Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)

Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)

ISAIAH 61

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

1 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,

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins

and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

that have been devastated for generations.

5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks;

foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the Lord,

you will be named ministers of our God.

You will feed on the wealth of nations,

and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of your shame

you will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace

you will rejoice in your inheritance.

And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,

and everlasting joy will be yours.

8 “For I, the Lord, love justice;

I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness I will reward my people

and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations

and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge

that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

10 I delight greatly in the Lord;

my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up

and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness

and praise spring up before all nations.

Application Notes

61:1-2 Jesus quoted these words in Luke 4:18-19. As he read to the people in the synagogue, he stopped in the middle of Isaiah 61:2 after the words “to proclaim the year of the LoRo's favor.” Rolling up the scroll, he said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). The next portion of Isaiah 61:2, “and the day of vengeance of our God,” will come true when Jesus returns to earth again. We are now under God's favor; his wrath is yet to come. 

61:6 Under the old covenant, God ordained the priests of Israel to stand between him and his people. They brought God's word to the people and the people's needs and sins to God. Under the new cov­enant, all believers are priests of the Lord (1 Peter 2:5), reading God's Word and seeking to understand it, confessing their sins directly to God, and ministering to others. 

61:8 We suffer for many reasons—our own mistakes, someone else's mistakes, injustice. When we suffer for our mistakes, we get what we deserve. When we suffer because of others or because of injustice, God is angry. God, in his. mercy, will one day deliver his people from all suf­fering. He will reward those who suffer because of injustice. He will settle all accounts. 

61:10 Me could refer to the Messiah, the person appointed by the Spirit of the Lord (61:1), or to Zion (62:1), which symbolizes God's people. The imagery of the bridegroom is often used in Scripture to depict the Messiah (see Matthew 9:15), while the imagery of the bride is used to depict God's people (see Revelation 19:6-8). We, too, can put on our new clothes—a right relationship with God—by putting our trust in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)