Commentary - Isaiah 61:1-3

Bird's-eye view

Isaiah 61:1-3 is nothing less than the Messiah's personal mission statement. This is the job description of the Christ, the Anointed One, spoken through the prophet centuries before His advent. When the Lord Jesus stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth, as recorded in Luke 4, this is the passage He unrolled and read. After reading the first part, He sat down and declared, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." This is therefore a foundational text for understanding the entire purpose of Christ's incarnation. He came as the anointed King to inaugurate a new era, the great Jubilee, an age of liberation and divine favor. But this favor for His people is inextricably linked to vengeance upon His enemies. The passage culminates in a description of the glorious transformation that the gospel accomplishes in the lives of God's people, all for the purpose of displaying God's own glory.

The movement is from the commission of the Messiah to the results of that commission in the lives of His people. He is anointed to preach, to heal, to liberate, and to proclaim. The result is that those who were afflicted and mourning are transformed into strong, righteous, praiseworthy fixtures in God's kingdom, like mighty oaks in a forest planted by God Himself. This is the gospel in miniature: God's appointed Savior accomplishes a great reversal, turning sorrow into joy and weakness into strength, for the praise of His own glorious grace.

Outline

Context In Isaiah

This passage sits in the third major section of Isaiah (chapters 56-66), which deals with the glorious future of Zion after the exile. While the immediate context may have offered some comfort to the returning exiles from Babylon, the language here soars far beyond any simple restoration of Jerusalem. The speaker is clearly a divine figure, the same suffering Servant from earlier in Isaiah (e.g., chapters 42, 49, 50, 53). The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that this figure is Jesus the Messiah. His quotation of this very text in Luke 4 is the definitive interpretation. He is the one upon whom the Spirit rests, and He is the one who brings this cosmic Jubilee.

Key Issues

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 1 The Spirit of Lord Yahweh is upon me Because Yahweh has anointed me

The declaration begins with the source of all authority and power, the Spirit of God. This is not some impersonal force, but the third person of the Trinity. The speaker is possessed by, filled with, and commissioned by the Spirit. This is Trinitarian language from the outset. The Father sends the Son, and the Spirit anoints and empowers Him for the task. The word for "anointed" is mashach, from which we get the word Messiah. In Greek, this is Christos. So this is the Messiah declaring His identity and mission: "I am the Christ, the Anointed One, and the Spirit is upon me." This anointing sets Him apart for the threefold office of prophet, priest, and king.

To bring good news to the afflicted;

And what is the first order of business for the Anointed One? It is to preach the gospel, the euangelion, the good news. And to whom is this news good? It is good for the afflicted, the poor, the meek. This is not primarily about economic status, though it includes that. It is about spiritual posture. The gospel is good news for those who know they are spiritually bankrupt, for those who have nothing to offer, for those who are humbled. To the proud, the self-sufficient, and the self-righteous, the gospel is an offense. But to the one who knows his own poverty of spirit, it is the best news imaginable.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

The Messiah's work is not just proclamation; it is restoration. Sin does not just make us guilty; it shatters us. It breaks our hearts. The Messiah comes as the great physician to bind up these wounds. This is a tender, personal ministry. He mends what is broken. This is the healing that comes through forgiveness and reconciliation with God. He takes the fragmented pieces of our lives, broken by sin and grief, and makes them whole.

To proclaim release to captives And freedom to prisoners,

This is the language of Jubilee (Leviticus 25). The ultimate captivity is not to a foreign empire, but to sin, death, and the devil. We are all born prisoners, slaves to our own sinful natures. The Messiah comes as the great liberator, proclaiming a release that He Himself has purchased. This is not parole; it is a full pardon and a declaration of freedom. He kicks open the prison doors and leads the captives out into the light. This is the freedom from the condemnation of the law and the power of sin.

v. 2 To proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh

This phrase continues the Jubilee theme. The "favorable year" is the year of the Lord's acceptance, the era of His grace. With the coming of Christ, the great Jubilee has dawned. This is the acceptable time, the day of salvation. The kingdom of God has drawn near, and the terms are grace, grace, and more grace, all received by faith. Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection inaugurated this era, and we are living in it now.

And the day of vengeance of our God,

Here is the other edge of the sword. It is significant that when Jesus read this in Nazareth, He stopped before this phrase. His first coming was primarily to proclaim the favorable year, but His mission absolutely includes the execution of divine vengeance. The two cannot be separated. God's grace to His people requires His just wrath against sin and rebellion. The gospel is a declaration of peace to those who repent, and a declaration of war on those who will not have this man rule over them. This vengeance was poured out on Christ at the cross for all who believe, and it will be poured out on the ungodly at the final judgment. It is also worked out in history, as when God brought His vengeance on apostate Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

To comfort all who mourn,

The comfort of God is not a sentimental feeling. It is a robust, objective reality rooted in the work of Christ. Who are the mourners? They are those who mourn for their sin. They are those who grieve over the brokenness of the world. They are the ones Jesus speaks of in the Beatitudes: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." The comfort is the good news itself, the fact that God has acted in Christ to deal with the very things that cause our mourning.

v. 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a headdress instead of ashes,

Now begins a series of glorious exchanges. This is what the gospel does. It does not just improve us; it transforms us by replacing one thing with its polar opposite. Zion refers to the people of God, the church. Those who mourn in repentance, signified by putting on sackcloth and ashes, are given a "headdress," a turban of celebration, the kind worn at a wedding or a feast. God takes our deepest sign of grief and replaces it with a crown of festive joy.

The oil of rejoicing instead of mourning,

The second exchange. Instead of the sorrow and gloom of mourning, God gives the oil of rejoicing. Anointing with oil was a sign of gladness, health, and festivity. The Holy Spirit, the oil of God, fills the believer not with gloom, but with a deep and abiding joy that transcends circumstances. This is the joy of salvation.

The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.

The third exchange. A "spirit of fainting" is a spirit of despair, of heaviness, of giving up. The gospel takes this oppressive weight from our shoulders and clothes us instead with a "mantle of praise." Praise becomes our garment, our identity. We are wrapped in it. Our response to this great salvation is not to be a grim, dutiful slog, but rather a life of exuberant, vocal praise to the God who has done all this for us.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

Here is the result of these exchanges. The afflicted, broken, captive mourners are now called something new. They are "oaks of righteousness." An oak is a symbol of strength, stability, endurance, and deep-rootedness. This is not a righteousness of their own making, but one that is granted to them. They become strong and immovable, a testament to the God who transformed them.

The planting of Yahweh, that He may show forth His beautiful glory.

And how did they become these mighty oaks? They are "the planting of Yahweh." God Himself did the work. We are His workmanship, His garden. He planted us. And for what ultimate purpose? "That He may show forth His beautiful glory." This is the chief end of it all. Our salvation, our transformation from ashes to beauty, from mourning to joy, from weakness to strength, is all designed for one ultimate purpose: to put the magnificent glory of our triune God on display for all creation to see. We are saved for His glory.

Application

This passage is the heart of the gospel. It tells us who Jesus is and what He came to do. For the believer, this is the charter of our freedom and the foundation of our identity. We are the afflicted who have heard good news. We are the brokenhearted who have been bound up. We are the captives who have been set free.

Because of this, we must reject any gospel that downplays the great exchanges that Christ has accomplished. We are not simply turned over a new leaf; we are made into a new creation. The ashes of our old life are gone, replaced by the headdress of celebration. The spirit of fainting and despair has been replaced by a garment of praise. We are to live like the oaks of righteousness we have been made to be: strong, stable, and fruitful.

And finally, we must remember the ultimate purpose of our salvation. It is not, in the final analysis, about us. It is about God. We are His planting, intended to display His glory. Therefore, our lives, our worship, our work, and our families should all be oriented toward this one great end: showing forth the beautiful glory of the God who has done such great things for us.