The Anointed One

This is one of the glowing chapters of Isaiah and, in fact, of the whole Bible. There is much here to encourage us as real people with real issues to face. We all have issues and we all need to be encouraged. It is my hope that you will be encouraged by something that I say this morning. I’m not going to preach through the chapter, section by section, as I have been doing. I will be focusing just on the first part of the chapter. So, please listen as I read Isaiah 61 to you.

This is another of what have been called the Songs of the Suffering Servant. Isaiah 53, with its familiar, ‘All we like sheep have gone astray…’ is another of these. In each of these songs, Isaiah pictures for us the servant of the Lord who comes and suffers as He fulfills the call of God for His life. These songs are about Jesus. He is the Suffering Servant and some of what He has been called to is described in our text.

Let’s start with the idea of being anointed. ‘The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me …’ In the Old Testament certain people were anointed with oil as an indication that God had called them to some task. So, for one example, Aaron was anointed when he became High Priest. This was not just some ritual. There was much more going on. When David was chosen by Samuel to become king after Saul, he was anointed. But listen to how that is described. ‘Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed [David] in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward.’ When someone was anointed it was an indication that something else, something that could not be seen, was also happening. In this way, anointing was something like a sacrament. Something physical happened to reflect that something spiritual had also happened. The anointing, like the sacraments of the Lord's Supper and baptism, was a picture and a promise. The anointing was a picture of the Spirit coming upon a person. And it was a promise that the Spirit was upon that person with power to accomplish whatever task had been given to him. Jesus was anointed with the Spirit at His baptism by John. Listen to what happened. ‘Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”’ The voice is that of the Father who, incidentally, is using language from one of the other Suffering Servant passages. At the same time the Spirit descends upon Jesus, empowering Him for this calling from the Father. Listen to what happens next. ‘And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.’ Jesus, now anointed, now empowered by the Spirit, begins His ministry. All of this is included when Isaiah writes, ‘the Lord has anointed me’.

There are so many things to draw from this, but I’ll limit myself to this. When Jesus embarks on His ministry, a ministry to the people of God, a ministry that includes you today, He does it as a man. God, the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, does not need to be anointed with the Spirit. That makes no sense. But Jesus, the man, does. So, Jesus, as God’s Suffering Servant, ministers to you as someone who really does know what it’s like to be human and to live as such in a fallen world. He really understands. And that is so very helpful. It’s helpful because it makes it easier for you to trust Him. The issues that you face are not alien to Him. He knows what it’s like. To quote from Hebrews, ‘… we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.’ Jesus, the man, offers Himself to you and He comes to you with the power of the Spirit, power that can deal with the issues you face, power that can deal with your life.

Now, what exactly is Jesus called to do? What is the task for which He has been anointed? Isaiah gives us a list of infinitives to answer that question. Listen for the infinitives. ‘The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.’

That first infinitive phrase, ‘to bring good news to the poor’, summarizes it all. Jesus brings the good news of the Gospel, and He does this is for the poor. When you read that word ‘poor’ don’t think about economics. It’s not about how much money someone has in the bank. It is sometimes translated as ‘the afflicted’, and that explains the word. These are people who are needy and that in a way that goes way beyond finances. Jesus comes to these who are finding life here so very difficult, and He has good news to tell them. And the good news that He brings to these is that life is going to change. The other infinitives give the details. So, consider some of them. ‘… to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound…’ Life is a prison. And this prison is filled with people who feel the chains that hold them captive. There are all the issues of life that can be seen: health problems, job stress, financial issues. But what holds these poor captive is not what is seen. It’s how their souls respond to what is seen. The captivity is not a matter of the visible world. Their captivity is a matter of the soul. And when the soul is enslaved, neither miracle drugs or a new boss nor even a dramatic addition to the savings account can free it. These people are bound. They are bound by their sin and their sinful responses to life. So, Jesus comes to set people free from their slavery. But does not just free them. When sin has its way, hearts are shattered, spirits are crushed. So, Jesus also comes to heal what has been so deeply wounded. Jesus is called ‘to bind up the brokenhearted’. He has come ‘to comfort all who mourn’ because of what they have experienced in the prison of this world. This is the good news of what Jesus, the Anointed, has come to do.

Behind all of this is what Isaiah calls ‘the Lord’s favor’. Who was it that called, anointed and sent out Jesus to do these things? It is our God who has done this. And why did He do that? This is all a matter of the grace of God, the LORD’S favor. He has favored you by anointing and sending Jesus to you. And so, because of God’s favor to you, you have become His favorites. That’s what grace, the favor of God, is about.

I want to remind you of how Jesus pursues this calling. What does He do so that you might be freed? And that, of course, brings us back to the Cross. Jesus is the Suffering Servant. And while He suffered throughout His life, the climax of that was suffering for your sins. But it is through that suffering that He has set you free. It is because of His death that He can bring you good news, proclaim liberty to you and bind up your wounds. Never forget the Cross. It is the key to everything.

This good news is not just talk about mystical things that no one can see. This good news changes things. It makes a difference that can be seen and felt. And Isaiah tells us about that also. ‘… to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit…’ Isaiah uses common Old Testament images to mark the differences Jesus makes. Here’s what the imagery is saying. Jesus finds the poor crumpled in the dust, grieving a life gone astray and ready to give up and die. But when He’s done they’re on their way to a party. After He makes those changes, they shine with all the glories of the life of eternity. And that’s how Isaiah describes them. They are dressed in a way that draws attention not to them but to their God and His praise. They have sprinkled themselves with some wonderful fragrance that conveys the aroma of their happiness to all around them. And to top it all off, they have a spiffy new hat. It’s party time. They’re on their way to a glorious banquet where they will see all their friends with Jesus as the host. Jesus changes people’s lives, and it shows. He finds the needy on death’s doorstep, without hope. But He restores them to life so that they can party hearty to the praise of their God.

Notice another of Isaiah’s images: ‘…that they may be called oaks of righteousness…’ God gave us trees to picture blessings of the Gospel. In Psalm 1 how are the blessed saints pictured? They are like a well-watered tree that bears fruit while others are like dried up chaff that has nothing to show for all its efforts. Here, those who follow Jesus are pictured as a sturdy oak. Life has ups and downs, tornados and blizzards, and lots of surprises. But believers stand firm while others are blown over. One of the smart people that I read suggested that it is significant that it takes a long time to grow an oak tree. Growth is slow for an oak, but it results in much good. Same with the saints. It may take a while to get there, but those whom Jesus has freed develop stability and endurance.

One more. There are some things that I have skipped over but I can’t skip this. ‘… they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.’ Jesus is anointed. He is given a task, the blessing of the poor and those who mourn. He strives to achieve His goal at great cost and succeeds. And so many are changed. Life is so much better. But the end goal is always the same: that God be glorified. We are greatly blessed, but the prime reason is always to make God look good before a watching world. God’s glory and our benefit are not at odds, as long as we remember which is the primary goal.

All of that was description. It was answering the question, ‘What do the words mean?’ That’s always an important first step. Now, we need to ask questions so that we will know how the Spirit wants to use those words in our lives.

First question. When does all of this happen? Jesus has come for those who have been enslaved by sin. These are set free. When? Is this something that has happened in our past so that we are already set free? Is it something yet future, so that we will be set free? Or does it happen now in the present? And the answer, of course, is, ‘Yes’. This is related to that sermon where I talked about the word, ‘save’ in the past tense, the present tense and the future tense. We have been saved. We are being saved. We will be saved. All of that applies here. As we look to our past, we were set free by Jesus when we were born again. There was a decisive break with sin back then. Sin was once our master, but it is no longer. Jesus has set us free.

There are lots of Christians who hear this but don’t believe it. And they think that they have good reason not to believe it. They still sin. How can that be if they have been freed from sin? But Jesus says you have been freed. ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ Those who are Jesus’ disciples have been set free. That’s what Jesus said. And to add to that, here’s something from Paul. ‘But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.’ Paul agrees with his Lord. Those who are disciples of Jesus have been set free from their sins.

This, of course, leads to our second question. Why do we still sin? Let me respond to that with an illustration that has helped me to understand this. It used to be that when a circus would get a new elephant, the trainer would drive a long, strong stake deep into the ground, attach one end of a hefty chain to it and the other end to the leg of the elephant. The elephant would tug and pull but because the stake went deep and the chain was hefty, he could not move. So, after a time of tugging but having no success, the elephant would stop his attempts at escape. That’s when the trainer knew that he could use a short peg and a piece of rope to keep the elephant from escaping. The elephant felt something on his leg and thought it was the stake with its hefty chain. So, he didn’t even try to give it a tug. If he did, he would have easily escaped. It was just a little peg and some rope. Sin used to be a strong stake driven deep into the ground with a hefty chain around your soul. You were its slave. But the slavery has ended. There is no stake and the chain is gone. You can step away from any sin and escape it. Jesus has brought that slavery to an end. So now, in the present, He is working at freeing you from the multitude of sins that are only short pegs and a bit of rope, from sins that can only make you feel as if you are still enslaved. You really are free. It just doesn’t feel like it.

Developing that growing sense of freedom is tied up with following Jesus. When He tells you to turn right, part of what’s going on is that He is going to show you that you are no longer a slave of some sin. He’s going to free you from another powerless peg with its flimsy rope. But that won’t happen to you until, in submission to Him, you turn right when He tells you to. If you want to be freed from more and more sins, you don’t follow some four-step method. No, you follow Jesus. When He says, ‘Take a right at the corner’, you may not see anything that has to do with experiencing more freedom from sin. But, then again, you just might, once you make the turn. That will be the time when some sin issue confronts you. That’s when things get interesting. That’s when you see that it was only a short peg. And that’s how your experience of freedom grows. Don’t follow some rules. Follow Jesus.

In the midst of all of this, bear this in mind. You have been set free from the slavery of sin. That’s a fact, another indicative of the Gospel. Jesus has set you free. So, that ability to conquer sin is not something that you have to drum up from deep within yourself. Sin has already been conquered. That happened when you were born again. All you have to do is learn is how to believe that in the details of life. And you grow in believing that as Jesus leads you to this situation or that so that the short peg of some abiding sin of your life can be pulled up from the ground, letting you walk away from it. Remember this indicative of the Gospel. You have been set free. Jesus has already done that. Past tense. You are learning how to believe that now. Present tense. And one day, all the short pegs with all their flimsy ropes will be gone. Future tense.

Growing in your experience of this freedom boils down to trusting Jesus. You need to trust Him when He says, ‘No, really. I have set you free from sin. Really, I have.’ And you need to trust Him when He says, ‘If you turn right up here, I will prove to you that you are no longer a slave of that pesky sin that’s been bugging you. Let’s turn here and pull up another peg.’