Pictures are truly worth a thousand words, aren’t they?

Imagine your country under attack by invading forces – and the battle has come to your neighborhood – bombs exploding, your home shaking with each detonation. You wonder if your life will end this day, or if God will spare you to see another sunrise.

The next morning, you hear a different sound – that of happiness, of shouts of joy, of singing. The enemy has been vanquished, and the soldiers have come to restore freedom!

Throughout Isaiah’s recorded prophecies, Messiah is portrayed in a number of different ways – Mighty King, Warrior, Suffering Servant, Sacrificial Lamb, Righteous Judge, High Priest, among others.

In today’s passage, Messiah has defeated the enemy, and now comes to bring hope and comfort to those ravaged by the war on their souls, to bring them peace and healing.

Listen to the words of Messiah Himself, prophesied many years before He was born:

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
³ to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

(Isaiah 63:1-3, English Standard Version)

Messiah has come to bring us freedom. Jesus offers us release from sin’s captivity, hope for our broken hearts, and food for our hungry souls.

This hope was true for the ancient Israelites, and the offer still stands for us today.

May you find hope and freedom in Jesus, our Messiah.

Blessings,
~kevin