"Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And He came to Nazareth where He had been bought up; and, as His custom was He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: for He hath anointed me to bring the good news to the cowering,
He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty them that are bruised,
To proclaim the Lord's year of favour."

Thus Jesus announces the great Objective of His Campaign. As we read these words we wonder afresh at the Pacificist who so confidently denounced the War Waged by the British Commonwealth of Nations, as the negation of all Christ's life and teaching. Almost these very words might have been used by the leaders of the allied armies, which went to the relief of the ravaged countries of Western Europe, to declare the purpose of their campaign. When the armed forces of freedom entered the countries which had been occupied by the enemy, Holland and Belgium, Denmark and Norway, Poland and Czechoslovakia, were they not indeed "bringing the good news" to those who had been daily "cowering" under the brutal treatment of their oppressors? Surely the wild joy with which they were received showed that. And the promise of Deliverance to the Captives was literally fulfilled when the prison camps were opened and their starving inmates staggered out from their gates. In fact the Greek word here translated "captives," actually means "prisoners of war." And what words could better describe the liberation and repatriation of the slave-gangs deported and forced by blows to work in enemy fields and factories than these -- "to set at liberty them that are bruised?"

Nor is this interpretation of the passage fanciful. For was it not written by the prophet for a people enslaved and deported by their Babylonian conquerors in a ruthless struggle for world power-written to encourage them to hope for liberation and repatriation as a result of the military successes of Cyrus, the rising genius of that day?

"The word of the Eternal, your redeemer... 'I am the Eternal, maker of all things... who says of Cyrus, "He is my friend, he execute my purpose!'"

"Thus the Eternal, the true God, hails Cyrus, whom he consecrates -- whose right hand I have grasped, to terrify nations, to open doors before him, to keep gates from being closed.

"I myself will go before you, levelling the mountains, I will shatter the doors of bronze, and cut through iron bars... for 'tis I the Eternal who call you by name... I called you by your name; you know me not, but I delight in you.

"I am the Eternal, no God besides me: kings I disarm, but you I arm, that East and West, men may confess that I the Eternal stand alone -- no other God beside me --

I form light and I make darkness,
I bring bliss and calamity; I the Eternal,
The true God, I do it all.
"Shower down victory, ye heavens, rain it from above ye skies!
Let earth's womb open for the birth of peace, and let her too bear victory --
'Tis I the Eternal who bring this about.
Woe to the man who quarrels with his Maker -- man a mere potsherd of the earth."

(II Isaiah 44:24,28; 45:1-9, Dr. Moffatt's translation.)

Do the Pacifists delete this majestic passage, or do they discard II Isaiah altogether, and that noble anonymous prophet's entire portrait of the Messiah as the "Suffering Servant" of Jehovah?

Moreover i

¹ The Table of contents of Calvin's book can be found with letter W-MCP2-3b.035.

For chapter 1, see Box 04-028.

For chapter 2, see Box 04-029.

For chapter 3, see Box 04-030.

For chapter 4, see Box 04-031.

For chapter 5, see Box 04-032.