THE YEAR OF JUBILEE
We’re going to have to use our imagination this morning/evening. We must imagine that we’re transported in time to the year 28 AD, when Jesus was beginning his ministry in the land of Israel. Instead of sitting in a church building we’re sitting in a synagogue in Nazareth, a town of Galilee, of about 20,000 people. There was only one Temple in the land, and that was in Jerusalem, the capital city, but there was a synagogue in every town and village. It was there that the Jews would gather every Sabbath day to worship Jehovah, their God who had revealed himself through the patriarchs and prophets of Israel over the best part of 2,000 years. The synagogues were designed for worship and preaching, much like our churches today.
So here we are sitting in the congregation. The president of the assembly looks around for someone to read the passage of Scripture. I wonder who will do it this morning, he thinks to himself, and then he spots Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary. For 30 years Jesus had lived in that community working as a craftsman in the family carpentry business. Some months earlier he disappeared into the countryside. Reports had filtered back to his hometown of a religious revival down by the Jordan associated with John the Baptist, a fiery preacher of the same tradition as the prophets of Israel who had become part of history some 500 years before. But Jesus had a quieter style and had quickly established a reputation as a perceptive teacher as he moved through Galilee teaching in the synagogues.
There was a breath of fresh air in his ministry. It wasn’t the dry as dust stuff that the religious leaders of his day were serving up the people arguing over obscure points of interpretation of the legal code. What was so different about Jesus? There must have been something about him that we read that news of his ministry ’spread through the whole countryside’ and before long he was being ’recognised and honoured and praised by all’ (Luke 4:14). We’re not given any specific details as to his words or actions that sparked off such enthusiasm, but it’s not difficult to imagine the situation. He had come into Galilee ’in the power of the Spirit.’ Yes, that’s why his ministry was so dynamic. It’s a word not to be forgotten by anybody who seeks to lead others in worship. May we be delivered from the deadness of ’services as usual’ and be liberated into the place where God speaks and people hear the word of the Lord and are blessed.
St Paul had this in mind when we wrote of his visit to the church at Corinth, ’my message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power’ (I Cor 2:4). It was ’being in the Spirit’ which gave the Old Testament prophets their insight into the word of the Lord for their particular time; it was ’being in the Spirit’ which gave the Apostle John his unique vision of the risen and triumphant Christ in the book of the Revelation. It’s the same Spirit of God that gives life to our worship and ministers the presence of Christ. This is something that the people of God have known throughout God’s revelation of himself: when God met Jacob in the wilderness, Jacob could but say, ’How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God: this is the gate of heaven’ (Gen 28:16). May we know more of these times when, as the hymn says, ’heaven comes down our souls to greet’.
But back to the synagogue. As the president of the synagogue looked around the congregation I’m certain that Jesus caught his eye because Luke tells us that Jesus got up. He didn’t have to be asked twice. He had come to that meeting, not because it was the correct thing to do on the Sabbath day, not as an observer, but as a participator. What a lesson to church attendees! Meeting for worship is much more than a social gathering - we can do that just as well at a club or committee meeting - it’s meant to be an encounter with Almighty God for which we need to be prepared.
When the Queen comes to Guernsey and holds a ceremonial Chief Pleas think of the preparation that many hundreds of people go through for the privilege of merely being present. The dress shops in Town must make a killing! But that’s not the preparation that the Lord looks for when we come to church. Our external appearance isn’t nearly so important as our spiritual preparation. Do we come with a sense of expectancy? Are we like the Apostle John, ’in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day’? (Rev 1:10). It makes all the difference to whether our service is an encounter with God or a non-event.
The question we have to ask ourselves is: ’Do I enter church with the thought that I am actually coming into the presence of God? Am I expecting God to say something to me through the scriptures?’ Well, Jesus was ready for whatever his Father would have him do that day. We read that ’the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him … Jesus read the portion and sat down.’ Luke’s words capture the atmosphere perfectly: ’The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him’ (20). You could have heard a pin drop! What would he say? Would he give a dreary repetition of some pious platitudes they already knew backwards about ’pie in the sky when you die’? Not a bit of it! His first words were electrifying ’Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’ (21). If the congregation was expecting a sensation, they weren’t disappointed. The meaning of his words was absolutely clear - Jesus was claiming that when Isaiah wrote about the Messiah he was writing about Jesus; that it was he himself who was the servant of the Lord, long foretold (Isaiah 61:1,2).
’Today’, said Jesus, ’this scripture is fulfilled’. In effect, he is saying, what we have read about has arrived - ’good news to the poor; the binding up of the broken hearted; freedom for the captives and release for the prisoner.’ His last line seems to say it all, ’to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’. This was a powerful word. Jesus was proclaiming the year of Jubilee. To us a jubilee doesn’t mean very much: an anniversary to be celebrated, like the Golden Jubilee of the Queen’s reign. But for the congregation in the synagogue it would mean much more. It goes back to the founding days of the Hebrew faith.
In the book of Leviticus, a book of the Law of Moses not often referred to, we read the instruction ’consecrate the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan’ (25:10). The thought behind it was that God is the owner of the land, and his people are stewards. In that 50th year the land was to lie fallow; slaves were to be liberated; debts were to be cancelled, and all land acquired during the 49 previous years was to be returned. It was all part of God’s provision for the newly formed nation of Israel where God’s rule would extend in all areas of its life - spiritual, cultural and economic. We could put it like this - because God is sovereign over his people and land, his people must act in harmony with his character.
What did Jesus mean? Some would pounce on these words and say that Jesus was a revolutionary, advocating a left-wing revolt against the status quo: a liberation theology especially directed towards interests of the poor, the disadvantaged and the oppressed. Certainly his sympathy was with them - and still is. How he must be grieved at the squalor and degradation in which such a large proportion of his creation have lived down the ages in this our fallen world - and still do. But to understand the meaning of the words that he was proclaiming - the year of the Lord’s favour, the year of Jubilee - we have to see it in the setting of his three-year ministry here on earth.
Jesus doesn’t seem to have been inaugurating a Jubilee year. Rather, he was announcing a Jubilee age - the kingdom of God. When Jesus spoke of the ’poor’ he included people of all social grades, wealthy or not, whose lives were impoverished by their failure to know and to love God, and by their proud self-sufficiency. The ’prisoners’ were walking about quite freely, but were in bondage to lust and greed. The ’blind’ included the physically blind, but took in those who had eyes but could not see, who lived by sight and not by faith. The ’oppressed’ were the victims of evil spiritual forces and religious authorities who exploited and mislead them. When Jesus meets someone with a need, he takes into account all his or her humanity - body, soul and spirit.
Spiritual need, represented by slavery and oppression by sin, was met by the offer of repentance and forgiveness. Physical blindness moved him to touch and heal. Hunger - whether spiritual or physical - called for a sharing of his resources as he taught and fed people. His teaching ministry - we know it as the Sermon on the Mount - announces the Jubilee age, the kingdom of God. The Christian church is not that kingdom; rather it is God’s agent here on earth to bring forward and foster that kingdom. What a responsibility for those who claim to be its members! ’Mine are the hands to do thy will; my feet shall run for thee.’
On that Sabbath day in Nazareth, the people in the synagogue were presented with Jesus’ manifesto. Like an aspiring politician at the General Election he was setting out his stall. In our imagination we’re there too, so we’re entitled to ask the question: Well, what happened? Did the kingdom suddenly spring into fullness immediately? Well, no it didn’t then and it hasn’t yet, in terms of a literal, material coming of his kingdom. David Shepherd, the former bishop of Liverpool, in his book ’Bias to the Poor’ discuses the social implications of the Gospel. He points out that the Gospel is about changing people from inside out and changing the course of events to set people free. It’s a spiritual need that every person in every generation has to respond to - there’s so much to be done. A poet once surveyed the sad plight of the disadvantaged people of the world and sighed, ’0 God, that flesh and blood should be so cheap and bread should be so dear!’
And so we’re left with the question, ’Why?’ The key to understanding this dilemma is to think of it in terms of how God chooses to bring in His kingdom, his year of Jubilee. The kingdom is centred in Jesus and the coming of the kingdom in its fullness on Earth hinges on faith in Jesus. The facts stare us in the face that the world is in a mess. The environment is polluted, its resources are squandered, and the rich nations get richer and poor get poorer. Yes, those are the facts, but faith says, ’your kingdom will come’.
God does things in a way that the world calls foolishness (1 Cor 1). He has chosen the power of powerlessness - it seems such a contradiction but its true. When I was preparing this sermon I had just seen again the film ’Gandhi’ and was moved by the account of that great Indian leader - how he overcame injustice and oppression, not by force, but by non-violent resistance. He said to his followers, ’so long as we’re peaceful, the initiative is ours, we are in control’. But oh, what suffering he and his followers endured before freedom was finally won. This is a picture of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. It would come through suffering and servanthood - values that the wisdom of this world scorns - but the kingdom of God finally will come in power. The book of the Revelation leaves no doubt about that. But belief in that future hope isn’t to make us indifferent to suffering and injustice in this world. We are called to live out the Gospel in the here and now.
How did the congregation react to Jesus’ claim that he was the living fulfilment of Isaiah’s ancient prophecy, his bold claim to be the promised Messiah? We read that the people were amazed at his gracious words but they couldn’t bring themselves to believe and accept this word from the Lord. The evil one will always sow a doubt in the mind of anyone who hears God’s truth; he’s been doing it every since the Garden of Eden. ’No,’ they thought, ’he couldn’t possibly be the Messiah - isn’t this Joseph’s son? He’s one of us and he’s no right to tell us what to do!’ But having started down the road of error, they reacted furiously when Jesus suggested that they were following the example of their forefathers who had rejected the prophets while some of the despised Gentiles had accepted the word of the Lord and its accompanying blessings. What a responsibility it’s to be hearers of the word of God - let’s not forget that he’s speaking to us today. Jesus didn’t come as a kind of ’patron saint’ who can be ignored if it doesn’t suit our purpose. He came as the Saviour of the world, to be our Lord.
What can we do to bring about this ’year of the Lord’s favour’, the year of Jubilee? What is our responsibility as Christians? The church is called to reflect God’s character in the world. The message of the prophets of Israel was that God loves things like mercy, justice and truth, and hates things like greed and injustice. The prophet Amos cried out, ’Let justice flow down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream’ (6:24). So what can we do? Faith in Christ must result in action.
We must live lives consistent with the gospel as Christ ambassadors. We must present Christ as Saviour and as the One who cares for all humanity. We must show commitment to economic justice in society and look after our environment and have a caring attitude to others. We must pray for the leaders of our nation and island and support and encourage Christians in positions of authority. We must give practical help to the disadvantaged, perhaps by supporting a Christian relief agency. When John Wesley visited his congregations he would question his assistants as to their progress in the faith. He would often ask if their Christianity had affected their pockets? That can be an acid test of our values.
Jesus announced the Year of Jubilee as an opportunity to make a fresh start. ’Today,’ he said, ’it’s been fulfilled.’ ’I’m your fresh start if only you’ll take it!’ Jesus has come with a message of deliverance. It’s been handed down to his followers to be made known to all humanity - that there is liberty from guilt, sin, fear and death. Jesus made it possible by his death and resurrection. It’s because of his saving power that we can proclaim a message to deliverance and then seek to live it out in this the age of Jubilee. Of course, God will work his purposes out but he invites us to join with him in bringing about and being part of his kingdom.
When Jesus read the passage from Isaiah he ended with the words ’the year of the Lord’s favour’ but the original goes on ’and the day of vengeance of our God.’ The reason he stopped short is that it’s still ’the day of grace’ when we can and must take advantage of his unmerited favour in redemption but after his Second Coming the Year of Jubilee will be over. He will then finish the sentence. The congregation in Nazareth was a terrible disappointment to him and he had to leave them in their unbelief. We’re in the same congregation - what is our response?
