A Year of God's Favor!

Yesterday I was reflecting on the opening lines of the Sermon on the Mount and I noticed a significant parallel that I wanted to explore this morning.  The parallel was to the verses in Isaiah 61, that speak of the coming of the Messiah.

To start - here are the verses from Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV:

[1] "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
 because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for 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] and provide for those who grieve in Zion--
-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."


And here are the verses from Matthew 5:3-10 NIV:

[3] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[4] Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
[5] Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
[6] Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
[7] Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
[8] Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
[9] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
[10] Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

The verses from Isaiah 61:1-2 are the same ones that Jesus read in the Synagogue when he announced the fulfillment (Luke 4: 16-20).  Clearly this prophecy was central to Jesus' ministry and to the Gospel.  We see here in Matthew (it is also covered in Luke 6) a solid connection to Jesus primary message.

Jesus clearly starts with a message of hope to the poor, the poor in spirit, or as we discovered yesterday the humble.  Isaiah says the Messiah will proclaim "Good news" to the poor.  It is interesting that the word Gospel means "good news"!  Can you think of any better news then you inheriting the kingdom of heaven and the earth (See verse 3  & 5 above)?  Again, Jesus is announcing the Good News, proclaiming what He has come to do, who He has come to save, who He is focused on!  The "Good News" is that it is the lowly, the humble, the seemingly unimportant, those whose primary trust is in God.  He has not forgotten those in need.  He has not turned a deaf ear to their cries for help!  Those are the very people he goes to first!

I was just reminded of the movie the Titanic, where the first people to be considered for saving were the rich and powerful, and they had basically kept the poor and lowly, those who were housed in the stowage area, from being able to get to the boats.  This is the exact opposite, Jesus goes first to the those that would be considered the working poor, those with no power or worldly authority!  The message is clear - God cares for each person, and especially has mercy on those who find themselves in this state.

Secondly, in Matthew, Jesus proclaims comfort to those who mourn.  The Greek word Matthew uses to describe comfort is Parakaleo, which is very similar to the Greek word used by John to describe the role of the Holy Spirit John 14:16,26.  The word John used is the Greek word parakletos' translated advocate in the NIV translation, it is defined as follows:

1) summoned, called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid
    a) one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate
    b) one who pleads another's cause with one, an intercessor
        1) of Christ in his exaltation at God's right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins
    c) in the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant

The definition of the word "parakaleo" is effectively the same. Jesus is basically promising the ministry of the Holy Spirit to those who mourn.  In the verses from Isaiah, this promise would encompass the brokenhearted, the captives, the prisoners and those who mourn.  He promises healing (binding up), release and freedom, and a year of favor.  This year of favor was well understood in the Law as being a time of forgiving debts, setting captives free, restoring of what was lost (See Leviticus 25:10-17).  That is a great message of hope and "Good News" to those who mourn and are lowly.

Finally we see Jesus address those who seek righteousness, who are hungry and thirsty to see this in their midst.  Isaiah sees the fulfillment of the ministry of the Messiah bringing about a people who will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord.  Jesus in his many parables talked about good soil, that bears good fruit, and hunger and thirst for righteousness provides good soil. Those that are pursuing God, desiring to see Him move, are willing to give, willing to change, willing to invest, willing to water with the Word - all of which are necessary for seeds planted to grow and mature.

In summary, we see Jesus proclaiming the Good News, the Gospel, to those who needed it most.  We see Jesus comforting, blessing and releasing new anointed blessings upon those people who need God's touch, and I know I am among such people.  The promises of God are true and will be fulfilled.  We can trust Him to release that which is promised by Jesus, and seen by Isaiah.  Jesus came with real help, real comfort, and real encouragement.  He brings the same to us today!  Let us receive from His promises, and let us proclaim the good news to those others around us that need to hear words of hope, words of life!  Let us proclaim and embrace a year of God's favor!

Amen!