The American Wisdom Series

Presents pamphlet 6461

The Book of Isaiah
Chapter 61

This is an "eyes to see" and "ears to hear" answer from Christ to his faithful servant John who is in prison hearing what Christ is doing among the people.

Matthew 11:4
Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
[5] The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Sure enough the first part of this verse pertains to those things of Isa. 35 but the "and the poor have the gospel preached to them" comes from another part of Isaiah which speaks of both the first and second advent.
Isaiah 61:1-2
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

[2] To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

Verse two speaks of both the first and second advents. In fact, in Luke chapter four we read where Christ went into the temple, was handed a scroll of Isaiah, and deliberately turned to the above verses in Isa. 61 and began reading. However, He stopped when He got to the second part of verse two which speaks of the day of vengeance, which is the second advent.

Here is the account in Luke:

Luke 4:18-19
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Remember Christ told the two disciples John sent to Him to go tell John that in addition to the healing of the blind and lame, etc., that "the poor have the gospel preached to them". This is of the first advent, not the second.
[19] To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
This as far as Christ read in Isaiah and then He closed the book and said "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears".

Isaiah 61:1  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
4  And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
5  And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6  But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
7  For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
8  For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9  And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.
10  I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
11  For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.


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