Beauty for Ashes

By Hazel Holland

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me... to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness...that He may be glorified." Isaiah 61:1-3)

When Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth on that Sabbath day, He announced to the people present that He was the fulfillment of the Jubilee that had been foretold by the prophet Isaiah.

We know from reading the rest of the story that the people were not prepared to receive this "Good News". They were incensed and rejected the very idea that Joseph and Mary's son could be the “Anointed One”.

Nevertheless, in the same way that the Lord’s favor rested upon Jesus when He walked into the synagogue on that unforgetable day, so the Holy Spirit continued to rest upon Him for the next three years as He fulfilled His Jubilee mission.

As the Good News of salvation began to shine into the darkened recesses of people’s souls, it began to heal their broken hearts, and bring them freedom from slavery to sin. Jesus brought forth beauty from the ashes of people’s lives. He brought them hope when they were full of despair. He turned their mourning into joy and the spirit of heaviness was replaced by praise.

Jesus continues to give people beauty for ashes today. He gives us sight when we are spiritually blind, and brings us freedom when we’re oppressed by guilt. He reminds us that the basis of our acceptance with God will always be His finished work that took place outside of us on the cross.

So there’s nothing more that we can do because it has already been done by Him. The Good News that Isaiah foretold so many years ago was an announcement of pardon from sin that Christ’s good work alone accomplished for all mankind.

Jesus has become my Jubilee. He gives me the beauty of His life in exchange for the ashes of my failures and broken dreams.

* (This is a pastel I did a number of years ago as I struggled to create beauty out of the ashes of my life.)