Context for Isaiah 61:1-63:6
Isaiah prophecies both about the restoral of Jerusalem after its destruction by the Babylonians and the establishment of God’s church not just through the Jews, to whom the Messiah would come, but through the Gentiles to who the word would be preached. Finally, Isaiah prophecies about the renaming of Jerusalem, a sign of the second coming.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 NIV
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:16-17 NIV
Jesus himself speaks to us throughout the Old Testament, but rarely as directly as when He speaks through the voice of the prophets. These verses of Isaiah are another clear indication of Jesus preincarnate speaking directly to us about what he would eventually do during His time on earth.
Because Jesus is the Word, He certainly knew what He was sent to fulfill, and as a result, only He was able to fulfill it as the Word incarnate sent by the Father to save us. Just as it was God’s Word that brought the universe into being and gave life to men, so it was God’s Word that lived a sinless life, fulfilling the Law, and died as the guilt offering for our sin, so that we have salvation by God’s grace.
Therefore, our faith is the faith received by the Word, not just words on the pages of an ancient book, but by the actions of Jesus Christ received through the Scriptures, through baptism, and through the Lord’s Supper. We receive the physical Christ, who spoke to us from the beginning, came to fulfill God’s promises to us, and will certainly come again to gather us all to Himself at the Last Day.
DLH
