Isaiah 61:1 English Standard Version

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;^{[the afflicted]} he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;^{[blindfolded]}

The first thing that is addressed here is the most important part in any relevant understanding. It the Spirit of the Lord in us or upon us?

This is one of those conditional situations where we must determine if our anointing is a seasonal condition or a lifelong pursuit. More will be said about that matter in Isaiah 61:2. For now, we should come to terms with what is present in this opening verse.

When it comes to anointing we must accept that there is a difference between the Lord’s anointing and man’s anointing.

The Lord’s anointing is performed without assistance from man. There is no ceremonial display that is a sign of a changing in to the one being anointed. Man’s anointing is a sign to others that this person is acceptable within the church to perform service to others. The anointed one is to be trusted and a source of help for those who are afflicted.

The second issue is seen as evangelism. At the time of Isaiah’s writing the gospel was only a promise. The Good News did not come into being until after Jesus Christ ascended to His throne. We live in the church age and the Good News is on our lips. That does not make us all evangelists.

Ephesians 4:11 English Standard Version (ESV) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

Evangelist is just one of the service gifts granted by our Lord, His anointing.