Isaiah 61:1 - Homilies By W.m. Statham

The coming Saviour.

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me," etc. These words are specially memorable as being those which the Saviour read in the synagogue at Nazareth. We have had it described to us "with its pillared portico of Grecian architecture, with its scats on one side for the men; on the other, behind a lattice, are seated the women, shrouded in their long veils." When the lesson from the Pentateuch was over, Jesus ascended the steps of the desk, and the chazzan , or clerk, "drew aside the silk curtain of the painted ark, which contained the sacred manuscripts," and from the roll of the Prophet Isaiah, either read the lesson for the day, or chose the portion himself. We can scarcely read these words here without thinking of him there , the whole congregation standing up to listen to him. The words contain—

I. THE MESSIANIC GRANDEUR OF CHRIST . Anointed of the Father. No mere prophet or teacher, but the Holy One of Israel. This prophecy, written some seven hundred years before, and thus attested by the Saviour as written concerning himself, gives Divine testimony to the ancient inspiration.

II. THE MESSIANIC WORK OF CHRIST .

1 . It was a proclamation. "Good tidings." Think of the iron power of Rome; the selfishness of the rich; the pride of the patrician; the helplessness of the slave; the hopelessness of the philosopher. Christ came to the meek , not the mighty.

2 . It was a consolation. "To bind up the brokenhearted." To heal by the touch of his sympathy, and to save by the power of his cross.

3 . It was a deliverance. "To proclaim liberty to the captives," etc. Sin had woven its silken cords into iron bands. Men were slaves of lust and habit. The prison was opened; and the fetters which they could not shake off Christ struck from their souls.—W.M.S.