We’ve looked at the first couple of verses of Isaiah 61 so
far in our Pentecost journey through this inspiring chapter. We’ve seen that
Isaiah 61 is not just the mission statement Christ claimed for his own ministry
in Luke, but is our life’s ministry vision as well.
Today we will look at the last bit of verse 2 and verse 3.
We are called to ‘comfort all who mourn’. This calls to mind Jesus’ Sermon on
the Mount where he states, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be
comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)
Jesus’ sermon has other parallels to Isaiah 61 that we’ll
glance at in the coming weeks. This is a God ‘coincidence’ that I just recently
realized myself. In fact, the first line of the Sermon relates to the first
verse of this chapter. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven,” Jesus says. The poor in spirit are open to the Spirit of
God that allows them to proclaim God’s freedom and favor.
Today we see that Isaiah says that the Spirit of God will “comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion—to give them a garland
instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise
instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the
planting of the Lord, to display his glory.”
Mourning is more than just grief. The
word connotes sorrow, regret and lamenting. In Hebrew the word can mean grief
over a calamity as well as sorrow for something like death. In other words,
Isaiah is promising that even those in the depths of seemingly unrelenting
grief will be restored and made glad.
When grieving, the ancient Jews would
rip their clothing, put ashes on their heads and not comb their hair and beards
(an act that included oil). Isaiah promises that all that will be reversed and
the symbols of joy and wholeness will be provided. Those who mourn will get a
garland-to indicate celebration, oil (to cleanse and anoint themselves) and be
given a mantle (clothing to replace the torn garment).
Jesus tells his disciples, “Very
truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will
grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” (John 16:20) The
Psalmist says “weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in
the morning” (Psalm 30:5b) and “I will turn their mourning into
gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow”
(Jeremiah 31:13). Again and again, God promises to redeem our mourning. We live
on the joyful side of the Resurrection and we can trust that our loving Father
will indeed turn our “wailing into dancing…removed my sackcloth and
clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11)!
We are anointed for our ministries and
clothed in the newness of life in baptism. Despite that, we are human and there
are things that cause us to mourn. Injustice, death, loss, and other tragedies
in life cause grief. It is unavoidable. However, even in our deepest grief we
can remember that we are promised that ‘your grief will turn to joy’. We can journey through life's sorrows knowing that our Loving Father is with us to transform the mourning into joy.
What in your life is causing you to
mourn? Can you accept Jesus’ promise that “Blessed are those who mourn
for they shall be comforted”? Do you believe the promise of God that ‘Joy comes
in the morning’?
