To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. – Isa 61:3 (NLT)
The New Way – Part 3
Yesterday I let you in on a little secret about my ‘wedding singer’ days. I was only kidding about the 80’s haircut though… I’m bald! Haha…
We talked about how Jesus signalled a new way and a new life for each and every one of us and that the old way of working your way to God was like mourning at a wedding.
In this passage in Isaiah 61 the prophet speaks of giving the mourners in Israel ‘a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning.’
Contextually, Isaiah was foretelling the Israelites that a ‘new life’ was coming. Their overthrow and exile by the Babylonians was coming to an end and essentially the reason for mourning would be no longer. It was good days ahead; a new life and a reason to celebrate!
When Jesus came out of His temptation in the wilderness, His first order of business was at the Synagogue on the Sabbath. He unrolled the scroll and read out the first few verses of Isaiah 61 before this verse.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come.”
Isaiah 61 could, therefore, be considered prophetic about the imminent freedom of all people through Jesus. And if religious observance to the law (the old way) could be compared to ‘weeping at a wedding’ then God is replacing mourning for joy… for ‘joyous blessing' in fact! A new day and way is here. No need to get caught up in working your way into God’s good books… that’ll only make you sad and frustrated.
Live and celebrate in the freedom that God has purchased for you. The freedom of immediate and complete relationship with the author of life.
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