This was all accomplished in His first coming. His redemptive work for which He was sent, is broken up into three parts here, healing, or as the margin says, binding up the brokenhearted. The second one is proclaiming liberty to the captives, and the third is opening the prisons to those who are bound. So His work included binding wounds, announcing freedom or a kind of amnesty or pardon, and also releasing those who were in prison.
Now it may be helpful to see the background of this passage as a war scenario. Maybe you had not thought of it this way, but I think it will help you to understand what is going on here. The war scenario is that there has been a revolution against the anointed or rightful king. Wounded rebel prisoners have been taken and jailed. These are all the sinners in rebellion against God. Through their sin they have been wounded and because of their sin they have been jailed. They are guilty. They have not only been put in jail, but they have been tried and convicted of rebellion. They just are waiting for the sentence to be executed.
Now to end this war, the king anoints His heir to preach good news to the captives. And what is that good news? Reconciliation with the king is available to all you rebels. Repent and believe the good news (Mark 1:14-15). Then in addition, He sends His heir to the prison to bandage those among the prisoners who were wounded in the fighting and doomed to die. But not all of them; only those who were brokenhearted about joining the rebellion. Then the king declares to those brokenhearted amnesty, pardon, forgiveness for their rebellions against Him. He says their sins will be wiped away. If they accept the conditions of amnesty, they will go free. Their rebellion will be wiped off the books.
Then the heir opens the prison and releases those brokenhearted, repentant ones from their chains once they have accepted the conditions. Their day of salvation—the acceptable year of the Lord—has arrived. And now they can live at liberty because they and the king are at peace with one another.
