Just for a minute, let’s take a little trip in time. Let’s imagine that the year is 1850. The place is a tobacco planation outside of Charleston, South Carolina. And let’s imagine that the color of your skin is black. Tell me, how would your life under those circumstances be very different that it is for you today? I mean, chances are, under those circumstances, you would be a…what? Yeah, you would be a slave. You wouldn’t be your own boss. You’d be treated like a piece of property; you could be beaten and whipped and abused. You would not be free. You would be under the control of someone else. Tell me, do any of us today have a clue as to what that would have been like? Actually, maybe you do. As you think about your life, as you think about what it means to be controlled by someone else, as you think about something else being your master, maybe you can relate to that African American in ante-bellum America. For you see, in some ways, we are all slaves.
Now, why would I say that? How could anyone say that people living in 21st century United States are living in slavery? Actually, because that’s what Scripture says. How does Jesus put it? I tell you the truth, everyone who sins (literally, everyone who keeps on sinning) is a slave to sin (John 8:34). Or you think of the words of the Apostle Peter, who wrote, A man is a slave to whatever has mastered him (2 Peter 2:19). Hmmn. Think about that a minute. A man (or woman) is a slave to whatever has mastered him. Apply those words to your life. What is it that has mastered you? What is it in your life that can’t seem to control? Maybe it’s your tongue. Without even thinking, you’re sniping at the people around you, running them down to their face or behind their backs. You don’t really want to, but you can’t stop. It’s like you are a slave to your own tongue.
Or maybe what has you mastered is your computer. You’ve lost control of the time you spend on it, or this sites you’re visiting. You’re robbing time from your family, your job, your God to feed your new “master.” You might like to think, “It’s free time.” But are you really free?
Or maybe what’s mastering you is a bad attitude. It’s like you’re never really happy about anything. Nothing really meets your expectations. No matter what happens, you’re complaining about something. And even when you realize that’s what you’re doing, you can’t seem to stop it. You’re not controlling your bad attitude. It’s controlling you.
Do you see what Jesus means when he says, “Anyone who sins is a slave to sin?” In one way or another we’re all being mastered by some kind of evil in our lives. No matter how hard we try, we cannot completely stamp sin out of our lives. By nature, we’re all spiritual slaves. And by ourselves, we cannot free ourselves from this kind of spiritual bondage.
In fact, the more you think about that, the more depressing it becomes. We’re all prisoners of the sin in our bodies, prisoners in a world infected by sin. And that can leave us all feeling, well, hopeless. Feeling like our future is really, really bleak.
But you know something? We aren’t the first or only ones who have experienced feelings like these. Over 2000 years ago, the entire nation of Israel found itself being held hostage in the land of Babylon. They had lost their freedom. They were no longer in control of their destiny. They were slaves of the enemy. So what did God do for those poor slaves? The same thing he has done for us poor slaves. He sent a Shoot from the Stump of Jesse, a Ruler for the Throne of David, and as we will hear in our third prophecy from the book of Isaiah, God sent:
A Messiah Bringing Freedom
Now when I read the words of Isaiah chapter 61 a few moments ago, it would be easy to assume that the prophet was speaking of himself—especially when you realize that God sent the Prophet Isaiah to life the spirits of the Israelites even as they were going into captivity in Babylon. So what does Isaiah tell them? The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach 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.
With those words, Isaiah is certainly telling the truth. God had chosen Isaiah to be a messenger of good news for God’s people. Isaiah is sometimes called the Evangelist of the Old Testament, because of all the gospel promises his book contains. And yet, it’s important to understand that with these words, Isaiah is not just speaking about himself. He’s speaking as if he is the Messiah. Or to put it another way, God, in effect, puts Jesus’ words in Isaiah’s mouth. Let’s read these words again, this time imagining that Jesus is speaking. Jesus says, The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me. Remember, at the time of Jesus’ baptism, when the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus in the form of a dove? God the Father in effect, “anointed” Jesus with the Holy Spirit. In fact, isn’t that what the word Messiah means? It means the Anointed One, the one set apart for a special task. In the Old Testament the word “the Anointed One” is “Messiah.” In the New Testament, it’s “Christ.” In either case, Jesus is saying, “I’m the one whose been anointed to be the Messiah. I’m the one who has come to preach good news, bring freedom to the captives, etc.
But now, maybe you’re still not convinced. Maybe you’re one of the many people in our world today who have this healthy skepticism that anything in the Old Testament could actually be a direct prophecy about Jesus. Well then, maybe we should let Jesus himself weigh in on the matter. Remember when Jesus paid a visit on his hometown of Nazareth? It was early in his ministry, before a lot of people realized who he really was. Jesus went to the local synagogue and as was the custom of the day, the people asked this travelling Rabbi to give a little sermon. So what happened? St. Luke records the event for us. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to [Jesus]. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (In other words, Jesus reads these very words of our text today, Isaiah 61. And then what happens?) Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:17-21) That’s right. Jesus the One who cannot lie, told the people of his day and ours, “These words of Isaiah 61—they’re all about me. I’m the one who has come to do what the prophet said Messiah would do.”
And exactly what was that? What was Jesus’ job description? Jesus says, The Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” With those words, Jesus is not saying that his target audience was going to be the people in the welfare line. While he certainly won’t exclude the financially poor, his message is really not for those who are financially broke, but rather for those who are morally broke. In other words for those people who must confess, “God, when it comes to the holiness you demand from me, I’ve got nothing. I am a poor, miserable sinner.”
You realize, it’s to those people who realize their spiritual poverty that Jesus says, “Here. Here is my holiness. It’s yours as a free gift. The treasures of heaven are yours, in my name. Believe me.” My friends, you realize, that’s Good News. That’s Good News for the poor. Good News that Jesus not only preached about. It’s Good News that he actually brought about, by his perfect life, death and resurrection.
And really, it’s that Good News which Jesus, in turn, uses to accomplish the second component of his job description. Jesus says the Lord has sent me to bind up the broken hearted. What does that mean? Who are the brokenhearted? (I mean, besides the fans of the Detroit Lions.) What is it that weighs down on our hearts to the point of breaking? Isn’t it our sins? I mean, you think about how you feel when you promised yourself, you promised your spouse, you promised your children that you would never do that again—and then you do it again. Suddenly, you are overwhelmed with feelings of worthlessness and guilt and shame. Your heart is ready to break. What is it that heals your broken heart? Isn’t it Jesus’ words to the paralyzed man? “Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven.” (Matthew 9:2) Or the Seraph’s words to Isaiah, See your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”(Isaiah 6:7). Really, that’s the only message that binds up broken hearts, and covers shame and heals our wounded hearts.
And yet, there’s one more thing on the Messiah’s to-do list. And that’s to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. You maybe realize that those are things that find their partial fulfillment in Old Testament times. There was a time when those who were held captive in Babylon were set free. They returned to the Promised Land. And when God gave the Law to Moses, he established that there would be a year of the Lord’s Favor, when all those in slavery would be granted their freedom.
And yet, that kind of temporary, physical freedom was merely a foreshadow of an even greater freedom that the Messiah came to bring. I’m talking about the freedom the slavery of sin that Jesus gives to believers. And remember, when we talk about freedom from sin, there are three components. Jesus has given us freedom from the punishment of sin. I mean, the eternal punishment of sin. If I disobey God’s commands, I man have to face the earthly consequences. I may be thrown into jail for my crimes, but for Jesus’ sake, I won’t be thrown into hell for them. By going to hell on the cross in our place, Jesus has set us free from the real punishment of sin.
And Jesus has also set us free from the guilt of our sins. When God declares that, for Jesus’ sake, we’re not guilty in God’s yes, it lifts a huge weight off of our hearts. “Whew! Not guilty!” Jesus has set us free from the guilt of our sins.
But there is one more freedom that Jesus gives us. And that’s freedom from the power of sin. You see, when Jesus redeemed you, when he bought you back with his blood spilled on the cross, he bought you back from Satan’s control. What does the Bible say? Sin shall not be your master. (Romans 6:14) What does that mean? It means that because Jesus paid the price to make you his own, you don’t belong to Satan any more. He’s not your master. That means that as a blood bought, Spirit-filled, Child of God, you can say to the Devil, “Get behind me, Satan!” And you can say to your sinful nature, “Sorry, Old Man, you’re not in charge anymore!’
My friends, you realize, that’s real freedom. It’s the freedom that only Jesus can give you. And while you and I will never experience perfect freedom on this side of the grave—we’ll always have a sinful nature; our bodies will always feel the effects of sin—still, because of Jesus, we can look forward to a perfect freedom in heaven. And on that day we might well echo the words of another famous African American when we say, “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we’re free at last!” For our Redeemer’s sake. Amen.