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The Good News of Deliverancee
Isaiah 61.1-11
Good News Translation (GNT)
1 The Sovereign Lord has filled me with his
Spirit. He has chosen me and sent me to
bring good news to the poor, to heal the
broken-hearted, to announce release to
captives and freedom to those in prison.
2 He has sent me to proclaim that the time has
come when the Lord will save his people and
defeat their enemies. He has sent me to
comfort all who mourn,
3 To give to those who mourn in Zion joy and
gladness instead of grief, a song of praise
instead of sorrow. They will be like trees that
the Lord himself has planted. They will all do
what is right, and God will be praised for what
he has done.
4 They will rebuild cities that have long been in
ruins.
5 My people, foreigners will serve you. They will
take care of your flocks and farm your land
and tend your vineyards.
6 And you will be known as the priests of the
Lord, The servants of our God. You will enjoy
the wealth of the nations and be proud that it
is yours.
7 Your shame and disgrace are ended. You will
live in your own land, And your wealth will be
doubled; Your joy will last forever.
8 The Lord says, "I love justice and I hate
oppression and crime. I will faithfully reward
my people and make an eternal covenant with
them.
9 They will be famous among the nations;
Everyone who sees them will know that they
are a people whom I have blessed."
;10 Jerusalem rejoices because of what the Lord
has done. She is like a bride dressed for her
wedding. God has clothed her with salvation
and victory.
;11 As surely as seeds sprout and grow, the
Sovereign Lord will save his people, and all
the nations will praise him.
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Taken from 'word-on-the-web' supplied by the
Scripture Union
The Good News of Deliverance
Some five hundred years
before Jesus opened that scroll,
reading from Isaiah
in the Nazareth synagogue
(Luke 4:16-21),
God's Spirit spoke through
a mysteriously nameless
prophet to people who badly
needed the 'good news'
that he so vividly
and unforgettably depicts.
Like the prophecies
of chapter 60,
this alternative vision
is not about
incremental improvements,
but total transformation.
Broken hearts healed,
prisoners released,
grief turned to joy,
despondency to song,
urban decay to
thriving city communities,
shame to glad confidence.
I wonder if people's reactions
to these prophecies,
in their original setting,
were as varied as when
Jesus reclaimed them
as the manifesto for
his work on earth?
For some,
these would have been
disturbing ideas,
alternative visions
that threatened people
whose comfortable lives,
even in newly resettled
Jerusalem,
depended on self-interest
or exploiting others.
What is
'good news to the oppressed' (v 1)
is bad news to the oppressors.
The prophet's proclamation
of the
'year of the Lord's favour' (v 2)
signals the importance God gave,
and still gives,
to the jubilee cycles
that ensure rest for the earth,
family bonding,
generous business practices,
care for the poor
and welcome for
the stranger (Leviticus 25).
The two visions are starkly contrasting: ruined cities and generations of decay (v 4) or God's flourishing garden of goodness (v 11).
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