Our Jesus Jubilee

Jubilee in Christ

Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read, the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:

    “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
        because He has anointed Me
        to preach good news to the poor.
    He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives
        and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to release the oppressed,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then He rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him, and He began by saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
– Luke 4:16-21, ESV

Every man sitting in that synagogue knew Isaiah 61 as a messianic passage. It would be an interesting insight to read the minds in the room as Jesus read this, rolled the scroll and then said, “This messianic prophecy is being fulfilled in your hearing.” For some, there was a momentary jump in their heart rate. “Could it be? Is this man the Messiah?” For others, there was doubt and skepticism. What is not uncertain is the type of Messiah the crowd was expecting contrasted against the type of Messiah Jesus was and is.

Isaiah 61 is also describing Jubilee. The Law of Jubilee¹ is one of the more radical laws God prescribed for his people. Under Sabbatical and Jubilee, just as the seventh day of the week was a Sabbath day, every seventh year was a Sabbatical year for the land. The land and the livestock that worked it were allowed to rest that year. There was no planting, pruning, or organized harvesting. The people lived off what the land produced naturally.

But then there was a Year of Jubilee. When the nation completed seven Sabbaticals (49 years), the fiftieth year was set apart as the Year of Jubilee. Jubilee was a total reset of the Jewish economic system. Slaves were freed and able to return to their families. Property that had been sold saw its ownership revert back to the original owners. All debts, regardless of size, were canceled. The slate was wiped clean. Can you even imagine such a thing?

Jesus is our Jubilee. Jesus is our Sabbath rest. He is the cancellation of our debt owed to God. In Christ, the slate is wiped clean.

A Spiritual Reality

The Levitical Jubilee was a physical rest, a tangible, political, and economic reset. Jesus is our spiritual Jubilee, our spiritual reset.

Cancellation of Debt:

Our Jubilee in Christ features the cancellation of debt, not in the financial sense, but rather the spiritual debt each of us owed to God for our sinful behavior. The wages of sin is death,² but our debt has been paid by someone else. Jesus died in my place to satisfy that debt.

Release from Bondage:

The Jubilee freed those in physical slavery. Our Jubilee in Jesus has freed us from our slavery to sin and the fear of death that accompanies it.

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
– John 8:34, ESV

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
– Hebrews 2:14-15, ESV

Restoration of Inheritance:

Under the Law, the Jubilee returned lost land to its original family. In Christ, because we are adopted as God’s sons and daughters,³ we share in an inheritance from God,⁴ a territory lost with the fall of humanity in Genesis 3.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
– 1 Peter 1:3-4, ESV

A Period of Rest:

The older I get, the more I appreciate the reality of rest. I run out of gas much more quickly than I did during my youth. Just as Jubilee was a year of rest for the land and the livestock, our Jubilee in Christ provides rest for our souls.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
– Matthew 11:28-30, ESV

In Christ, your debt with God has been settled for good.

In Christ, you are released from slavery to sin, that it should no longer dominate you.

In Christ, you are adopted as sons and daughters of God, and as sons and daughters, you share in the inheritance of God.

In Christ, your soul finds sabbath rest.

Blessings upon you, my friends.

Victoriously in Christ!

– damon

DamonJGray.org
ActsSocial
CrossMap Blogs
Medium.com
LinkedIn.com
Facebook Author Page
YouTube Channel

1. Leviticus 25:8–55
2. Romans 6:23
3. Ephesians 1:5
4. Ephesians 1:11