because YHVH has anointed me to bring Basar (gospel-good tidings) to the afflicted…. to grant to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of YHVH, that he may be glorified. Isaiah 61:1a, 3 RSV
...a garland instead of ashes....
This phrase has deeply affected me. All my hard work to build something beautiful in my life, to affect the lives around me with beauty, has burned out resulting in nothing but a hand-full of ashes, leaving me dirty as they slipped through my fingers, making filth on everything and everyone I touch.
...beauty for ashes.... nkj
My hands are clean, but not by my effort, not by the same kind of washing that Pilot tried to cleanse his hands of, that blood that cleansed me (Matthew 27:24) . My acceptance from YHVH (God) came by the blood of Y'shua (Jesus). It is the same blood that filled Pilots heart with fear that filled my heart with shalom, with peace. That blood is my assurance of salvation when the wrath of YHVH is released upon the earth. By that blood I have been reconciled to YHVH.
What is reconciliation? In Greek it is a compound word; kata (meaning intense) + allasso (to change). The intense change is redemption, my sin is exchanged for the shalom of YHVH. The justice of YHVH did not allow my sinful self to come near Him. My raw sin made me His enemy and I was helpless to do anything about it, try though I might. But YHVH was not helpless. He sent his beloved, willing Son, Y’shua ha Mashiach, to die for me, for you, to pay the price of sin, to open the way of relationship with YHVH! I was changed, YHVH stayed the same. You know about Y’shua-Jesus, that he did not stay dead (Romans 1:4). YHVH raised him to life. His death was my reconciliation, his life is my assurance of shalom-peace when the rest of the world knows only wrath because, like Pilot, they tried to wash their own hands. I know the joy of YHVH, he is my rejoicing!
Personal study of ROMANS 5: 9-11
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