SERIES: Topical MESSAGE: The World's Most Important Comma SPEAKER: Skip Heitzig SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 61:2 MESSAGE SUMMARY In Isaiah 61:2, we discover a tiny comma. This comma represents a 2,000-year period of time: the age of grace that we are currently living in. It is during this time that we have been saved; it's the church age, and worldwide evangelism is taking place. But we are just one day away from the end of that comma. One day, that comma will become a period. At the end of that comma comes the rapture of the church and then the day of vengeance of our God on this earth. DETAILED NOTES I. Introduction A. A point of punctuation; a comma 1. Punctuation is important 2. A wealthy woman traveling overseas saw a necklace that she wanted to buy; it was $75,000 3. A comma in Isaiah 61 and again in Luke 4 B. We have been studying the book of Daniel 1. Daniel sees a vision of a coming King 2. He calls Him the Son of Man 3. He will have a worldwide kingdom that will last forever C. Jesus Christ interfaced with Old Testament prophecy 1. The prophet Isaiah tells of the coming of Jesus and calls Him the Servant of the Lord 2. The Rescuer 3. The long-awaited Messiah II. A comma between the first and second phrase in verse one A. These phrases depict Jesus 1. Jesus says that these verses are fulfilled in Him (see Luke 4:16-22) 2. Jesus stops at the comma and closes the book 3. In the New Testament we understand that the Messiah is coming twice 4. First coming comma second coming B. The coming King 1. Jesus read the first part of Isaiah 61:1 and stopped at the period; He placed a period in place of the comma 2. "Is this not Joseph's son?" (Luke 4:22) a. The Rabbis believed that Isaiah 61 referred to the coming Messiah Page 1
b. They didn't want to believe this kid from Nazareth was the Messiah c. "Jesus went into the synagogue as was His custom" (Luke 4:16) i. He did that every week ii. Would that Christians would regularly come to the church to worship 3. There are seven descriptions of the coming King that Jesus pulls from the text in Isaiah a. He's going to be anointed i. We call Him Christ, that is not His last name ii. Christ means messiah iii. Greek it's messias iv. Hebrew it's mashiach v. To smear with oil b. He will attract the poor i. There were so many poor people ii. They could relate to Jesus because He was poor iii. He said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" (Matthew 8:20) iv. "The common people heard Him gladly" (Mark 12:37) v. "Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?" (James 2:5) c. He will heal the brokenhearted i. Brokenhearted people are not easy people to hang out with a) They're emotional b) They're pessimistic c) They're morose d) They shed a lot of tears e) They tell their same broken-hearted story over and over ii. Jesus was tender hearted around the broken hearted iii. He reached out to them iv. Walk softly around a broken heart a) They don't need long sermons and explanations, they need your presence b) When a tenderhearted person meets a brokenhearted person, that brokenhearted person will remember the kindness and always invite them back v. When parents lost their children or a woman was caught in adultery, Jesus was tenderhearted d. He will proclaim liberty to the captives i. This is the second time that Jesus is said to be a preacher ii. Jesus talked a) The Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5-7) Page 2
b) The Upper Room Discourse (see John 13-16) c) The Olivet Discourse (see Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21) d) Sometimes His words were filled with promise e) Other times they were packed full of rebuke f) His words were always designed to liberate to set people free g) Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32); and "The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63) h) Peter said, when Jesus asked if they were going to leave Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68) iii. Our country puts a premium on freedom and liberty a) Freedom of speech b) Freedom from tyranny c) Freedom of assembly d) Freedom of religion iv. At the Lord's table, we testify of real freedom e. He will give sight to the blind i. Both literal and spiritual ii. He physically healed Bartimaeus (see Mark 10:46-52) iii. He healed a blind man in Jerusalem by making a mud ball with His own spit (see John 9:6-7) iv. We were spiritually blind before we came to Christ v. John Newton wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace" that contains the refrain: "Was blind but now I see" vi. The world around us is blind they don't get it f. He will help the oppressed i. The bruised ii. The crushed iii. An oppressed person is timid, they hold back in fear, they've been burned before, they're not quick to commit now iv. Jesus has found a place to rescue those who are oppressed v. Jesus never intimidates people vi. Skip thinks back to the people in his life that he's hurt and is ashamed g. This list describes the church us i. A messy bunch of people ii. Knowing that should make us more patient with each other 4. This coming King will be right on time to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord a. Jubilee year a year of freedom b. The Messiah would come at the exact right time (see Galatians 4:4-5) Page 3
c. Jesus often spoke of His hour (see John 2:4, John 7:6, and John 17:1) d. He was moving on His own timetable 5. Jesus didn't finish the verse He came to the comma, He closed the book, and He sat down C. The Conquering King 1. The verses described after the comma in Isaiah 61 2. "And the day of vengeance of our God" (Isaiah 61:2) 3. This is after the second coming a. They probably were thinking "You left the best part out; the day of vengeance" b. They wanted vengeance on Rome c. Why did they think Messiah was going to come and do that? i. In Isaiah it's all lumped up into one paragraph ii. There is a literary device called prophetic foreshortening a) Events are predicted by the prophets without the delineation of the sequence of the events b) Or, events are predicted without showing the intervals of time that happened between the events c) From a distance it looks like all one event d) From a distance, the Sandias look like one, flat, solid mountain; as you get closer and closer, you see that there are several peaks separated by valleys iii. He'll come again as a conquering King to fulfill Revelation 6-18; the day of vengeance of our God the tribulation period a) Followed by Revelation 19, the return of Jesus Christ to the earth b) Followed by Revelation 20, the comfort of all those who mourn in Zion the millennial kingdom c) Isaiah saw all this but he didn't know that the comma was a 2,000 year comma D. The considerable comma 1. This comma has lasted 2,000 years 2. Jesus made it a period 3. Punctuation saves lives a. Let's eat Grandpa! b. Let's eat, Grandpa! 4. This comma has saved our lives a. In this comma is the church age b. In this comma you were saved c. In this comma world-wide evangelism has taken place d. It's the age of grace Page 4
5. We are just one comma away from the day of the Lord 6. At the end of the comma comes the rapture of the church 7. But we are still in the comma; do something with that comma a. One day that comma will become a period b. Jesus will return, period! c. Jesus will be the judge of the earth, period! d. God will sentence all unbelievers, period! e. There will never be another choice to be made after that period III. The Lord's Supper A. We do it now, during the comma 1. We won't do it in heaven 2. We look backward to the cross 3. We look forward to His coming again B. If you do not know the Lord, do not take Communion 1. If you do, you are advertising your own condemnation (see 1 Corinthians 11:26-32) 2. A better option: give your life to the Lord now Greek terms: Μεσσίας; messias, the anointed one Hebrew terms: ; mashiach, annointed Publications referenced: "Amazing Grace" by John Newton Cross references: Matthew 5-7, Matthew 8:20, Matthew 24, Mark 10:46-52, Mark 12:37, Mark 13, Luke 4:16-22, Luke 21, John 2:4, John 6:63, John 6:68, John 7:6, John 8:32, John 9:6-7, John 13-16, John 17:1, 1 Corinthians 11:26-32, Galatians 4:4-5, James 2:5, Revelation 6-20 Topic: Communion Keywords: Jesus, Isaiah, second coming, Messiah, heaven, rapture, comfort, vengeance, return Page 5