8. According to Isaiah 61:1-4, the prophet was inspired to speak as if he were who, and what did he there say?

⁸ Later, under further inspiration, the prophet Isaiah spoke as if he were the Anointed One of the Most High God, saying: “The spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me, for the reason that Jehovah has anointed me to tell good news to the meek ones. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to those taken captive and the wide opening of the eyes even to the prisoners;

Isa. 61:1-4.

 9. (a) What themes did that “good news” include? (b) How did the Greek translation (LXX) render the part about the “year” and the “day”?

⁹ Was that not “good news” to tell to the meek and mourning ones?

When on earth this Son was given a name that quite corresponds with the name of the prophet who gave the prophecy about the Anointed One. At God’s command to his earthly mother, he was given the name “Jesus.” This shortened form of the name Jehoshuah means “Jehovah Has Saved,” whereas the name Isaiah means “Saved Has Jah (or, Jehovah).” Harmoniously with this, the prophet Isaiah was in a number of cases a type or prophetic figure of Jesus the Messiah or Christ.​—Luke 1:30-33; Matt. 1:20, 21.

12, 13. (a) For Jesus to become Messiah and officially proclaim the “year,” what was necessary? (b) From what after his baptism did Jesus know he had Jehovah’s goodwill, in harmony with what prophecy?

¹² Since Isaiah’s prophecy said, “The spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me, for the reason that Jehovah has anointed me,” Jesus had to be anointed with Jehovah’s spirit before he would really be the Messiah, Christ, or Anointed One, and before he could officially “proclaim the year of goodwill on the part of Jehovah.” He was thus anointed with Jehovah’s spirit after John baptized him in water and he came up out of the baptismal waters of the Jordan River. The descent of Jehovah’s spirit upon the baptized Jesus was symbolized visually to John the Baptist by the miraculous appearing of a dove that came to a resting position over Jesus. Added to this, John heard God’s voice from heaven saying: “This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved [Or, This is my Son, my Beloved, on whom my favour rests, New English Bible].” (Matt. 3:11-17; John 1:32-34)

14, 15. (a) On what, then, did Jesus’ continuing to have Jehovah’s goodwill depend? (b) How did Jesus explain to the people of Nazareth his being no longer a carpenter among them?

¹⁴ Jesus knew that to continue to have Jehovah’s goodwill or favor he must carry out the commission to which he was anointed, as stated in Isaiah 61:1-3. He recognized his anointing as the Christ and also the divine commission that went with his anointing. He publicly acknowledged this at Nazareth where he had grown to thirty years of age, and thus he explained to the people of Nazareth why he had not been any longer a carpenter among them for more than the past six months. As regards this we read:

¹⁵ “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been reared; and, according to his custom on the sabbath day, he entered into the synagogue, and he stood up to read. So the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed him, and he opened the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘Jehovah’s spirit is upon me, because he anointed me to declare good news to the poor, he sent me forth to preach a release to the captives and a recovery of sight to the blind,

20. (a) Rather than their material well-being, what was to be cared for in the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-3 to Jehovah’s people? (b) What was the objective of this as regards them and God?

²⁰ The material well-being of Jesus’ own people was not the essential thing to call for the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-3. The things that were set out there in the commission to Jehovah’s anointed one were to be fulfilled in a spiritual way. Jehovah’s goodwill needed to be expressed in providing things more essential than material things. Not liberation from ancient Babylon as in the year 537 B.C.E., but releasing the captives from oppressive religious bondage was what Jehovah offered to his chosen people through his anointed Son Jesus. Not deliverance from subjection to the pagan Roman Empire, but deliverance from subjection to sin and its penalty death was what Jehovah in his favor held forth through the sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ. These were the real things over which to cease mourning, to be joyful and to praise Jehovah as God.

21. (a) Who got the benefit of that “goodwill on the part of Jehovah” through the Messiah? (b) In what work were they commissioned to share from Pentecost of 33 C.E. onward?

²¹ Who got the benefit of that “goodwill on the part of Jehovah”? Not the Jewish nation, although the opportunity was wide open for them to take advantage of it; but the really “meek” ones, the religiously mourning ones, the ones who felt their captivity to a false religious system, these ones who became the baptized followers of Jehovah’s Anointed One, Jesus. They were the ones that also received the anointing with God’s spirit, just as their spiritual Head and Leader Jesus had received it. They were thereby commissioned like him to share in the telling of the good news to other meek ones, and in bringing release to the blinded captives of false religion and in comforting those mourning because of a lack of God’s blessing.