The Year of the LORD’s FavorMy Understanding: This passage of scripture is a prophecy concerning our Messiah and Lord, Jesus Christ, yet much, if not all of it can be applied to us, as well, since we, as his followers, have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us, and living out, through our lives, the working and ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus quoted this passage of scripture, in part, during his earthly ministry, letting the people of his time know that this was written about him and about his ministry when he was on the earth, and concerning his continued ministry through the lives of his followers, i.e. through the lives of true believers in Jesus Christ, because of what Jesus Christ did for us in dying for our sins and in giving us salvation.
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach 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 gladness
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.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.
7 Instead of their shame
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.
8 “For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and iniquity.
In my faithfulness I will reward them
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed.”
10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord now dwells within the hearts and lives of those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior via repentance and obedience, by God’s grace and his grace alone, as we cooperate with him in his saving grace in our hearts and lives. As followers of Christ, we have thus been anointed and called to be his witnesses and servants and to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. We are also to make disciples (followers of, believers in, devotees to, and students and obedient servants of Jesus Christ) of all nations… teaching them to observe all that Jesus Christ commands.
As well, we are each called to be a working member and part of the Body of Christ, i.e. the body of believers in Jesus Christ, and each of us is given spiritual gifts to be used within the Body of Christ (the church) to edify (inform; educate; instruct; teach; improve through understanding), to encourage, to build up in the faith and to stimulate others toward good works. We are also called to a ministry of comfort, hope, healing and restoration. We are to care about those who are hurting physically and emotionally, and we should offer them words and expressions of kindness and love that give them hope and true healing and restoration. We are also to care deeply about those who are still bound by sin’s deceitfulness and should share with them that Jesus died to set them free and that they don’t have to be defeated by Satan and sin any longer. This is true hope!
We are to be preachers of the “good news” of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The “good news” is that Jesus Christ, God the Son, came to the earth, took on human flesh, and suffered as we suffer so that he could become our faithful and compassionate High Priest. He was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin. He was mocked, ridiculed, despised and rejected of men, was forsaken, betrayed and denied by his closest friends and companions, was spit upon, scourged, beaten, and then was hung on a tree to die as a common criminal, although he had done no wrong. When he died, he took upon himself the sins of the entire world, which was the worst suffering of all, since he was and is our holy and perfect God and our creator who loved us so much that he was willing to die for us so that we could go free. He died that we might be set free from the control of and bondage to sin and the ultimate penalty of sin (eternal separation from God and eternal punishment in hell).
When he died, our sins died with him, they were buried with him, and then rose from the dead and from the grave victoriously, triumphing over Satan, hell, death and sin so that we no longer have to live according to our sinful natures but we can be free to love, serve, obey, and live for the Lord Jesus Christ and be slaves to him and to righteousness instead of being slaves of sin and depravity. We receive his grace and salvation provided for us through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection by faith via repentance and obedience, i.e. by turning from our lives of sin and turning to walk in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, now desiring him above all else and desiring to obey and to serve him rather than to serve ourselves and to obey our fleshly appetites. Jesus Christ did not go through all that he went through just so we could continue to live according to our sinful natures, but rather he died to set us free from that bondage, which is why it is called “good news!”
When those who are outside of Christ turn to faith in Jesus Christ and/or when those who have faith in Jesus but have strayed from him come back to him in repentance and obedience, the comfort and provision for the poor in spirit (the humble and contrite) and for those who grieve and mourn over their sin (the repentant) is that they now receive a crown of righteousness and the oil of gladness in being set free from sin’s yoke of slavery and a garment of praise to our Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation and for setting them free. They will be called “oaks of righteousness,” i.e. they represent those who have been cleansed and have been set free from bondage to and the penalty (eternal punishment) of sin.
When those who had once made a confession of Christ as Lord and Savior but who have strayed from him and from his commands return to him in repentance and obedience, the Lord restores them to a right relationship with him and he rebuilds in their hearts and lives what was once in ruins due to sin’s deceitfulness. He brings healing, comfort, encouragement, hope, forgiveness and restoration and he makes us new again. This is wonderful news!! I have known this grace in restoration. We serve an awesome God!! As his followers, we are to be a part of this ministry of forgiveness, healing and restoration to those who have gone astray and to those who have returned by helping to lead those trapped by sin’s deceitfulness out of their bondage and by restoring them and helping to lead them back into a right relationship with Jesus Christ. As priests and as ministers of our God, we are to care about others, intercede for them in prayer, and follow the Lord in obedience in ministering to their needs, as the Lord Jesus leads and directs us to do.
God’s word gives us what we need to instruct us in the way we should go and in how to lead others in that way, too, so we must be in his word daily, in fellowship with him via obedience to his commands and via time spent at his feet listening to him and then doing what he teaches us. His word teaches us all that we need for godly living and for growing in our faith and walk with the Lord each day, and for learning how to love others with Christ’s love. May we all sit at his feet daily, learning from him, obeying what he teaches us, applying his words to our daily lives, forsaking sin and rejecting following after our own fleshly appetites. May we, instead, be followers of Jesus Christ in all that we are, do and say, so that we may be his faithful ministers, servants and priests of the Lord in ministering God’s truths, his love and his grace to the people of this world and to the church.
Teach Me, Lord / An Original Work / June 12, 2011
Teach me, Lord, to walk in Your ways,
And observe all You command.
May I ever hasten to You,
And desire to not offend.
Teach me how to follow Your steps,
Gently guiding me each day.
May I love and serve You always,
Loving others, this I pray.
Teach me, Lord, to listen to You
Speaking Your words to my heart.
May I never stray from Your truth,
And from Your law ne’er depart.
Teach me how to instruct others
In the way that we should go,
Leading them by my life witness,
So that Jesus they should know.
Teach me, Lord, to be a light in
This dark world of grief and sin.
May I always care for others;
Share their burdens; help to mend.
Teach me how to share with them that
Jesus came to set them free,
So that they could be forgiven;
Live with Christ eternally.
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