Oaks of Righteousness
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
for the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
and to proclaim that captives will be released
and prisoners will be freed.
He has sent me to tell those who mourn
that the time of the Lord’s favor has come,
and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.
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. – Isaiah 61:1-3, NLT
Usually, this blog kicks off with a section of Scripture and then a few quotes (mostly Bible scholars who write commentaries on the Scripture in question). Today’s blog is going to feature two longer quotes from a scholar named John N. Oswalt whose commentary on Isaiah is excellent. First, let me make two observations of the text which simply didn’t fit well as emphasis points yesterday. One, I am amazed by how the word “proclaim” or “tell” is a feature of this entire passage. God’s Servant has been anointed as a proclaimer first and foremost. His proclamation becomes His agenda. He proclaims freedom for captives and then sets demon possessed people free. He proclaims healing for the brokenhearted and then bears stripes for their healing. He proclaims the year of the Lord’s favor and then showers grace and mercy from His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.
Two, our primary work as the people of God aligns with Jesus’ work. We are proclaimers. We proclaim Jesus’ goodness. This is part of how God’s splendor is on display in our lives. We can say to a broken and sin-sick world, “I have good news! “I know who can heal your brokenhearted-ness!” “I know who can set you free from the captivity you are in and release you from the darkness!” “I know a Savior who can turn your mourning into a party song!” And while evangelism often requires more of us than those simple proclamations, it is not less than proclamation. I am not good news- but I know the One who is. I am not a freedom bringer, but I know Who is. My job is to point to Him. As was drilled into my brain by a gifted evangelist, “We preach Christ, God opens blind eyes.”
Now as promised some long quotes on Isiah 61 that were simply too long for verbal repetition but, I hope are a blessing to you as they’ve been to me.
“Who are the poor? Those who are so broken by life that they have no more heart to try; those who are so bound up in their various addictions that liberty and release are a cruel mirage; those who think that they will never again experience the favor of the Lord, or see his just vengeance meted out against those who have misused them; those who think that their lives hold nothing more than ashes, sackcloth, and the faithing heaviness of despair. These are they to whom the Servant/Messiah shouts “Good news!” (Oswalt, 565)
“…what does such a phrase as oaks of righteousness mean? The use of the tree symbolizes stability, permanence, and abundance. But what is a “righteous oak”? To understand this, one must look back to Isa. 1:29-31. There sin and rebellion, the is and rebellion of glorifying the human over God, have cause the oaks in which people have delighted to wither and die. All their efforts to glorify themselves are nothing but seared leaves. Here, then, is clearly an intentional contrast. Instead of the sin of self-exultation that produces only devouring fire, all those who have accepted the fruits of the Servant’s self-denial are given the eternally fruitful righteousness of God. As they live they show the righteousness of God, which is both his grace to save and his power to enable righteous living. Such lives can do nothing else than demonstrate the beauty of God and thus beautify Him. Here is another of the great paradoxes of this book and of the Bible; try to make ourselves mighty and we burn ourselves up; admit ourselves helpless and doomed, and God gives us his beauty. We are made to be mirrors; when his beauty is reflected in us, we become beautiful.” (Oswalt, 567-68)