By Phil Wood
He went to Nazareth,
where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the
synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the
prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is
written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the
poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the
blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the
Lord's favor."
Then he rolled up the
scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the
synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, "Today this
scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
Luke 4:14-19
The first time I read this passage and came to the line,
"Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing," it literally gave
me goosebumps.
What must it have been like to be present in the synagogue
that day, at that moment? You know the scripture Jesus is quoting from Isaiah –
you know it like the back of your hand. You've been waiting and hoping and
praying your whole life for God's anointed one to arrive. And here he is. Even
now chills are running up and down my spine.
But this passage has become even more stunning to me as I've
begun to understand what the Jews of his time would have already known. These
days, we don't often hear what is meant by "the year of the Lord's
favor." But the Jews knew exactly what it meant.
On his way to this appointment in Nazareth, Jesus had been
proclaiming that the kingdom of God is near. Now, in his hometown of Nazareth,
he is revealing the awesome magnitude of what he means by "the kingdom of
God." It is the year of the Lord's favor. It is the time of Jubilee that
God prescribed for his people long, long ago.
Jubilee was originally spelled out in Leviticus 25. Through
his prophet Moses, God called for a sabbath year every seventh year. Then after
seven sabbath years (seven times seven years, or a period of forty-nine years)
comes the Jubilee. "Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth
day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout
the land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land
to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you." (v.9-10)
So, as originally spelled out by God, the year of Jubilee
began with the sounding of the trumpet on the Day of Atonement. Thus, forgiveness
of sin permeated everything that followed in the Year of Jubilee. It was a time
of sharing to help the poor. Lending to them at interest was forbidden, as was
selling food to them at a profit. It was a time of release for those who had been
sold into servanthood. It was a time of property redemption for those who had
sold their property because they had become poor.
And for everyone, it was a time of total dependence on God
as the land lay fallow and his people relied solely on his blessing of crops
from the sixth year. It was a time of rest and restoration, freedom, peace and
joy.
Later, God gave even more depth to the Jubilee concept
through the prophetic vision of Isaiah. This is the vision referred to by Jesus
in the passage from Luke shown above. To get the full, spine tingling effect of
the kingdom Jesus was proclaiming, let's look at the original version in Isaiah
61.
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,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor
and the day of vengeance of
our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who
grieve in Zion –
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of
despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his
splendor.
In a recent discussion about this with Pastor Bruce, he
indicated that in this passage he sees "a much broader sweep to Jesus'
mission" than just meeting physical needs as outlined in Leviticus.
"Jesus came to break the power that sin, darkness and
death hold over the world," Bruce said. And this passage opens the door to
a kingdom where people find freedom from a whole host of the devil's schemes.
He then proceeded to rattle off a huge list of bondages from
which Christ came to free us. For the sake of brevity, I'll just name a few:
bondage to wealth, possessions, the endless quest for exhilarating experiences,
sexual promiscuity, unresolved wounds that rob us of joy, chronic pain, chronic
illness, bereavement, hopelessly ideological thinking which prevents new
insights and understanding, loss of meaningful reason for living, feelings of
unworthiness, isolation, narcissism, substance abuse, alienation from family...
Originally, Jubilee was a literal year. But what Jesus was
proclaiming was a perpetual Jubilee in the Spirit – a kingdom where we can all be truly free, truly accepted, truly
loved, truly alive.
Thy kingdom come!
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