Isaiah 61:1-3

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ¹  me. ² 

He has commissioned ³  me to encourage ⁴  the poor,

to help ⁵  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

61:2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor,

the day when our God will seek vengeance, ⁶ 

to console all who mourn,

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ⁷  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ⁸  instead of discouragement. ⁹ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ¹⁰ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ¹¹ 

Luke 2:49

2:49 But ¹²  he replied, ¹³  “Why were you looking for me? ¹⁴  Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” ¹⁵ 

Luke 4:18-21

4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed ¹⁶  me to proclaim good news ¹⁷  to the poor. ¹⁸ 

He has sent me ¹⁹  to proclaim release ²⁰  to the captives

and the regaining of sight ²¹  to the blind,

to set free ²²  those who are oppressed, ²³ 

4:19 to proclaim the year ²⁴  of the Lord’s favor.” ²⁵ 

4:20 Then ²⁶  he rolled up ²⁷  the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on ²⁸  him. 4:21 Then ²⁹  he began to tell them, “Today ³⁰  this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.” ³¹ 

John 9:4

9:4 We must perform the deeds ³²  of the one who sent me ³³  as long as ³⁴  it is daytime. Night is coming when no one can work.

John 16:28

16:28 I came from the Father and entered into the world, but in turn, ³⁵  I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” ³⁶ 

John 17:4

17:4 I glorified you on earth by completing ³⁷  the work you gave me to do. ³⁸ 

John 17:8

17:8 because I have given them the words you have given me. They ³⁹  accepted ⁴⁰  them ⁴¹  and really ⁴²  understand ⁴³  that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

[61:1]  ¹ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ² sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ³ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ⁴ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[61:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance.

[61:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ¹⁰ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[2:49]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.

[2:49]  ¹³ tn Grk “he said to them.”

[2:49]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Why is it that you were looking for me?”

[2:49]  ¹⁵ tn Or “I must be about my Father’s business” (so KJV, NKJV); Grk “in the [things] of my Father,” with an ellipsis. This verse involves an idiom that probably refers to the necessity of Jesus being involved in the instruction about God, given what he is doing. The most widely held view today takes this as a reference to the temple as the Father’s house. Jesus is saying that his parents should have known where he was.

[4:18]  ¹⁶ sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.

[4:18]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”

[4:18]  ¹⁸ sn The poor is a key term in Luke. It refers to the pious poor and indicates Jesus’ desire to reach out to those the world tends to forget or mistreat. It is like 1:52 in force and also will be echoed in 6:20 (also 1 Pet 2:11-25). Jesus is commissioned to do this.

[4:18]  ¹⁹ tc The majority of mss, especially the later Byzantines, include the phrase “to heal the brokenhearted” at this point (A Θ Ψ 0102 ˹ Ï). The phrase is lacking in several weighty mss (א B D L W Ξ Ë¹³ 33 579 700 892* pc lat sy^s co), including representatives from both the Alexandrian and Western texttypes. From the standpoint of external evidence, the omission of the phrase is more likely original. When internal evidence is considered, the shorter reading becomes almost certain. Scribes would be much more prone to add the phrase here to align the text with Isa 61:1, the source of the quotation, than to remove it from the original.

[4:18]  ²⁰ sn The release in view here is comprehensive, both at a physical level and a spiritual one, as the entire ministry of Jesus makes clear (Luke 1:77-79; 7:47; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43).

[4:18]  ²¹ sn Again, as with the previous phrase, regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[4:18]  ²² sn The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message – he brings the deliverance. The word translated set free is the same Greek word (ἄφεσις, afesi") translated release earlier in the verse.

[4:18]  ²³ sn Again, as with the previous phrases, oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[4:19]  ²⁴ sn The year of the Lord’s favor (Grk “the acceptable year of the Lord”) is a description of the year of Jubilee (Lev 25:10). The year of the total forgiveness of debt is now turned into a metaphor for salvation. Jesus had come to proclaim that God was ready to forgive sin totally.

[4:19]  ²⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 61:1-2a. Within the citation is a line from Isa 58:6, with its reference to setting the oppressed free.

[4:20]  ²⁶ tn Grk “And closing.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[4:20]  ²⁷ tn Grk “closing,” but a scroll of this period would have to be rolled up. The participle πτύξας (ptuxas) has been translated as a finite verb due to the requirements of contemporary English style.

[4:20]  ²⁸ tn Or “gazing at,” “staring at.”

[4:21]  ²⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[4:21]  ³⁰ sn See the note on today in 2:11.

[4:21]  ³¹ tn Grk “in your hearing.”

[9:4]  ³² tn Grk “We must work the works.”

[9:4]  ³³ tn Or “of him who sent me” (God).

[9:4]  ³⁴ tn Or “while.”

[16:28]  ³⁵ tn Or “into the world; again.” Here πάλιν (palin) functions as a marker of contrast, with the implication of a sequence.

[16:28]  ³⁶ sn The statement I am leaving the world and going to the Father is a summary of the entire Gospel of John. It summarizes the earthly career of the Word made flesh, Jesus of Nazareth, on his mission from the Father to be the Savior of the world, beginning with his entry into the world as he came forth from God and concluding with his departure from the world as he returned to the Father.

[17:4]  ³⁷ tn Or “by finishing” or “by accomplishing.” Jesus now states that he has glorified the Father on earth by finishing (τελειώσας [teleiwsas] is best understood as an adverbial participle of means) the work which the Father had given him to do.

[17:4]  ³⁸ tn Grk “the work that you gave to me so that I may do it.”

[17:8]  ³⁹ tn Grk And they.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “received.”

[17:8]  ⁴¹ tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[17:8]  ⁴² tn Or “truly.”

[17:8]  ⁴³ tn Or have come to know.”