About the Hymn
The beautiful opening words of Isaiah 61 are a traditional Advent reading and also a reading Christ himself chose as a visiting rabbi at his home synagogue in Nazareth. These words tell us what the promised Messiah, the Anointed One, would do when he came: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me [the Messiah], because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The poor, the captive, the brokenhearted: this is us. We are spiritually impoverished, captive to the power of sin, and grief-stricken at the consequences of sin in our lives.
The Lord’s anointed comes to change this. His coming is truly a hinge of history, a few years of earthly time that changes the entire course of the human race.
Because we know Christ came for the whole world, our inclination may be to generalize his work, to emphasize his love for all people to such an extent that we forget he lived and died for individuals—for me. Jesus’ Advent changes everything for me. He comes to bring freedom to me. He comes to heal my broken heart. He comes to change my history, to give mylife purpose and promise. Advent means a new beginning for me.
Believing that Christ came for me—and saying it, singing it—isn’t self-centeredness; it’s faith. May God renew and refresh our faith in our Advent Savior!
The hymn should be performed at an expectant♩= ca. 108.
Text
1. Jesus comes, the Lord’s anointed,
comes to change all history.
Grief, despair, and deepest darkness—
these mark all humanity.
But he comes, our Advent Savior!
Now’s the Year of Jubilee!
He brings hope and joy and freedom
for all nations—and for me!
2. Jesus comes to bring me freedom
from the prison of my sins.
He has seen me shamed and shackled
to my crude, self-serving whims.
But he comes! He comes in mercy,
breaks those chains and rescues me,
gives me strength to live forgiven,
claims me for eternity.
3. Jesus comes to lift my spirit
from its deep and dark malaise.
He has seen me bitter, broken,
seen my disillusioned days.
But he comes! He comes with healing,
mending places torn apart.
With his love and deep compassion
he binds up my broken heart.
4. Jesus comes, the Lord’s anointed,
comes to change my history.
He, the King, becomes the Servant,
raises me to royalty.
Gone my sin and gone my sadness!
Now a new day has begun!
Life has promise, life has purpose
since my Advent Savior comes.
© 2014 Laurie F. Gauger
Lectionary Reading
Year B, Third Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 61:1–4, 8–11
The Year of the Lord’s Favor
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
“For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
