1The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me,
because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble.
He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to those who are bound,
2to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3to provide for those who mourn in Zion,
to give to them a garland for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
that they may be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of Yahweh,
that he may be glorified.
4They will rebuild the old ruins.
They will raise up the former devastated places.
They will repair the ruined cities
that have been devastated for many generations.
5Strangers will stand and feed your flocks.
Foreigners will work your fields and your vineyards.
6But you will be called Yahweh’s priests.
Men will call you the servants of our God.
You will eat the wealth of the nations.
You will boast in their glory.
7Instead of your shame you will have double.
Instead of dishonor, they will rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they will possess double.
Everlasting joy will be to them.
8“For I, Yahweh, love justice.
I hate robbery and iniquity.
I will give them their reward in truth
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9Their offspring will be known among the nations,
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge them,
that they are the offspring which Yahweh has blessed.”
10I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh!
My soul will be joyful in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation.
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11For as the earth produces its bud,
and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
The Holy Spirit is mentioned more times in Luke’s Gospel than the other two Synoptic Gospels. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is how Luke explains the ability of the human Jesus to live a sinless and exemplary life in the place of all who would believe in him. In announcing Mary's conception of Jesus, the angel explained: "'The Holy Spirit will come upon you... '" (Luke1:35). Elizabeth was "filled with the Holy Spirit" when she heard Mary's greeting (1:41); so was Zacharias when he blessed his son, John the Baptist (1:67). The Holy Spirit is prominent in Simeon's blessing of baby Jesus, having revealed that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Christ (2:25-27). John spoke of Jesus as one coming after Him who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (3:16). At Jesus' baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove (3:22). It was the Spirit who led Jesus around in the wilderness for the forty days that He was tempted (4:1). Jesus returned to Galilee "in the power of the Spirit" (4:14). At Nazareth, He read from Isaiah 61:1, "'The Spirit of the LORD is upon me...'" (4:18). It was "in the Holy Spirit" that Jesus rejoiced greatly at the glowing report of the seventy whom He had sent out in pairs ahead of Him (10:21). His final rejection by Israel's leaders was blasphemy "against the Holy Spirit" (12:10). Jesus assured His disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them what they should say in the very hour of persecution (12:12). It was into the Father's hands that Jesus committed His Spirit (23:46). At His ascension, Jesus announced that He would send "the promise of My Father," which would clothe them with "power from on high." Luke's readers are left anticipating the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, in whose power they would be Christ's witnesses (Acts 1:8). As the sequel to Luke's Gospel, Acts tells how the Christ continues His work on earth through the people His Spirit indwells. -DG