To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified, (61:3).

Oh these beautiful verses revealing the work of our God, revealing transformation at its most glorious, transformation that is all for His glory, transformation that is fulfilled in Jesus.

After Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He returned to the place where He was brought up to begin His public ministry. And in the synagogue, when handed the book of Isaiah, it was to this portion that Jesus intentionally turned. And when He finished reading, He sat down and proclaimed Himself as the fulfillment of this prophecy.

And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. ¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
²⁰ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” (Luke 4:16-21).

“The Jewish doctors, to show their reverence for the Scriptures, always stood when they read them, but when they taught the people they sat down,” Benson Commentary.

After reading the Truth, He taught Truth: He is the Messiah, the One Who came to transform a people for His glory. And since Jesus told us so, we know this chapter will be all about Him; and we will see His transforming Power when despair and death will be no more, and Instead… in Jesus, we will see Hope and Life; we will see His Instead.

Consider His Instead

• Where there is affliction… Instead, there is good news
  • The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    Because the Lord has anointed me
    To bring good news to the afflicted… (61:1).

• Where there is brokenness,… Instead, there is binding up
  • …He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, (61:1).

• Where there is captivity and prison… Instead, there is liberty and freedom
  • …To proclaim liberty to captives
    And freedom to prisoners, (61:1).

• Where there is mourning… Instead, there is favor and comfort
  • To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
    And the day of vengeance of our God;
    To comfort all who mourn, (61:2).

• Where there is consuming grief… Instead, there is overflowing gladness
  • To grant those who mourn in Zion,
    Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
    The oil of gladness instead of mourning… (61:3).

• Where there is a spirit of weakness… Instead, there is a mantle of praise
  • …The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting… (61:3).

• Where there is destruction… Instead, there is His permanent planting
  • …So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
    The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified, (61:3).

• Where there is ruin… Instead, there is rebuilding
  • Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,
    They will raise up the former devastations… (61:4).

• Where there is desolation… Instead, there is restoration
  • …And they will repair the ruined cities,
    The desolations of many generations, (61:4).

• Where there is oppression… Instead, there is favor
  • Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,
    And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
    ⁶ But you will be called the priests of the Lord;
    You will be spoken of as ministers of our God.
    You will eat the wealth of nations,
    And in their riches you will boast, (61:5-6).

• Where there is shame and humiliation… Instead, there is honor and joy
  • Instead of your shame you will have a double portion,
    And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion.
    Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land,
    Everlasting joy will be theirs, (61:7).

• Where there is extortion and robbery… Instead, there is everlasting justice
  • For I, the Lord, love justice,
    I hate robbery in the burnt offering;
    And I will faithfully give them their recompense
    And make an everlasting covenant with them, (61:8).

• Where there is dishonor… Instead, there is honor
  • Then their offspring will be known among the nations,
    And their descendants in the midst of the peoples.
    All who see them will recognize them
    Because they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed, (61:9).

• Where there is sin and rebellion… Instead, there is salvation and righteousness
  • I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,
    My soul will exult in my God;
    For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
    He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,
    As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
    And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels, (61:10).

• Where there is death and decay… Instead, there is abundant life, righteousness and praise
  • For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
    And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up,
    So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
    To spring up before all the nations, (61:11).

How do we respond to His Instead?

The word, instead, in the Hebrew language has its root in being “under or beneath.”

Instead: “8478. תַּחַת taḥaṯ: A preposition meaning under, beneath; in place of. It indicates a position below or underneath some other reference point… It can mean in place of, instead of… out from under…” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.

How appropriate. For it is only as we humble ourselves and place ourselves beneath Him, and by faith, place ourselves beneath His sacrifice, that we are then positioned under Him to be lifted to live in the place of His Instead.

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, (Colossians 1:13-14).

When we trust the Messiah to save us, we are ushered into His Instead; and by faith, Instead of living in the domain of darkness, we now live in His kingdom. And His kingdom will not be shaken; Instead, we will be planted with the strongest of roots in His righteousness. And Instead of self-seeking, everything will be for His glory.

…So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified, (61:3).

How can we refuse so generous an offer? And how can we ever forget or take His Instead for granted? For Instead of the filthy rags of our attempted righteousness, in Christ, we are clothed in the garments of salvation, the robes of His righteousness.

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags… (Isaiah 64:6 NIV).

I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,
My soul will exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels, (61:10).

Oh, that we would indeed rejoice greatly, with all that we are; for Instead of being separated from Him and without hope, we are brought near, by His blood shed for us.

Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— ¹² remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, (Ephesians 2:11-13).

Oh, let us never get over it! The transformation is His miraculously Divine Work, and Instead of what we once were, we are made new in Christ!

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come, (2 Corinthians 5:17).

How can we keep His Instead to ourselves? For, Instead of hoarding the good news, He has called us to share His Instead with those who are lost and separated from Him.

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation, (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Oh, may we never forget how far away we once were from Him, and His supernatural grace that brought us to dwell in fellowship with Him in the place of His Instead. Let us live in such gratitude and humility that we would be so eager, so earnest, and so honored to be His ambassadors. Let us live in a way that would draw others to desire to know Him as we share the great news that through Jesus Christ, we can be reconciled to God and live forever in His Instead.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).

Let us never forget.. Instead of His Sinlessness, He became sin so that Instead of our unrighteousness, we could become the Righteousness of God in Christ. How can we ever keep that to ourselves!

Let’s Be His Ambassadors and Grow Together!