Christ's commission.
Isai. lxi. 1 — 3. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek ; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to pro- claim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God ; to comfort all that mourn ; to appoint unto them that mourn hi Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
IMPORTANT as these words evidently are on account of the blessed truths contained in them, they come recommended to us with double force, from their having been made the subject of our Lord's first discourse after his entrance on his prophetic office. The interpretation of them, which he has suggested, leaves us no doubt respecting the propriety of apply- ing them to him\ While therefore we " begin at this Scripture, and preach unto you Jesus," we may truly say, " This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." May the rehearsal of it excite amongst us, not merely a transient admiration, but a deep and permanent desire to enjoy the blessings revealed in it. The prophet, speaking of the Messiah, declares,
I. His call to his office —
Our Lord was consecrated to his prophetic office by a visible unction of the Holy Spirit.
[As the priests and kings were separated to their re- spective offices by pouring oil upon their heads, so, on some occasions, were the prophets alsob. Our Lord, who, in all his offices, infinitely excelled all that had gone before him, was consecrated by an unction, of which the anointing oil was but a type and shadow. "The Spirit of the Lord God" was poured out upon him at the time of his baptism ; and the descent of the Spirit in a visible shape, like a dove, upon him, marked him as divinely commissioned to execute the work and
a Luke iv. 17—22. b 1 Kings xix. 16.