recovery of sight to the blind”.
Did Jesus just add that?
No, He gave the amplified version.
The phrase “freedom to prisoners” is one word in the Hebrew.
It is PI-KAKH-KO-AKH.
It is also translated as “opening eyes wide”
What Jesus did when He quoted Isaiah
Was give both understandings of the passage.
On one hand it meant to “set free those who are oppressed”
And it also meant “to proclaim…recovery of sight to the blind.”
The reference is to a person blinded in their sin.
• Their prison is not a literal one with iron bars.
• Their prison is sin; it is their blindness to the truth.
Isaiah was commissioned to a blind people
His calling was to go and proclaim to them the truth to open their eyes.
Isaiah went like an eye-doctor to the blind.
He went trying to cure blindness.
The unfortunate result was that these people were so stubborn
That they would not see even though Isaiah sought to help them.
But his ministry was one of light in darkness.
Listen to him preach:
Isaiah 2:5-11 “Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners. Their land has also been filled with silver and gold And there is no end to their treasures; Their land has also been filled with horses And there is no end to their chariots. Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made. So the common man has been humbled And the man of importance has been abased, But do not forgive them. Enter the rock and hide in the dust From the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty. The proud look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be humbled, And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.”
• Do you see him recounting all the trouble that their blindness has caused?
• Do you see him grieving over their rejection of the Lord and the affliction that came with it?
They are in prison!
And what is his message?
“Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.”
He is not rejoicing in their blindness, he is calling them to sight.
We heard him preach:
Isaiah 50:10 “Who is among you that fears the LORD, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.”
This is the call!
This is the gospel message!
Isaiah was filled with God’s Spirit
And it prompted him to go and take the gospel to his people.
He was commissioned to proclaim the gospel of salvation.
But there is more to grasp here.
TURN TO: LUKE 4:16-21
Obviously Jesus made the remarkable claim in verse 21,
“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
What did that mean?
It means, He is the salvation Isaiah was talking about.
• Isaiah could see God’s offer of forgiveness.
• Isaiah could see God’s offer of healing.
• Isaiah could see God’s offer of freedom.
• Isaiah could see God’s offer of restoration.
Jesus showed up and said – IT’S ME HE WAS TALKING ABOUT!
Jesus came to offer grace to the poor.
(18) “He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.”
• He is talking about people who have been run over by life and their sin.
• He is talking about the afflicted who should now be poor in spirit.
Jesus even uses the word PTOCHOS for “the poor”,
It is the most extreme kind of poor.
The Greek word literally means “to cringe”
It speaks of a beggar so hideous
He was forced to hide in the shadows out of fear.
It is the word used for the poor beggar Lazarus in Luke 16.
And Jesus came offering salvation to them.
Jesus came to offer forgiveness to captives.
“He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives”
• He was talking about people who had become slaves to sin.
• He was talking about people who had been held captive by the enemy to do his will.
Jesus came to offer them forgiveness.
The word “release” there is (OFFEE-CEASE)
It is usually translated “forgiveness”
These are people who are in prison because they sinned.
Jesus came to offer forgiveness and parole.
Jesus came to offer sight to the blind.
“and recovery of sight to the blind.”
This is to those who suffered the blindness Isaiah confronted.
• It was a spiritual blindness.
• They couldn’t see the truth.
Jesus came to open those eyes and proclaim His truth.
Jesus came to offer rest.
“to set free those who are oppressed.”
“oppressed” is a word that means
“to crush or to bruise or even to run through”
Matthew 9:36 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”
These were people who had been chewed up by the world
And even by their empty religion and Jesus came to offer them rest.
He came to offer salvation.
He came with the same Spirit Isaiah had
He came preaching the same message Isaiah preached.
The difference was that
Jesus was more than just a proclaimer of the gospel,
He was the reason for it; He is the fulfillment of it.
But it makes things certainly clearer for us now.
We understand where Isaiah is coming from.
We understand why he preached.
• He had the Holy Spirit upon him.
• He had the Spirit of Christ within him.
• He couldn’t help but proclaim the gospel of Christ because that is what the
Spirit does.
And while there is a lot more to talk about in these next two chapters…
Perhaps a good place to start tonight
Is to ask if you are allowing the Holy Spirit to do His work in you?
If you have been saved and the Holy Spirit has moved into your heart,
I can assure you His passion is to proclaim the gospel, that is who He is.
Is He doing that through you?
IF NOT,
• It is either because He does not actually dwell in you,
• Or it is because you have backslidden and sought to quench Him.
In which case you need to
kindle afresh the gift that was given you at salvation.
Allow Him to use you.
Allow Him to speak through you.
Go out into this world and offer the good news of the gospel
To those who need to hear it.
Some may listen, some may not, but that is not the point.
The point is that no one is going to be saved if they don’t hear it.
The gospel is the method through which God calls sinners to salvation.
And you see why Isaiah preached it.
