The Year of the Lord's Favor

Good Morning. I am glad that we can be here together. It is always good to be gathered in the house of the Lord.

One of the Joys of getting older is you start to compare your age to a lot of things. Turning 40 this past year was an interesting experience. I remember as a Kid it was such a big deal when an adult turned 40 I mean you were Old then. At least in the eyes of a Kid.

It was this idea that had me thinking about the different years we celebrate in our culture and look to as markers of importance. Let’s talk about them for a moment.

1 Year old

10 Years old

13 Years old

16 Years old

18 Years old

21 Years old

25 Years old

30 Years old

35 Years old

40 Years old

50 Years old

It just keeps going

That first year is a powerful one. You are 1. Your parents throw you a big birthday party celebrating you surviving their Parenting skills. Guess what None of you remember it. Yet, many of us probably have pictures of it.

10 years is a good one because well you hit double digits. Many people don’t make it to add another digit to their age so this is a big deal because you are using 2 numbers to show your age.

13--Teenager probably a warning for the rest of the world.

16--Look out here comes a Driver

18--Legal adult--You can vote, die for your country-but don’t worry you are still a kid according to almost every adult in our country.

21--You can do more stuff legally...But should you.

25--You can finally rent a car without paying a higher rate. Insurance for your car comes down this is the moment you realize you still aren’t looked at as an adult despite the fact that you could have kids, a house, a full time job, a college education, or 7 years of experience in the work force. Don’t worry some day you will grow up.

Now we start using the first decade marker

30--Your youth leaves you. Suddenly your joints move a little stiffer. You sneeze wrong and you hurt your back. This is the starting point but you have hope. You are still just a baby in the eyes of many.

35--You can be president. Please don’t run for president.

40--Middle age. You are ready to stay home at night. You realize you have reached middle age and you are starting to feel it. Yes, some people will tell you that you are still young but a lot less are saying it.

50--It’s the new 40. No it isn’t it is 50. You are finally seen as an adult even if you don’t act like it. You realize you have more in common with the people older than you then the ones who are younger than you. You are in the late stages of middle age and yes your joints hurt when the storm is coming in.

After 50 there are a whole of other events that start happening we don’t like to talk about them because that makes us feel older and we want to respect our elders.

Notice though as we grow and change over the years no matter what you can count on someone telling you that you are still young. I mean adulthood doesn’t start till you are 50 or at least I think that’s what I was told.

Jesus was in his 30 when his ministry started so in today’s world he was a Baby but he was still charged with sharing the good news with the world.

Let’s read together the story of Jesus and one of the early stories of his ministry.

Luke 4:14–16 NIV

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 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,

Jesus Came Home

Jesus came Home. To set this story up better we do need to know what happened in the previous passage.

Two major events took place in Jesus life before he returned to Galilee.

The first was his baptism. The Holy Spirit coming down and recognizing who Jesus is.

The Second is the Temptation in the Wilderness where Jesus faced challenges that I don’t know if we can fully ever appreciate.

Jesus returns home and he is establishing his ministry. He is very well received and welcomed by the people in the area. They hear his teaching and more than likely witness to his great works through miracles.

People were talking about this man and they were excited. Jesus decided to return to his home town.

Now of Course Nazareth had to be proud. This was one of their own sons who was doing amazing things.

He decided to do his usual thing and go to the Synagogue.

Coming Home

I remember when I left home for the first significant amount of time. They day I cam home it was an interesting experience. You go away long enough that things start to change. You come home and stores change. People move, and many things change. It was always hard to come home because you just don’t know what is going to be different.

One of the biggest changes was at church though for me. I left for College I was a leader in Youth group and I felt like I belonged and I was well accepted.

I remember when I came home for the first summer and I just didn’t feel that same connection. People changed and were different. They looked to new older teenagers as leaders. It created an awkward moment of I don’t feel like I belong. It took time to get reentered into the community by time I did It was time to go back to school.

It was hard. I never felt the same coming home after that.

Coming home was important though and it is a powerful moment and Jesus was getting to experience this. He went to the Synagogue and did his usual thing.

Luke 4:17–21 NIV

17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “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, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 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. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

The Best Passage

Jesus came home and it was time to give his first reading. He wants to impress his family and friends. He is handed the scroll of Isaiah and He thinks I know what passage they will love to hear from and he reads a couple verses from Isaiah 61.

This passage was perfect because the people of Nazareth would have loved this passage because it is a passage that would have sparked hope for them.

Luke 4:18–19 NIV

18 “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, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

The people of Nazareth would have been viewed as a poor small village that in many ways would have been oppressed. They would have heard this passage and it would have filled them with hope.

Jesus picked a good passage.

He reminded them of the Year of the Lord’s favor or...

The Year of Jubilee

To understand what this year is talking about we have to go back to the OT and look at a variety of passages. Lev. 25-27 is our best place to reference what is involved in this special year that people would hope for.

I am going to do my best to give you the cliff notes version. To best understand it we must begin with the...

Sabbath Year

In the Agricultural society that was the Jewish people in Israel God gave them rules and regulations through Moses to guide and direct their culture and society. One of them was the Year of Sabbath.

6 years of sowing your fields and taking care of your vineyards and then you were to let the land have a year of Sabbath rest. You were to let the ground grow whatever would naturally grow and you could eat from it but you could not harvest and sell for a profit. The land was to be open to all to come and eat.

Every 7th year it was time to give the land a break and for you to take a break.

I don’t know about you but we struggle with taking a day off to rest let alone a whole year.

Now after 7 cycles of Sabbath years came a special year for the whole of Israel. It was known as...

The Year of Jubilee

On this year the 50th year everyone was to commit to some very specific actions that would radically change society.

No are you not supposed to sow or reap from the ground there were other powerful things that were to happen.

The Remission of Housing and Land

All land that had been sold to pay off debts was to be returned to the original family. The Jewish people were encouraged to sell primarily to people within the community.

Now you might be saying I would wait till year 48 sell some land and then get it back in a couple years. Make a little profit. Sorry wouldn’t work because all land was to be sold and take into account how long till the year of Jubilee was. Discounted rates for less time to use the land.

This was intended to help restore families during difficult times who may have had issues of debt. This wasn’t a way to get wealthier but to restore the people who were struggling.

Freedom for Slaves

Similarly anyone who sold themselves into slavery to pay off debts was to be freed. They were to be restored and set free. The oppressed Israelites were to be let go.

In general this year is also a reminder that God wanted the Israelites to treat the poor with dignity and not to take advantage of them. In fact They were commanded not to overcharge for a high profit anyone who was poor.

Culture was to give them a chance to get out of the struggle.

The Year of Jubilee

This passage was a powerful one and it was one that gave the people hope that they will one day be restored.

Now there is no record of this year ever actually being practiced. I can’t even begin to imagine the complication and logistics of making this year happen.

While there is no record of it there is still power in understanding what this year was about.

It was a reminder that The Land and even we do not belong to ourselves but belong to God.

God was reminding the people that the land was given to them as a gift and that he delivered them from slavery in Egypt and this year was to be a reminder of what God had done for them and that they belonged to him and not to themselves.

This reminder that the restoration will come. Bringing people back to God and freeing them from their debts.

Can you see now why Jesus said.

Luke 4:21 NIV

21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Today you will hear the good news that I am here to pay the price for you. I am here to bring you from the pain and suffering of Sin. Not only was Jesus here to do this for the Jewish poeple but he came to do this for the Gentiles. Yet, before we get to deep into that we will talk more about it next week.

Jesus came to free us from the bonds of sin. To free of us from the things that hold us down. To bring us into relationship with him. Are we ready to accept that freedom and grace?

Let’s Pray