Under Grace

DEVOTION

PROPHESIES AND FULFILLMENTS CONCERNING CHRIST

UNDER GRACE

Isa 61:1-2

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach 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, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

NIV

We have always considered Jesus is the first one to preach the good news to the poor. No one before him would even be able to preach that except God himself as he spoke through Isaiah. This is all about Jesus coming to preach the good news and set the captives, which is all who are captive to sin, free. Let see the fulfillment verses.

Luke 4:16-21

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,   19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20 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, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." 

NIV

Jesus testifies those words spoken through the prophet Isaiah were spoken about him. He did preach the good news to the poor. Yet we also have to know that word poor is not to mean people without money, or beggars. Wealthy people without Jesus in their life are just a poor as people of meager means, if they do not have Jesus in their hearts. The poor are those who are captives, who are enslaved to sin, held in chains, in prison, so to speak. People who do not know Jesus because of their captivity are blinded by their own sin. They have no sight for anything other than fulfilling their own lust, desires, greed, ambitions and rewards. We know this because we were one of them. We were oppressed by the deception of the evil one, he kept us down, in the grave in a sense. But Jesus came to preach the good news to our heart and mind, we were able to hear, and our heart was lite up. Our eyes were opened and we saw His Glory. The prison door was opened, just like when Peter was freed.

Acts 12:5-10

5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

NIV

We have been freed by the Spirit of God coming to convict us of our sin and showing us the way to Jesus who proclaimed the good news to us. We have been set free from the bondage of sin. We have been set free from the chains that bind us. Now longer are we guarded by the demons of hell, kept still in our prison, we can now go about jumping and leaping and praising God. We have been comforted because we mourned or grieved over our bondage, and accepted his favor. We are living under the Lords favor, under his grace.