The Acceptable Year of the Lord (Isaiah 61:1-2)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim 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.”
Introduction
I saw something on the news and it was about a North Korean diplomat. He was in Cuba as a North Korean defector and he experienced some troubles so he was standing where he was, trembling in fear. But during that time, he never prayed before nor knew who God was and started praying before God. He prayed to God to save him, his family, and to help him get on the airplane. After he finished praying, he was approached by a South Korean intelligence and they heard about him, and came to rescue him. While he was at the airport, he experienced some trouble and asked for his visa but the South Korean intelligence told the Cuban airplane agents about his situation. By law, North Korea and South Korea are still Korea so he will naturally gain the protection of South Korea. Due to this law, this North Korean defector was able to get on the airplane. He was able to escape and go to South Korea. When I heard this, I realized that the living God truly heard the prayer of this person. This could not happen if God did not pour His grace upon this person who didn’t even know God. I realized that God can truly work in these ways as well. Today’s sermon is very important.
1. The Name of the Messiah
1) The Lord anointed me
Verse 1 - The important word here is that God has anointed me. Anointed means “Mashiach '' in Hebrew This was referring to the Messiah that the Israelites were waiting for. The Israelites were waiting for the Messiah to come while holding onto this Biblical verse. What does a Messiah do? The Messiah will proclaim the good news to the poor. Good tidings also means good news. Good news is referring to the gospel. Who relays the good news? It will be through the anointed one, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This was the message that God relayed to Isaiah.
Luke 4:21 “He began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’ ” - This is the message that Jesus Christ was saying that He was the Messiah. This message was not given to everyone. When you look at the scriptures, it says that the message was proclaimed to those who are poor. Who are the poor? The poor are referring to those who are desperate and desperate for the word of God.
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” - Those who can receive salvation are those who are desperate for salvation and gospel.
Mark 4:9 “Then Jesus said, ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.’ ” - Who are the poor? This was what Jesus Christ said. When you look in the Bible, it says these words multiple times. What does it mean to hear? There are those who don’t hear the word of God. There are those who ignore and reject God’s word. That is why the Lord God said those who have ears, let them hear.
John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” - Who hears? The Lord God said that His sheep hear Him. This is astounding. The Lord God said that He knows us. We who are His sheep have no choice but to hear and follow God’s word. When you have the heart to hear and are able to follow God’s word, this means that you are God’s sheep. You are children of God. This is proof that you are saved. Who was the anointed Christ talking to? He was speaking to His sheep, His children. He was speaking good news to them. What is the content of the good news?
2) Good tidings
Verse 1 - The brokenhearted are not referring to those who have light scars in their hearts but it is referring to those who have broken hearts. Those who have complete and broken hearts. When you break a pot, you can’t put them back together. It is beyond recovery. It is completely destroyed. It is unrepairable. It is impossible so it has no hope. God said that He will fix the brokenhearted.
Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” - The meaning of a True Prophet is the one who gives us the true answer and way to problems that we cannot solve on our own.
Verse 1 - He will give captives freedom. In other words, people who are bound by Satan will be freed. The Lord God said that He will free us.
John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” - Our Lord God is absolutely astounding. He is the True King. If God commands it, then it will be done.
Verse 1 - He will release the prisoners from darkness. He will free us from prison. In other words, He will free us from the prison of sin, death, and curses. The Lord God proclaimed that He will free us. This was what the Messiah did for us.
Luke 5:20 “When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’ ” - Only the Lord God is the True Priest who can free us from our sins. We spoke about these three things. These three things are things that mankind cannot solve on our own. Within our family, do you have any family members who are suffering from a problem that you cannot solve. Do you have a problem within your family that you feel that you cannot solve on your own. This was why Jesus Christ came to Earth to free us from sin and these problems. Do you believe in this? When you hold onto Jesus Christ, He will solve all of your problems.
2. Remember the Messiah
1) Christ's grace
Verse 2 - Here, we can see something important. This is speaking about the grace of God. The grace and favor of God is referring to God’s Jubilee. When you look in the Bible, it is all constantly pointing towards the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This is because we need to find Jesus in order to solve all of our problems. The roles of Jesus Christ were spoken about so we can solve the problems of mankind. We need to hold onto three things when we look at the grace of God. We need to hold onto God’s Sabbath Day.
Deuteronomy 5:15 “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” - Why do we have to keep the Sabbath Day? The young lamb was sacrificed so we can be freed. The Israelites were freed due to the blood of the young lamb. We were freed from the blood of the lamb, the blood of Jesus Christ. When we come to church and give worship to God, we need to remember what Jesus Christ did for us. We need to remember the blood of Jesus Christ and what the blood of Jesus Christ did for us.
The second thing that we must remember is the sabbatical year - Leviticus 25:4, 8, 10 “But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 8 Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan.” - When the Israelites were told to go to the land of Canaan, God prepared everything for the Israelites. God prepared everything for them, He gave them food and land. When God did this, He gave them one command. He told them to rest for an entire year. God told the Israelites to rest so that they won’t forget what God did for them.
The third thing that we must hold onto is God’s Jubilee. Leviticus 25:8, 10 - What is important is that it was a new year, a year after 50 years. It was a new start. The year of Jubilee, all of the debts that you owe, all of that disappear. It all gets canceled out. This means that everything becomes forgiven. This is a remembrance of God’s grace. This is the covenant that we must hold onto to experience the power of the heavenly throne.
2) Christ's vengeance
This is referring to vengeance of God. God vengeance for the Israelites by destroying Babylon who tormented and enslaved Israel. Satan thought that if he killed Jesus Christ on the cross that it would all be over. But what happened when Jesus Christ died on the cross, the head of Satan was broken completely. This means that Jesus Christ finished everything on the cross. We can see the fulfillment of the covenant of Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” - He comforted all of those who mourned. Jesus Christ’s death was a festival for us all. When all of our sins were forgiven, this was a day of joy and festival. You know the famous speech of Martin Luther King Jr., “I have a dream.” The last line of his speech, he says, “Free at last. Free at last. Thanks to God, my King. We are free at last.” What does that mean? We are finally free! When he gave this speech, everyone who heard his speech and gathered there, they were all cheering out loud and screaming with joy. The year of the Jubilee, you hear the sounds of the trumpets. This is the same sound when Jesus Christ comes for His second coming. We will also cheer out loud saying, “We are free at last!”
3. Jesus Christ
1) Christ who was before everlasting
Hold onto John 8:58 “ ‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ ” - Who is Jesus Christ? He was there before the birth of Abraham and before the birth of Jesus Christ on earth. He existed in eternity.
2) Christ the Incarnate
John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” - He was the Creator God who existed in eternity who came to earth in human flesh. God who was Christ came to earth.
3) Christ who was victorious and resurrected
Acts 3:6 “Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ ” - Jesus Christ died on the cross and resurrected, He is with us now as the victorious King. When we use the name of Jesus Christ, the same works that arose in the Bible will arise within our lives. The Lord God spoke about the three roles of Jesus Christ, the same power of Christ will arise within our lives. If we proclaim the name of Jesus Christ, we will have victory.
4) Christ who will return as the Judge
Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” - When world evangelism comes, the Day of the Judgment will come. Jesus Christ will come. He will absolutely come. He is the eternal God. May the blessing of God come upon you.
Conclusion
Philippians 3:21 “Who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” - When we go to heaven, we will transform into our glorious bodies just like Jesus Christ. Hold onto this covenant and have victory.
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