RUNNING HEAD: SCRIPTURE JOURNAL 2

Scripture Journal 2: Holistic Restoration through Jesus Christ (Isaiah 61)

Caitlin Leffingwell
Eastern University

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Summary
Labeled everything from The Year of the Lords Favor (NIV) to Good News for the
Oppressed (NLT), Isaiah 61 paints a vivid image of the restoration that God has planned for His
people. In fact, this picture is so central to Gods work that Jesus ultimately used it as his mission
statement when declaring his identity and purpose toward the beginning of his ministry (Luke
4:18-19). It falls within the last section of this prophetic book, after its writer, the great prophet
Isaiah, has already poignantly impressed upon his readers the mighty holiness of God and the
impending judgement for sin. In a relieving twist, this grand finale reveals Gods merciful
redemption and endless love for His people as He unfolds His ultimate plan: complete salvation
through a Messiah who will redeem the world with powerful sacrifice.
Within this context, the passage begins with beautiful examples of how the speakerfirst
the prophet Isaiah and later Jesushas been called and equipped by the Spirit to reverse virtually
every negative condition of the human experience, including all forms of poverty, broken hearts,
imprisonment, grief, and despair. In the place of such brokenness, he will provide healing,
freedom, favor, comfort, and gladness. Moreover, the passage continues with a declaration of
renewal as cities are rebuilt, wealth is restored, and joy replaces hopelessness. These changes
allude to a deep and permanent form of the societal reset that God ordained through the Year of
Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-55), which effectively set up structural principles that prevented human
nature from profiting at the expense of the poor. Yet this new Kingdom involves not only
structural revitalization, but also relational revitalizationa renewed covenant with our Creator.
The last section of this chapter helps create a climax for the many previous chapters that dealt
with Gods holy wrath toward disobedient and distant people by speaking to a new delight in the

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Lord, renewed salvation, and such uncontainable righteousness and praise that all of the nations
would acknowledge Gods goodness.
Theme
Despite being a relatively brief chapter in Isaiahs vast prophetic work, the many deep
truths packed within its eleven verses affirm its significance within even the greater story of
Scripture. One such truth is the theme of holistic restoration. As it explains what Gods servant is
to do, the chapter begins with concrete physical restoration as he comes to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners
(Isaiah 61:1b, NIV). In classic Isaiah fashion, the chapter then poetically expresses his desire to
comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve by replacing external symbols of
despair with equivalent symbols of joy (61:2-3). These are certainly external changes at least in
part, because they are given for the display of his splendor (61:3b), and because the following
verses detail specific societal blessings like riches worth boasting about (61:6) and a double
inheritance (usually just the firstborns portion) for everyone (61:7).
Such concepts of Gods physical blessing permeate Scripture, starting even in the Garden
of Eden where God abundantly supplied everything that Adam and Eve needed to live (Genesis
2). Deuteronomy 28:2-14 provides a long list of blessings that would accompany obedience to
God, and these include prosperity of all kinds: crops, children, land, security, and even renown.
Moreover, the New Testament also speaks to God caring about physical redemption through the
powerful fact that Jesus cared so much for the physical brokenness around him. In addition to
claiming Isaiah 61 as his mission statement, he also confirmed his identity to John the Baptist by
declaring that through him The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are
cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor (Luke 7:22,

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NIV). This ascending scale of impressive deeds (Barker, 2008, p.1579) culminates in bringing
the good news to the poora key identifying factor of the Messiah.
After starting with this idea of physical, external restoration, Isaiah 61 then begins
speaking to the idea of spiritual, relational restoration through an everlasting covenant with his
people. He speaks of this as a way to reward them (61:8) and to make it such that All who see
them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed (61:9). In other words,
blessings from God may take an external form because He knows that this is our love
language, so to speak, but the ultimate purpose is to bring His people and everyone around them
into a closer relationship with their Creator. The importance of learning to love the Giver rather
than the gifts is expressed in Isaiah 61:10, which conveys a beautiful response to the myriad of
physical blessings: I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. Finally, the
chapter concludes with the poignant analogy of a marriage, in which both parties are adorned
with righteousness, salvation, and praisethe fruit of spiritual restoration that allows us to
reconnect to our Creator through a sacrificial Savior.
In addition to its reference to physical restoration, Scripture speaks abundantly to this
deep, eternal restoration that comes from a healed relationship between sinful mankind and a
Holy God. In many ways, this is arguably even the ultimate goal of physical restorationthe
eternal life that is in some ways made possible by seeking, experiencing, and acknowledging
Gods physical provision. Physical gain is not our end goal, but it is included in the end result.
Jesus explains this to his disciples in the following way:
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up
your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you
give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the

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whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew
16:24-26, NLT).
Similarly, Paul writes to the church in Ephesus that All praise to God, the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we
are united with Christ (Ephesians 1:3). This relationship brings eternal blessing and permanent
restoration that can both stem from and lead to physical restoration during this temporal life. In
these ways, Isaiah 61 contributes to this theme of holistic restoration as Scripture addresses our
need for and provision of both physical and spiritual restoration.
Application
The holistic restoration provided by Jesus can be applied in a myriad of ways within my
own context in Hartford, but the specific application that stands out to me first entails structuring
my own work around a new understanding of how mutually beneficial physical and spiritual
restoration can be. I want to live out the healthy balance between seeking physical blessings and
accepting spiritual blessings, as well as actively helping those around me to access both kinds as
well. As I discovered one of my second graders stumbling through a book meant for
kindergarteners the other day, I realized just how important material restoration is for bringing
about the Kingdom of God; how can someone read the Gospel if they cannot read a childrens
book? How can they focus on the good news of a loving God when they do not know if their
next meal will come in time? While I do believe that God can make a way for salvation and even
abundant life despite severe need, I also believe that these passages from Scripture show that He
cares about meeting physical needs in addition to spiritual needs. In fact, Isaiah 61 seems to
show a progression from the physical to the spirituala progression that I want to be actively
aware of and engaged in while serving in my community.

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This new approach also means resisting the temptation to emphasize only physical
restoration, however, because the chapter spends such a significant amount of time on the
importance of a restored relationship with God. As Corbett and Fikkert (2009) highlighted,
creation is the story of how God established four foundational relationships for each person: a
relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the rest of creation These relationships
are the building blocks of all of life (p.57). Both spiritual and material blessings contribute to
restoring these relationships, and the health of our relationships ultimately determines our own
holistic well-being. As such, I want to be part of Gods holistic redemption by always
remembering that I am like the king described in Psalm 21:6 You have endowed him with
eternal blessings and given him the joy of your presence. As the daughter of God, I have
received both spiritual and physical restoration, and have been called to help bring about both for
the people around me through worshipping the holistic restorer found in Isaiah 61.

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References
Barker, K. (2008). New International Version Study Bible. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Coffey, J. (2009). To release the oppressed: Reclaiming a biblical theology of liberation.
Jubilee Centre. Retrieved from http://www.jubilee-centre.org/to-release-the-oppressedreclaiming-a-biblical-theology-of-liberation-by-john-coffey/
Corbett, S., & Fikkert, B. (2009). When helping hurts: Alleviating poverty without hurting the
poor...and yourself. Moody Publishers. Chicago.