I believe you are referring to Isaiah 61:1 which says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to PREACH GOOD TIDINGS to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (NKJV). Before we comment on this let’s also read Luke 4:16-21,”So He (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed 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, because He has anointed Me to PREACH THE GOSPEL to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim the liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.’ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”

It is clear that the Lord Jesus is the one being spoken of in Isaiah, for He quoted that very passage in the synagogue in Nazareth and then He declared, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Prior to Jesus reading this Scripture He had been anointed with the Holy Spirit at His baptism by John the Baptist (see Luke 3:21-22 and Matthew 3:13-17). The Spirit had indeed come upon Him and anointed Him to “preach the gospel to the poor!

Now we are ready to answer your specific question, “What is the GOOD NEWS in Isaiah 61?” I believe the answer is simple; Jesus would preach the good news that He was the Messiah of Israel who would bring in the promised Kingdom that the Old Testament prophets had foretold for hundreds of years. Mark’s gospel makes this crystal-clear, for  soon after His baptism by John the Baptist we read that “Jesus came to Galilee, PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and saying, ‘The time if fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” But how did the nation of Israel respond to this “good news of the kingdom?” Sadly, the nation, as a whole, rejected Him (as their Messiah) and the Kingdom that He announced. John 1:11 states, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” If we go back to our portion in Luke 4 this rejection of Jesus as their Messiah is made abundantly clear. Even though those who heard Jesus declare Himself as the Messiah “marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth” (verse 22), they went on to say “Is this not Joseph’s son?,” as if to say, “How can this man, whom we have known since he was a child, be our great Messiah?” As we read on we see their doubts turned to anger and malice, for they were “filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff” (verses 28-29). A few years later the whole nation utterly rejected Him by having Him crucified on the cross of Calvary.

With their rejection of Jesus Christ the “good news of the kingdom” has been postponed (until a future time when the nation will repent and receive Him as their glorious Messiah—see Isaiah 59:20; Romans 11:25-27; Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Zechariah 12:10-14). In the meantime, another message of GOOD NEWS is being proclaimed, “the good news of salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ.” I would encourage you to read and study the following passages: Mark 16:16-17; Romans 1:16; 1st Corinthians 1:17-18; 15:1-4. This “good news” still has Jesus Christ as the Object of one’s faith, but here the emphasis is on believing that He suffered for our sins on the cross to save our souls from death and judgment. Has my reader “believed on the Lord Jesus Christ” as your Savior?  (352.3)  (DO)