The Most Jubilant of Jubilees

Introduction

Imagine being poor. I mean poor poor. For years you hoped things would change and that perhaps you might just catch a break. But as the years rolled on, you got further and further into debt. Finally, you and your family knew that you would not survive much longer unless you did what was once unthinkable. You first sold your land that had been in your family for generations. That kept you a float for a little bit, but soon that money dried up. Now, the real devastating decision had to be made. You sold yourselves into slavery, hoping that your master would be kind and hoping that soon you’d be able to buy yourselves out. You can’t even remember how long it’s been since selling yourself. You can’t remember what life was like before it all happened. As you work in the fields, you see that your fellow slaves are huddled up and becoming excited. Finally, someone comes and tells you what all the fuss is about. In a couple of months, the Year of Jubilee will begin. You’ll all be free! And more than that, all your land will be returned to you! Your debt is forgiven! Talk about good news!

As we open up the text this morning, we are looking at the most jubilant of Jubilee Years. It was the Jubilee to end all Jubilees. It can’t get any better than this. And as we open it, I want us to see three parts that make up this section. The first is the status of Jesus’s ministry. The second is the substance of Jesus’s ministry. Finally, the statement about Jesus’s ministry.

The Status of Jesus’s ministry

The Substance of Jesus’s ministry

The Statement about Jesus’s ministry

Luke 4:14–21 ESV

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The Status of Jesus’s Ministry

The first part of this section focus’s on the status of Jesus’s ministry. Luke doesn’t spend a lot of time here, and we won’t ever, but he points out two interesting and important remarks about Jesus and his ministry. The first is that Jesus and his ministry were Spirit-powered. The second was that Jesus and his ministry were man-praised. Guess which one would last. Guess which one would soon disappear.

Jesus’s ministry began in prayer. Remember when we were looking at the passage on Jesus’s baptism, and we saw that only Luke pointed out that Jesus was praying when the heavens opened and the Spirit descended. So it was started in prayer, but powered by the Spirit. The Spirit came down as a dove. He led him into the wilderness to be tempted and strengthened him through it. Now that Jesus was on his way back to Galilee, the northern part of the Jewish people, Luke tells us that Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit. It would be the Spirit who would make Jesus bold. It would be the Spirit who would make Jesus a miracle-worker and a demon-exorciser.

That doesn’t mean that the Spirit always works in such a way. Not everyone empowered by the Spirit of God will perform miracles or exorcise demons. But only by the Spirit of God can we fulfill the purpose of God that he has for our lives.

But, as I said, He was not only Spirit-powered, but he was also Man-praised. Jesus and his ministry had a growing reputation. People were excited about it. News of him had spread and he was the guest-speaker at all the local synagogues. People would hear him and glorify him. They’d praise him and honor him. And many people would fall prey to this kind of laud. They’d begin to believe their own hype. They’d believe that they were the ones changing lives and minds.

But not Jesus. Certainly Jesus deserved the praises of the people. If anyone deserved to be glorified, it was Jesus. But Jesus understood the hierarchy of ministry. For a ministry to be successful, it needs God’s approval and not man’s. For a ministry to be successful it must be Spirit-powered, whether or not it is Man-praised.

What the Christian world sees so much is a mix-up in this hierarchy. What is often begun in the power of the Spirit, gets corrupted in the praise of man. Celebrity pastors as well as country preachers mistaken man’s praise for the Spirit’s power. Churches are growing, books are selling, tweets are retweeted, invitations are given to preach at conferences or just the association’s annual meeting. At some point though, the Spirit is relegated to the back, and man is moved to the front. And the hierarchy gets flipped on its head.

Man’s praise is not wrong in and of itself. But it can reveal our hearts. One of my favorite proverbs is

Proverbs 27:21 ESV

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.

If we are in ministry (and I’m not talking just about pastors, but any ministry—any act of service), we must always beware of the pull of man’s praise and neglect of the Spirit’s power. When Jesus sat before his own townsfolk, he read a passage that gave credit where it belongs.

Luke 4:18 (ESV)

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. . .

The Substance of Jesus’s Ministry

This leads us to the second part of the text. The first dealt with the Status of Jesus’s Ministry, but now we need to see the Substance of Jesus’s ministry.

Before we get into the substance though, I want to take us back for a few minutes. Earlier, I wanted you to imagine yourself as being poor—so poor that you had to sell your land and then sell yourself into slavery. But then you heard that the year of Jubilee was coming. This goes back all the way to

Leviticus 25:8–10 ESV

“You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.

In the year of Jubilee everything changed. It was truly a time to celebrate because restoration was being made. Those who had to sell themselves in those last six years would be set free. Any land that was sold would be given back at no expense. Wrongs were made right. Debts were forgiven. It was a glorious time, especially for those who were poor. To speak about the year of Jubilee was to speak of good news.

The major problem was that we have no evidence that the Jews followed this law. They were supposed to, and perhaps they followed some of it, but some of it we know they didn’t. Every Year of Jubilee was preceded by a sabbatical year. The land was to remain fallow. There was no plowing or planting allowed on the seventh year—any seventh year! But the Year of Jubilee extended the fallowness. So for two years no plowing or planting was allowed. God would see to it that enough was harvested on the previous year and that the land would produce enough on its own without planting, so the people could survive. But the people of Israel never allowed the land to be fallow. For 490 years they ignored the commandments about the Sabbath and Jubilee years.

So God took them in one large swath.

2 Chronicles 36:20–21 ESV

He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

As those seventy years were ending, Daniel received a vision. It was a reminder of the commandment of the Year of Jubilee.

Daniel 9:24–27 ESV

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

And while I don’t have time to completely expound this text, we see the language is referring to the same event as Leviticus 25—the Year of Jubilee. But in this case, Gabriel speaks not just of any Year of Jubilee, but the most jubilant of Jubilees. This Jubilee of Jubilees will end all Jubilees because it is a Jubilee that never ends! It brings an end to transgressions and sins. It atones for iniquity, and makes sinful human beings able to stand before God in a right relationship. It proves all that has been prophesied in the past and anoints the holy (and incidentally, the word place is not in the original Hebrew; and Solomon’s temple was never anointed. However, the term is used later—when it says that the anointed one shall be cut off. The word “one” is not in the original either. So both versus just use the term “anointed”). The one who ushers in the ultimate, everlasting year of Jubilee, makes a strong covenant—a covenant of grace—which puts an end to any need for animal sacrifices and offerings.

This would all happen at the right time! It would all happen in God’s perfect timetable—70x7. Just as the question of how many times are we to forgive is answered with 70x7, in essence we are to forgive to the uttermost, perfectly, completely—so this ultimate Year of Jubilee would come at the 70x7 mark, the perfect time in God’s sovereign and providential plan.

And when Jesus opened up the book of Isaiah, he read a passage from Isaiah 62. It was a passage that everyone understood to be talking about the most jubilant of Jubilees, the ultimate Year of Jubilee. It would be the year—the time—when the Messiah would come upon the scene and be filled, empowered, (WAIT FOR IT): anointed by the Holy Spirit.

He would preach good news to the poor. Those who had sold themselves into slavery and those who had sold their inheritance would finally get the good news that they’d been waiting for. That which had gone so wrong would be put right.

He would proclaim to the captive—those who were prisoners of war, and those who were unjustly imprisoned, and even those who had committed their crimes would be forgiven and freed. That word for liberty in verse 18 is the word aphesis. It has a dual meaning: forgiveness and release. Certainly one may be released from prison if they’d paid their debt to society or if they were savvy enough to escape. But for someone to come in and proclaim them free, could only happen if they were simultaneously forgiven of their crimes.

This Messiah would proclaim a recovery of sight to the blind. It was not through magical arts or medicine, but through the voice—the spoken word that Jesus could heal the sight. Certainly he may use clay or spit, but he need not do that. As we see in

Luke 18:42–43 ESV

And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Again, there is the proclamation of liberty—forgiveness as well—to those oppressed. They may not be in a physical prison, but they live every day under oppression. Oppressed or abused by enemies, family, friends, demons, even their own sin-filled souls that beat them down again and again. And the Messiah would come and proclaim freedom! Forgiveness!

Finally, he would proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. In essence, he would proclaim the ultimate and eternal Year of Jubilee. The word favorable is not the word we would use for grace. We tend to think of favor and grace being the same thing and grace is certainly unmerited favor, but this is not that word for grace in the Greek text. This word for favor means welcomed and accepted.

Have you noticed all those to whom the Messiah would preach and herald the news? The poor, the captive, the blind, they oppressed… those who are on the fringe of society—those who are marginalized. Those who the majority of people ignore or try to forget about or malign or gossip about or try to stay away from.

Here is Jesus, powered by the Holy Spirit, praised by human beings, at the height of his popularity, says the one who has the Spirit upon him is not here for the accolades but here for the abused. He isn’t here to receive fame, but here to bring forgiveness. He is not here to be served, but here to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. This was the substance of Jesus’s ministry.

The Statement About Jesus’s Ministry

Which leads us to the last part of this passage. We first saw the Status of Jesus’s Ministry and then the Substance of Jesus’s Ministry. But now we see the Statement about Jesus’s Ministry.

For some time Jesus had been going into synagogue after synagogue and preaching. He’d been expounding the texts of Scripture and had become famous. Surely, the men of the synagogue could not wait to hear from this young rabbi. So let me set the scene for you.

Jesus walks into the synagogue—only men were allowed in there and it is filled with them. Rabbis would receive seats of honor and the men would sit at their feet as a sign of submission and discipleship. Often times the passage would be pre-selected by those over the synagogue. We don’t know if this was the case this time or not. But the assistant would hand the scroll chosen by the head or by the rabbi and hand it to him. The rabbi would find the passage, he and everyone else would stand as he read it. He’d then roll it back up, seal it, and give it back to the assistant to put away. At this point, he would sit down again, everyone would sit at his feet and wait.

I’ve done a lot of preaching in my day. Never have I preached sitting down. Nor have I ever preached a sermon where every single person looked at me intently as the passage indicates they did with Jesus. You know how people are. They fidget, the fix their clothes, they get their pens and pads out. They whisper and get whispered to. Not this day. The moment they sat down their eyes were fixed on Jesus—intently fixed on him. What would he say?

How would he interpret this passage? Is it near? Is it far? Was it literal? Was it spiritual? And then Jesus opened his mouth to speak.

Luke 4:21 ESV

And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

This was neither near nor far! This was present! This was right here and now! Today. In other words, they were witnesses of the fulfillment of this Scripture. As they were listening to the words being read, they were being fulfilled. This statement was a statement about Jesus’s ministry. It stated, “I am anointed by the Holy Spirit. And my ministry is appointed to the poor, the captive, the blind, and oppressed.” From the outset of Jesus’s ministry, in the Gospel According to Luke, there is no mistaking how Jesus came and to what end Jesus came. He did not come in his own power. He came in the power of the Spirit. He did not come to be a Zealot or a Militaristic Messiah. He came to be a liberator of the poor, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed.

No one should have missed the mission of Jesus. He spoke it clearly. Yet even today, we have those who misunderstand. They claim he was a good teacher, a guru, a wonderful rabbi. They see him as one who sticks it to the man and fights the religious bigots with words like, “Judge not” and “Brood of vipers” and “Love everyone.”

But Jesus’s statement makes it clear that he was a liberator. He certainly liberated people from their physical ailments and pains. But it was even more so their spiritual ailments. He gave food to those who could afford no food. But he also brought the bread of life—himself to give so that those who took of him would never hunger and never thirst. He took the place of Barabbas, transferring him from his darkened prison and immanent death into glorious day, but he has transferred so many out of darkness and into his marvelous light. He healed blind Bartimaeus and many others, but he healed those who were spiritually blind so they could see the beauty and glory of God. Those who were oppressed by their sin and by demons were given relief, but countless more have been forgiven of the oppression of shame and guilt.

And it would all culminate upon the cross where he took our sin, our shame, our captivity, our diseased soul and set them free. And he rose from the dead, so that we would stand before God clean and pure, blameless and spotless.

Conclusion

As we finish the text this morning, I hope we can see that in spite of what is going on around us, we continue to live the Year of Jubilee. Every day the blind receive sight. Every day the oppressed are set free and forgiven. Every day those who are imprisoned in their own sin are called out of their darkness. Every debt is paid. Every sin is forgiven. For all who trust and love Jesus as their own.

That pornography use that objectifies and enslaves women has been forgiven. You are no longer enslaved to that sin. You have been set free; the only question is will you walk away from it under the power of the Spirit? That tongue filled with venom and fire is forgiven. Every hurtful word, every curse uttered—it’s all been addressed at the cross. The question remains: will you bridle it by the power of the Spirit?

You who have been on the receiving end of those words, your shame and oppression has been dealt with at the cross. It sounds too good to be true and so simplistic. But it’s true nonetheless. It’s your eternal Year of Jubilee.

Luke 4:21 ESV

And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”