Isaiah 61:1-2 – The Broken-Hearted Healed
Jesus read these verses in his home congregation there in Nazareth. He then said, “Today this is fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, I am the One Who does this. Heartbreaks come into the world because of sin. There is illness, there is pain, losing loved ones, grief over our own sins or the sins of others. There is also heartbreak that is for those who have not come to Christ yet. It is the sort of person who, by the work of the Holy Spirit, has come to wake up a bit, spiritually. He comes to see that God is very real. The conscience within tells him that he is in trouble. Now this last heartbreak can go two ways. It can bring about remorse and despair if it only happens to a natural heart that is not changed. In 2nd Corinthians 7:10, the apostle Paul calls it a sorrow that leads to death. However, he also spoke of a sorrow that led to life. This happens by God’s grace, when God uses it to bring about, not remorse, but repentance. Not despair, but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This one who then believes receives healing from that heartbreak.
Liberty is what we receive by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is tied in with the seven year sabbatical year when those who had sold themselves, or their families, into indentured servanthood would be freed, and their debt considered cancelled. Furthermore, they were sent out with provisions. Our Lord Jesus Christ not only died to pay off our sin at the cross, He lived a righteous life in order that His people might be given righteousness. Verse 2 is tied in with the Jubilee year, the 50th year, in which not only were the captives and indentured servants set free, but there was a greater liberation – land that had been sold out of the family was returned to the family, and people could return home. Our home in the garden was ruined, our hearts were ruined. And our wider home of this earth has been, as Paul teaches in Romans 8, in groaning and in suffering since this time. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our jubilee year. It is because of His life, His death, His resurrection, that home we come.
Jesus is also preaching the day of vengeance of our God. Are you refusing to go to Christ? Then the day of vengeance is looming! You cannot escape it once it comes upon you. What shall you do? Though God means vengeance upon all who will not yield to Him, He through his Son proclaims mercy to any and to all who will abandon their rebellion, abandon their hatred toward Him, and who will go to Him for mercy and forgiveness in Jesus Christ!
Question
- What promises do we have in these verses?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that Christ heals the broken hearted.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.