Isaiah 61: Fulfilled by Christ

The first thing that must be noted about Isaiah 61 is that this is not the only place in Scripture where these words are used. In fact, Isaiah 61 is a prophecy that is quoted and fulfilled by Jesus in Luke 4.

"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.'

And he rolled up the scroll and fave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'"

Having Jesus Christ interpret Isaiah 61 makes it much easier to understand and interpret his words as well as the words of Isaiah. Therefore, when interpreting Isaiah 61, we must keep in mind that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy. Jesus Christ is the one whom the Spirit resides upon, Jesus is the one proclaiming the good news, and Jesus is the one who is freeing captives, giving sight to the blind, and proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor. Keep that in mind as you read through Isaiah 61.

In the next posts, I'll begin to work through the text bit by bit, unpacking as much as I can in order to see the unveiled glory of Christ.