What does it mean to tell the poor that there’s good news? (Isaiah 61:1)

When Isaiah 61:1 says, “Proclaim glad tidings to the needy,” what does it entail?

According to Isaiah 61:1-3, the Messiah has been tasked by God with serving the needs of the oppressed and lowly. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the needy,” he said. He has sent me to bring healing to the brokenhearted, release to the captives, and light to the incarcerated (Isaiah 61:1).

Jesus Christ began His public ministry by speaking from this same passage, applying the words of Isaiah to Himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to announce good news to the poor.” This was around 700 years after Isaiah wrote them. To release the captives, to restore sight to the blind, to liberate the downtrodden, and to announce the Lord’s favor, he has sent me (Luke 4:18–19). In identifying Himself as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah and Servant-King who would announce good news to the impoverished, Jesus said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).

A “good” or “positive” piece of news. What we mean when we say “proclaim good news” is to make an announcement or deliver a message that contains encouraging information about something significant that has happened recently. To do this activity is described by the Greek word euangelizomai. As defined by the New Testament authors, this term refers only to the proclamation of the gospel (evangelion). The good news is the message of salvation that God has given to sinful people through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. The English word evangelize was derived from the Greek word euangelizomai, which means to preach or teach the gospel. Evangelism is the proclamation of the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. This message includes the proclamation that the kingdom of God has come to earth in the person of God’s own Son, who brings with Him the forgiveness of sins and the gift of everlasting life (Matthew 4:23; Romans 10:15).

Those who were humiliated, oppressed, handicapped, and penniless were considered “the poor” in the Old Testament. The poor had no agency, and they had to rely on the benevolence of the mighty and the luck of the draw to get by.

Those who rely only on God for survival are also among “the destitute.” To emphasize their utter need on God as their defender, deliverer, and Savior, the Psalmists often utilize the imagery of poverty in both its physical and metaphorical senses (Psalm 12:6; 35:10; 102:17; 116:6). The New Testament maintains these notions of “the poor” by referring to those who are impoverished and those who are modest and get by on their trust in God as “the poor.” At the outset of his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ proclaimed the Beatitudes: “Blessed are you poor, because yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20, NLT). People who are “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3) are those who are self-aware enough to own their spiritual destitution, repent to God, and accept the fullness of His grace through trust in Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist, while in exile, had sent message to Jesus, asking whether He was the Messiah of Israel. Jesus said, “Return to John and tell him these things: the blind recover their sight, the crippled walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are resurrected, and the good news is preached to the poor” (Luke 7:22). Good news for the poor was one of the definitive signs of Jesus’ Messiahship, and it was declared by Jesus (Matthew 11:2).

The impoverished of this world, James said, were specifically selected by God to have great faith. Don’t they deserve to be the recipients of the Kingdom he has promised to his followers? (James 2:5, NLT) “You know the rich mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the apostle Paul said, explaining the depths of Christ’s selfless love to the needy people He came to redeem. He went from having a lot of wealth to having very little so that he might help others who had nothing become wealthy (2 Corinthians 8:9, NLT).

Spreading the message of salvation to the needy was Jesus Christ’s primary mission during his career. To the extent that he is able, he provides for the temporal and spiritual needs of the destitute, making him a true Savior. He gives them all they want and more (Luke 1:53; 6:20–21; Matthew 5:6).