The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

because the LORD has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners. (Isaiah 61:1)

The Hebrew for “brokenhearted” is a conjunction of two words: leb, which is the heart, and shabar, a word that means “broken,” or “to break, to rend violently.” Isaiah elsewhere uses shabar to describe dry branches that are broken into pieces, or statues that have fallen off their pedestals and shattered upon the ground. Shabar refers to a literal breaking, the shattering of the human heart. As if I had to explain this to you; a tender and compassionate look into your own soul will show you exactly what I am talking about.

And our Healer will make us whole again. The little boy or girl in you who has so long hidden in fear, the angry adolescent, the heartbroken man or woman — all of “you” will be brought home to you, a fully integrated human being. “At such a time, we will be fully integrated once again — body, mind, spirit, and soul — just as we were intended to live with God at the beginning of creation.”

Think of it — to be wholehearted. To be filled with goodness from head to toe. To have an inner glory that matches the glory of your new body:

The LORD their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock.

They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.

How attractive and beautiful they will be! (Zechariah 9:16–17)

“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matthew 13:43)

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