Isaish 61:1-9, Luke 4:14-20
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn. – Isaiah 6:1a,2
Click to read
Earlier this week, we read about the Jubilee Year in Leviticus 25. Every fiftieth year, a ram’s horn would be sounded throughout Israel on the Day of Atonement, marking the start of the year of Jubilee. In that year, any land or property that had been previously sold would be returned to the original owners, and any Israelite who had been sold for work would be set free.
Although God had used the Law to force the Israelites to stop their endless possession and exploitation of the land and one another, this was not the Jubilee He intended for them to celebrate. The prophet Isaiah painted a picture of the true Jubilee to come. The Messiah would come to “bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”, and the people would rebuild their homes and the Temple, and regain their dignity and freedom as God’s people.
However, even at the end of the Old Testament, while the remnant of Israel had indeed returned to the land, the kingdom of Israel no longer existed. They continued to be oppressed by foreign nations, and even in Jesus’ time, they were under Roman occupation. Although more than 500 years had passed since the return of the exiles from Babylon, God’s promise through the prophet Isaiah still stands.
Finally, the day came when Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, publicly declared that the promised Jubilee had come through Him. Indeed, throughout His ministry, Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, brought freedom to the oppressed, and restored sight to the blind. And most importantly, He preached the good news of the Kingdom and called sinners to repentance.
Ultimately, He offered Himself fully, dying on the cross as the sinless One in place of the guilty, bearing the punishment of sin and cancelling its debt completely. Through His death and resurrection, He broke the power of death and freed God’s covenant people from the bondage of sin. He brought them into fellowship with God, restoring them as His children, giving them the Holy Spirit as their inheritance, and ushering them into the true Jubilee.
Thanks be to God for His faithfulness! His ways are higher than our ways, and His means of salvation far exceed what we could ever ask or imagine. Jesus brought the entire human race freedom from the bondage of sin and death, restoring the glorious identity of being children of God. How great and wondrous is the salvation of our God!
Reflection:
When God’s promises have not yet come to pass, do I think they are too good to be true? Or do I wait patiently, holding on to God’s faithfulness even through hardship?
v Prayer:
Heavenly Father God, Thank you for delivering me from the bondage of sin and death. Your heart has always been for the rescue of your children, enslaved by this world. Thank you for Your Son, Jesus Christ, who paid the ultimate price for my salvation, and in His resurrection, I too will rise with Him. Help me, O God, to trust in Your faithfulness, and to have the strength to follow Jesus every day of my life even through difficult times. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Click to read
Earlier this week, we read about the Jubilee Year in Leviticus 25. Every fiftieth year, a ram’s horn would be sounded throughout Israel on the Day of Atonement, marking the start of the year of Jubilee. In that year, any land or property that had been previously sold would be returned to the original owners, and any Israelite who had been sold for work would be set free.
Although God had used the Law to force the Israelites to stop their endless possession and exploitation of the land and one another, this was not the Jubilee He intended for them to celebrate. The prophet Isaiah painted a picture of the true Jubilee to come. The Messiah would come to “bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”, and the people would rebuild their homes and the Temple, and regain their dignity and freedom as God’s people.
However, even at the end of the Old Testament, while the remnant of Israel had indeed returned to the land, the kingdom of Israel no longer existed. They continued to be oppressed by foreign nations, and even in Jesus’ time, they were under Roman occupation. Although more than 500 years had passed since the return of the exiles from Babylon, God’s promise through the prophet Isaiah still stands.
Finally, the day came when Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, publicly declared that the promised Jubilee had come through Him. Indeed, throughout His ministry, Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, brought freedom to the oppressed, and restored sight to the blind. And most importantly, He preached the good news of the Kingdom and called sinners to repentance.
Ultimately, He offered Himself fully, dying on the cross as the sinless One in place of the guilty, bearing the punishment of sin and cancelling its debt completely. Through His death and resurrection, He broke the power of death and freed God’s covenant people from the bondage of sin. He brought them into fellowship with God, restoring them as His children, giving them the Holy Spirit as their inheritance, and ushering them into the true Jubilee.
Thanks be to God for His faithfulness! His ways are higher than our ways, and His means of salvation far exceed what we could ever ask or imagine. Jesus brought the entire human race freedom from the bondage of sin and death, restoring the glorious identity of being children of God. How great and wondrous is the salvation of our God!
Reflection:
When God’s promises have not yet come to pass, do I think they are too good to be true? Or do I wait patiently, holding on to God’s faithfulness even through hardship?
v Prayer:
Heavenly Father God, Thank you for delivering me from the bondage of sin and death. Your heart has always been for the rescue of your children, enslaved by this world. Thank you for Your Son, Jesus Christ, who paid the ultimate price for my salvation, and in His resurrection, I too will rise with Him. Help me, O God, to trust in Your faithfulness, and to have the strength to follow Jesus every day of my life even through difficult times. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.