To have a prophecy fulfilled in your sight would be a rather exciting thing, I would think. Very early in the ministry of Jesus, many prophecies were starting to be fulfilled. As we look into our Gospel Scripture passage for this week, we see where Jesus proclaims that He has fulfilled a certain, specific prophecy from the Book of Isaiah. Let’s take a look.
As our Scripture opens, Jesus had recently been baptized by John the Baptist, and then had gone into the wilderness where He fasted and prayed for 40 days, and also withstood temptations from Satan. Now He has returned to the region of Galilee, specifically to His hometown of Nazareth (vs. 14-16). When the Sabbath day came around, Jesus went to the local synagogue in Nazareth “as His custom was” (vs. 16). Jesus made it a point to always attend the weekly synagogue service, where He would worship the Father, read, and study the Bible. That is a good practice to get in the habit of doing, attending your church’s worship service every week, if at all possible. If it was important to Jesus, the Son of God, then it should be important to us, as well.
One custom that many of the synagogues in the days of Jesus followed was to let visitors or guests read and comment on a Scripture passage. We see that often in the Book of Acts when Paul traveled around the Mediterranean, visiting local synagogues. This Sabbath day, when Jesus came to worship, He was invited to read from the Bible and then give a teaching or commentary on what was read. Jesus chose the Prophet Isaiah 61:1-2 as His passage to read. When He concluded reading, He told the congregation that this passage was fulfilled, right then, in their hearing (vs. 21). This must have amazed the congregation, and shocked many, too.
How did Jesus fulfill this prophecy? All throughout His ministry, Jesus brought the gospel message of salvation to everyone. The word “gospel” means good news. His message certainly was good news to those who would accept it. Mankind had been trying to achieve redemption from their sins by their own good works and by animal sacrifices for centuries, but the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin (Hebrews 10:4). The good news of the Gospel was that Jesus, the Son of God, would redeem mankind. He brought this message to the poor, both the spiritually poor, who have no means to redeem themselves, which is all of us, and also to the physically poor, those who were down and out, and the castaways of society.
Jesus also brought His peace and comfort to those who were brokenhearted. We saw that when He comforted His friends Mary and Martha when their brother Lazarus died (John 11:1-44). He also brought comfort to Jairus when his daughter died (Mark 5:22-23, 35-43), and also to the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-16), raising each of their loved ones. Jesus proclaimed liberty to the captives, all those who are captive to their sins, and set at liberty those who are oppressed. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, giving our life to Him, He sets us free from our sins, bringing us deliverance from all that oppresses us. And as we see all throughout each of the four Gospels, Jesus brought physical healing to so many people, including restoring sight.
The final verse of the passage that Jesus quoted spoke of proclaiming the “acceptable year of the Lord” (vs. 19). The acceptable year of the Lord is the Year of Jubilee. The Year of Jubilee was to be celebrated by the Jewish people every 50 years. During that year, the ground wasn’t harvested, allowing it to rest. Slaves were to be set free, and all debts were cancelled. When Jesus said those words, He was setting us free, just like slaves were set free. He was declaring our freedom (John 8:36). The Blood of Calvary declares our freedom from sin and death.
The release from the Babylonian Captivity that the Jewish people had been in for 70 years had not brought the fulfillment of this prophecy that the people had expected. They endured further oppression after then from the Greek Empire, and then following that, the Roman Empire. They were still a conquered and oppressed people. Isaiah was referring to the Messiah, and Jesus proclaimed Himself as the One who would bring this good news to pass.
In closing, there are some who say that Jesus never Himself said that He was the promised Messiah. That is not true. As we see here in this passage, at the very outset of His ministry, Jesus announced that He is the Savior and Redeemer that Israel and the world had been waiting for. Have you accepted Him as your own personal Savior yet? If not, let this be the day you ask Jesus into your heart!
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