Isaiah 61

I’ll never forget when our oldest daughter first began to find her feet. For quite some time, she would pull herself up into a standing position at the sofa and take a tentative step to the right or left, only to come quickly crashing down on her behind. But then, one day, she started “cruising,” walking smoothly around the perimeter of the sofa while holding onto the cushions.

As I watched her “cruise” for the first time that morning, I knew that she would soon begin the journey of walking, and it wouldn’t be long before we entered the world of boo-boos. And when we did, at times, she would fall down and hurt herself, and she came crying to me, believing that I could “make it all better.” And, although I didn’t have a magic wand to wave (and still don’t!), for most of the small boo-boos, I somehow had the power to “make it all better” with a simple hug and kiss.

Isaiah 61 contains one of my most favorite passages in the Bible—particularly because I can just imagine what it must have been like to hear Jesus read it from the scroll and then announce that He was the person it referred to: “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, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion.” (vs 1-3)

Here’s what God said He came to do among us:

Give good news to anyone who would listen.
Mend broken hearts.
Free people whose hearts were in bondage.
Help “blind” people “see.”
Help people understand that God loves and accepts them.
Proclaim salvation to those looking for justice.
Comfort and care for all who were grieving.

When you think about it, this—in a nutshell—sums up everything God is able to do and wants to do in our lives. He wants us to be freed from our sin-bondage. He wants us to rejoice in the assurance that we are loved and saved. He wants to open our eyes to the goodness and beauty of God the Father, who loves us with an infinite love, just as Jesus does. He wants us to know that even when evil appears to prevail in this world, He will have the last word.

Interestingly, when Jesus quoted this Scripture in the synagogue, He stopped reading after “the year of the Lord’s favor.” At that time, He didn’t mention the “day of vengeance of our God” or the part about comforting those who mourn. Some people think He didn’t mention the part about vengeance because Isaiah and the other Old Testament writers got that wrong. Some people think there won’t be a “day of vengeance of our God.”

But part of the problem is the negative connotations we now attach to the word vengeance. From reading some commentaries and Hebrew-language studies on this issue, I understand that the original Hebrew concept holds no negative connotations—such as revenge or retribution—but rather the idea of redemption and salvation. For instance, when Samson prayed to God that He would help him get vengeance on the Philistines, the idea behind his request was not that he would get to kill a lot of people, but that his reputation of strength would be redeemed.

So, when the Bible speaks about the “day of vengeance” or the “day of the Lord” (which it does a lot), I believe it is referring to the day when Christ will return and fulfill His promise to take us home, to save us, to redeem us. Perhaps that is why Jesus stopped short of quoting that part of the verse. He ended His presentation by saying, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21), and, quite simply, His “Second Coming” wasn’t planned for that afternoon.

Once we can “hear” the word vengeance the way the Hebrews did, I think the entire passage takes on this wonderful message of how God takes all that we bear and makes it all better. No matter the hardships we face, He can and will fix every boo-boo. If we are depressed, He’s got good news for us. If we are mourning, nobody comforts as He does. He can mend the most broken heart. His light can penetrate the darkest night.

Whatever the problem, He can fix it. He will make it all better.