Uniform Lesson for September 25, 2016
Scripture passage and lesson focus: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
One of the most anticipated and satisfying things about planting a garden is to see the sprouts of recently planted seeds emerge from the carefully prepared soil. To be sure, there is much to do before there will be a harvest, but the tender sprouts promise a bountiful crop if they are properly nurtured.
The author of Isaiah 61:11 must have been familiar with the process of planting. The writer says, “As a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all nations.” The prophet is confident that the people of Israel will flourish as God’s planting, a frequent metaphor throughout the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 27:6; 60:21).
Isaiah 61:1-4 — God’s redemptive intervention
The prophet is filled with God’s spirit, the divine presence that affirms that what the prophet says comes from God. (The Trinitarian Holy Spirit in the New Testament is a later development from this understanding of God.) God’s spirit anoints the prophet and gives him an important task: to announce that God has good news for the captive people.
The series of infinitives in this passage underline God’s redemptive action: “To bring good news … to bind up the broken hearted … to proclaim liberty … to release the prisoners … to proclaim the year of God’s favor … to comfort all who mourn … to provide for all who mourn in Zion.” Each one points to the new reality of the redemption God is bringing to a people who had suffered exile and slavery.
As Luke 4:16-21 indicates, Isaiah 61:1-2 was seen by the early church as a prophetic announcement of Jesus’s ministry. Just as Isaiah’s words had announced the redemption of Israel, Jesus’s preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth announced that God’s redemptive intervention was at hand.
Isaiah says that the new reality of Israel marks “the year of the Lord’s favor.” God has redeemed Israel. The following parallel phrase is more appropriately translated “the day of vindication” rather than “the day of vengeance” as in the NRSV. In the prophet’s eyes, the return of Israel that was authorized by the edict of the Persian emperor Cyrus in 539 B.C. reaffirms God’s covenant promise. In Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1, Cyrus is even identified as God’s anointed servant, God’s messiah.
The prophet announces that God’s redeemed people will rebuild their devastated towns and villages.
Isaiah 61:8-11 — God’s eternal promise
The prophet says that God “will make an everlasting covenant” with the returning exiles. They have been described in 61:6 as “priests of the Lord” and “ministers of our God.” They are now restored to a special relationship with God, an everlasting covenant. This promise links God and God’s people forever.
God’s covenant faithfulness marks God’s people as “a people whom the Lord has blessed.” They are blessed not only by being released from captivity in Babylon but also by being reestablished in their land, the prophet announces.
The God who enters into covenant with Israel says, “I love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing.” Robbery and wrongdoing are what God’s people had endured at the hands of the Babylonians. Their restoration is a just recompense for what they had suffered. From now on they are once again in a covenant relationship with their justice-loving God.
In 61:10 the prophet speaks in the first person representing the people as a whole. With his whole being he rejoices because God has clothed him with salvation and righteousness. Imagine a wedding scene with music and an exuberant dance that is probably not “decently and in order” according to some Presbyterian customs. Redeemed Israel is described as a bridegroom wearing beautiful flowers and a bride wearing her most precious jewels. It is a picture of unrestrained happiness and joy.
The passage concludes with a rich description of the restored people of God as a garden verdant with righteousness and praise. Instead of a captive people whose subjugation caused their God to be mocked by the nations, Israel will be a restored people in an everlasting covenant relationship with God.
For discussion
In what way(s) are God’s people held captive today? To fear of failure? To fear of others? To anxiety about finances or fragile relationships? Do you believe that people who have experienced exile personally or in their history have a deeper appreciation for redemption than others who have never had such an experience? Would you agree that modern Israel is a manifestation of Isaiah 61:9?
JAMES A. BRASHLER is professor emeritus of Bible at Union Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.
