2014 — The Favorable Year of the Lord

As the New Year arrives it is a natural time for Christian people to consider what the significance of the old year was and what that of the new year will be. When we understand the command of Christ to seek first His kingdom and righteousness we find ourselves wondering how we might best obey Him in the coming months. We understand that Jesus wins the contests of history. We believe that the powers of hell will not prevail against the army of God. We know that victory is His.

Isaiah’s Favorable Year

It was Isaiah who wrote

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God (Isaiah 61:1-2)

When Jesus quoted this Old Testament prophecy He told His audience that “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” One of the things that is notable about His quote is that Jesus ended it at the phrase “to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” He very purposely avoided quoting the last segment of that sentence, “and the day of vengeance of our God.”  This was not because our Lord was trying to misquote or to fool anybody. It had, rather, to do with the topic He wanted to discuss that day. It was because He first desired to begin by talking about the favorable year of the Lord not the day of vengeance.

Jesus’ Favorable Year

Whenever we go into a new year it is natural to think about where we are going. We reconsider the previous year, what was important, what was its meaning and we start to plan the new year. We are often making plans to use our days more wisely, enjoy life in bigger ways, or figuring how to increase our prosperity. Some of us are thinking about how we might better build God’s kingdom over the next twelve months. When Jesus stopped His quote with the words about “the favorable year of the Lord” He was making a point about the era at hand. His ministry lasted more than a single year. However, His choice of the word year had connotations we ought not miss.

The prophet Joel had introduced the phrase, “The day of the Lord”, using it three times to describe a coming season of judgment. It did not refer to a single day but to a segment of history when God would especially bring His wrath upon national Israel. The, day of the Lord, was a day to be feared. It was a day from which to seek escape, to prepare for, to make sure the soul was repentant and forgiven. Likely, it was this day of the Lord Isaiah was mentioning, “and the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2). Its arrival, seemingly, was to be after the favorable year of the Lord era had begun.

So, a judgment era is talked about in terms of being a day but the blessing era is the favorable year. The dominant idea, is not judgment but blessing. The longer term condition will be blessing not cursing. Judgment will be the day of judgment, but blessing will be the year of blessing. Each describes an era but the era of blessing will prevail in history. It is the acceptable year of the Lord we pray for when we pray, “Thy kingdom come Thy will be done on earth…”

Jesus mourned Jerusalem and its future lamenting, “you did not recognize the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:44). The time was at hand for national Israel. Their long-awaited Savior had arrived, proclaimed His status as Messiah, and was preparing to make Himself a sacrifice for His elect. Yet, the nation represented here by Jerusalem, had overlooked the time of Christ’s visitation. They did not recognize He who had walked in their midst. The very One for whom they had waited, who had walked their roads, attended their feasts, and healed their sick was not understood. The Jews had not seen Jesus for who He was. Israel’s eyes had not been opened at that time of visitation. Theirs then would also be the day of the Lord in all its fury.

A Favorable Year for Us

But to us children of God, are destined better things. The favorable year of the Lord is not only an era it is the era. It is the era for which all nature groans. It is the culmination of the redemptive work of our God for His glory and our good. It is the kingdom work wherever found and is the defeat of all God’s enemies. When Jesus quoted this scripture at the outset of His ministry He was declaring forthrightly an advancing historical paradigm. The Old Testament promise of blessing to a thousand generations is fulfilled in Christ. The blessing is among us and it is progressing from faith to faith, from year to year, from present into eternity. This is the favorable year of the Lord. 2014 is a tiny segment of an eternal history, and for the redeemed it is favorable in God’s sight. The favorable year of the Lord is upon us. We should expect great things.

For Christian Culture,

Don Schanzenbach, 12-30-2013

Photo Credit: freedigitalphotos.net & SOMMAI

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