Thursday, October 29, 2026

Opening Scriptures

Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16-21

Opening Prayer

Gracious Father, thank you for this day, another chance to love and serve You. Help me make the most of it and do everything I can to please You. May Your priorities be mine. Remind me that, apart from You, I can do nothing. Help me follow the Spirit today as He guides me in grace, truth, and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Help me not to be foolish, but to understand your good, pleasing, and perfect will. Open my heart and mind to all You want me to know and learn. As I draw near to You, please draw near to me and help me sense Your presence. Help me to stand strong against the evil one, and to think and act as Your child. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

Isaiah 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

Reflection 

There is so much beautiful imagery in today’s familiar passage. I was in a prayer time in preparation for our Flourishing Retreat in Italy recently when a lady I did not know prayed that God would “pour the oil of joy and gladness” on our time together. It touched me in a way that God’s Word so often does!

In today’s text, the Divine Servant – the Messiah – steps up and declares again the mission that Almighty God has entrusted to Him. In each encounter with this unique and mysterious Individual, the listener gains new insight into His identity and purpose. While Isaiah’s message was no doubt confusing for the ancient Israelites, on this side of the cross, we see and understand the fuller picture.

How wonderfully amazing and appropriate for Jesus to stand up in his hometown synagogue centuries later and read this passage aloud to the congregation. Truly, He was, and is, the fulfillment of the prophecy!

While Jesus only read the first part of today’s text in church that Sabbath, the assignment He took on was profound and included all that we read today and more. Proclaim good news to the poor. Bind up the brokenhearted. Proclaim freedom for the captives. Declare release from darkness for the prisoners. Announce the year of the LORD’s favor. Comfort all who mourn. Provide for those who grieve. Bestow on them a crown of beauty and the oil of joy. Give them a garment of praise. Who but the Servant of the LORD could accomplish all that?

Surely, this prophecy was an encouragement to those who were reeling from the events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the loss of life and property, seventy years of captivity in Babylon, the challenge of rebuilding, and the uncertainty surrounding their future. It surely should be an encouragement for us today, as well.

Flourishing Habit

Flourishing Christians

In the chapters we have passed over since yesterday, there is an abundance of teaching and truth that we need to pause and touch on.

Chapter 56 discusses the importance of justice and righteousness. This pertains especially to those previously despised and disdained by the Jews. The Babylonian exiles were returning home to a new reality. They were now part of the Persian Empire. The city of Jerusalem and its wall were in disrepair. Their neighbors viewed them with suspicion and hostility. More challenges were coming.

Isaiah was declaring that God’s mercy and grace to the Jews was only part of His great plan of redemption. He was now inviting “eunuchs and foreigners” into His kingdom. What?

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant – to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer” (Isaiah 56:4-7).

The fact that Almighty God was now inviting “eunuchs and foreigners” who love Him into His kingdom must have been shocking to the returning exiles. That truth was beautifully fulfilled many years later when God led Phillip to a desert road for a divine appointment with an Ethiopian eunuch, who just happened to be reading the scroll of Isaiah. Phillip explained that the Suffering Servant described by the prophet was in fact Jesus the Messiah who died for our sins. The man believed, was baptized, and took the Gospel to Africa.

Chapter 58 describes “true fasting.” For many Jews, fasting had become performance piety, self-righteousness and an attempt to obligate God in some transactional religious arrangement. They complained that God was ignoring their fasting. “Why have we fasted and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed?”

God sternly replies, “On the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice, to set the oppressed free, to share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter.”

In Chapter 59, Isaiah offers instruction on true confession and repentance. When the people point to their religious rituals to place the blame for their problems on God, he turns the table on them. “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue muttered wicked things” (Isaiah 59:1-3).

Thankfully, there remains a group of devoted worshippers who recognize and repent of their sin. “Our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived” (Isaiah 59:12-13).

For that faithful remnant, Chapter 60 describes the future glory of God in the New Zion. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come” (Isaiah 60:1-5).

All of this is still playing out today in the “now and not yet” (inaugurated eschatology) of the kingdom of God. The Divine Servant has defeated sin and death. God’s kingdom is beginning to be established on Earth, wherever Jesus is Lord. God’s Spirit is at work in the hearts and lives of believers, yet a darkness still hangs over our broken world.

There is still pain and sadness, loss and grief, disease and abuse, and the consequences of sin. In the middle of it all, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. “We implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God!”

Ask God to help you embrace the mission of today’s passage in your own life. Humbly declare: “The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news.”

This week’s collective prayer: Father, teach me to be sensitive to your Holy Spirit at work in me. Amen.

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!