Copyright © 2004 S P Townsend
The Purpose and Passion of the Messiah
2. The Messiah’s Manifesto
Reading: Isaiah 61
On these four Sunday evenings in the month of November we are considering the topic “The Purpose and Passion of the Messiah.” The word “passion” speaks of a heart set on fire. It speaks of an unswerving purpose. It speaks of dedication and determination. It speaks of deep commitment and enthusiasm. It speaks of unquenchable zeal. Isaiah speaks of the Messiah in this manner, “He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak” (Isa 59:17). What we are thinking about over these few weeks is this: what is it that God is so zealous about, so passionate about, and that His Messiah pursues with such total commitment and determination? What is the purpose and passion of the Messiah?
Why should we do this? There is nothing more important for us to do than to seek the heart of God, to learn to understand the passion that beats within His heart, and then to allow that passion to consume our hearts, minds and lives.
Last Sunday we considered “The Messiah’s Mission”. Tonight and the following two Sundays we will look at these three topics:
A manifesto is a public declaration of policy and aims. The Messiah has his own manifesto, which he declared publicly. When He was about 30 years of age Jesus of Nazareth shut up his carpenter’s workshop, was baptised by John in the river Jordan, and some weeks later commenced his public ministry. On a certain Sabbath day he went to the synagogue and read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah the words we have read together this evening.
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour..." (Luke 4:18,19 NIV)
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. Luke says that “the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him”. Well, it’s not surprising that they were looking at him. He had stopped reading in mid-paragraph, in mid-sentence even. The passage in Isaiah continues:
“to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 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 splendour.” (Isa 61:2,3 NIV)
Why did he stop where he did? He stopped reading between proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favour and proclaiming the day of vengeance of our God. There were two things he was going to do: bring God’s favour and bring God’s vengeance. He announced the first of these, and then said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lu 4:21).
The Messiah will carry out his mission in two distinct time periods, the first of which is described as the “year of God’s favour”, a time during which God’s mercy and grace would be extended. It started nearly two thousand years ago, and it is still happening. For how long it will continue we do not know, but one thing is certain. One day the Christ will come a second time, and when he does he will bring the year of favour to an end, and announce the second time period – the day of vengeance of our God.
The year of favour is literally interpreted “acceptable year”, signifying a period during which God will accept those who come to Him in penitence and faith. Jesus himself used the same word as he spoke to the congregation in the synagogue at Nazareth. “No prophet is acceptable in his own country” (Lu 4:24). This is a time when God is willing to accept us, to receive and welcome us. It is a time of grace, even as John said, “grace and truth came through Jesus the Christ” (Jn 1:17).
This is a time when God calls people to turn back from their own ways and come to Him. “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isa 55:7 NIV). However, God’s offer of forgiveness is not without cost. Jesus himself knew, as he explained to his disciples many times (Jn 10:11), that he had come not just to proclaim God’s grace but to lay down his own life in order to make that offer of grace possible. “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa 53:4-6 NIV).
Now here is strange thing. The year of the Lord’s favour is a time when God is willing to accept us, but is not necessarily a time when we are willing to accept Him. So when Jesus announced the “acceptable year” He also warned his hearers that he would not be “acceptable” to them. Indeed He was right; that very congregation, by the end of his sermon, seriously attempted to lynch him – to kill the very Annointed One who had come to offer them God’s grace and favour. So this very Year of Favour actually has become a time of judgement on those to whom He came to proclaim it. Nearly three years later Jesus said,
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'” (Matt 23:37-39 NIV).
Desolation was coming swiftly on the house of Israel. Many years before the prophet Jeremiah had foretold this, when he said,
“‘In their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,’ declares the Lord. Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people? … I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them.’” (Jer 9:6-16 NIV).
Note that Jeremiah speaks of a scattering among nations that they nor their fathers knew. He was not speaking here of the 70-year exile in Babylon. That exile had indeed been a warning, a foretaste of what would come if they did not truly commit themselves to knowing and following the ways of the Lord. But they were not scattered at that time to nations they did not know. That came later, nearly forty years after Jesus spoke these fateful words, Jerusalem was laid waste and the people of Israel were scattered. To this very day they live as exiles among nations their forefathers knew nothing about – the USA, Canada, Russia, the UK – indeed in almost every nation of the world, although in our generation they have begun to return to the land from which they were scattered so long ago.
So the Year of Favour is also, paradoxically, the time of Israel’s greatest suffering, the time known as “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30:7). That is not to say that individual descendants of Israel cannot know the favour of the Lord, turn to Him and receive His mercy and grace. Indeed they can and will, even as Jesus’ disciples of old left all to follow him, and many through the years have done likewise. These are what the scriptures call “the remnant” (Rom 11:5). But the nation as a whole is scattered, and the people as a group suffer rejection and oppression, and the name of Israel continues to this day to be vilified amongst the nations.
In what sense, then, can we speak of this time as being one of great favour and blessing? The answer is given by Jesus in his sermon in the synagogue at Nazareth. This is a time when God will extend His favour to the Gentiles, those who were not by natural birth recipients of the blessing of Abraham. He gave two examples to illustrate his point. In Elijah’s time, when Israel suffered a great famine, Elijah was sent to a widow in Sidon to bring a miraculous provision of food, not to anyone in Israel. In Elisha’s time, when many in Israel suffered from leprosy, it was Naaman, a Syrian, who received healing, not anyone in Israel.
This should not have been a surprise to those listening to Jesus. God had made it clear through His word to Isaiah. Speaking of the Messiah he said, “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” (Isa 42:6,7 NIV). And in another place, “It is too small a thing for you to be My Servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Isa 49:6 NIV).
There is a mystery here. God has used the rejection of the Anointed One by his own people, the Israelites, as an opportunity to extend His mercy and grace to those of other races who are willing to respond to Him in faith and obedience. Through faith in Christ Jesus the blessing given to Abraham is also inherited by those who are not Abraham’s physical descendants (Gal 3:14).
God is calling a people to himself, a people in whom and through whom He can reveal His glory. He started with Abraham, and continued with Isaac, Israel and his descendants. He is now adding people from every nation and language to that company.
God is in the business of transforming people. He delights to take that which is weak, broken, dirty and useless, and to transform it into something special, cleansed, beautiful and useful for His purpose.
“The Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Isa 61:1 NIV)
He will bestow the riches of heaven upon those who are nothing and have nothing. This is not referring to things which men count as riches. He is quite able to produce money from a fish’s mouth if needed. He is not referring primarily to the problem of poverty in the world, although He will in His time deal with that.” But he is referring to those things that God counts as riches. So Jesus said,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt 6:19-21 NIV)
The world’s riches last at most for a lifetime. God’s riches last for eternity.
“He has sent me to bind-up the broken-hearted” (Isa 61:1 NIV)
There are many ways our hearts can be broken. It can be because of rejection. It can be because of unfaithfulness. It can be because of tragedy. It can be when we suffer because of evil, whether from outside us or from within us. He has come to transform broken hearts into hearts full of joy and praise. He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows (Isa 53:4) and in their place he has bestowed on us the oil of joy and the garment of praise (Isa 61:3).
“He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captives” (Isa 61:1 NIV)
This is not primarily speaking of those who are imprisoned unjustly, although when He reigns all such injustice will be no more. Rather it is speaking of those in captivity to sin and in bondage to the evil one. Sin binds us; Jesus came to set us free. Jesus said,
“I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. … So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:34,36 NIV).
“He has sent me to proclaim release from darkness for the blind” (Isa 61:1 Septuagint)
Jesus demonstrated this in His earthly ministry as he healed those who were physically blind. But his primary purpose is to cure spiritual blindness. Jesus said,
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12 NIV).
The second time period that Isaiah spoke of in Isaiah 61, the part of the passage that Jesus did not read in the synagogue in Nazareth, was the “Day of Vengeance of our God”. Note that this is a “day”, not a “year”, and this would seem to imply that God’s wrath will be executed swiftly. As with the “Year of Favour” the scriptures speak of two distinct aspects of this day: it will bring retribution on all who oppose God, and it will bring salvation to God’s oppressed people. Jeremiah prophecied about this:
“‘But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil. But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the Lord, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.'” (Jer 30:16,17 NIV).
God has promised time and again in the scriptures that his people, the people of Israel, would suffer for their sin and rebellion, but that in God’s time the Messiah would come to bring them deliverance.
“The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your Saviour comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.' They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.” (Isa 62:11,12).
The wonderful thing is, however, that although these many and rich promises relate specifically to the fulfilment of God’s promise of blessing to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their physical descendants, these promises are inherited also by those who are adopted into God’s family through faith in Christ Jesus.
“He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit” (Gal 3:14 NIV).
In his manifesto the Messiah speaks of four things in particular that he would accomplish for His people.
“To 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” (Isa 61:3 NIV).
“They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations” (Isa 61:4 NIV).
“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” Isa (61:7 NIV).
“No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, [Hephzibah means ‘my delight is in her’] and your land Beulah [Beulah means ‘married’]; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married” (Isa 62:4 NIV).
The second aspect of the Day of Vengeance is that of just retribution on all who oppose God. One of the ways in which the Messiah deals with Satan and his works is to bring judgement on all evil.
If it was not dealt with on the cross then it will be dealt with in the winepress of the fury of His wrath.
This time of judgement that Isaiah speaks of in Isaiah 61 is not primarily that of the last judgement described in Revelation 20:11-15, when all the dead are judged according to their deeds, although of course it can be understood to include this event. What Isaiah describes here is a judgement of the nations, all who oppose God’s purposes.
As we saw last week, Satan is bent on deceiving the world and leading it astray (Rev 12:9). He deceives the nations, and leads them to oppose God’s purposes. He particularly has the people of God in his sights: all who follow Jesus and the people of Israel from whom the Messiah came. In the Day of Vengeance God visits His wrath on all the nations that oppose His purposes and attack His people.
“He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. From the west, men will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along.” (Isa 59:17-19 NIV)
Have you fully received all that God wants to do in your life through Jesus, His Messiah? He wants to take away all that afflicts you or binds you or keeps you from loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. He wants to remove all guilt. He wants you to hear his voice and follow his leading. He wants to transform you into His likeness. Are you willing to allow him to do this tonight?
Is your passion the passion that fills his heart? Is your deep heart’s yearning and prayer that which He himself calls us to:
“I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, (7)and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth” (Isa 42:6,7 NIV)
Copyright © 2004 S P Townsend