February 24

Leviticus 25: Three Special Events on God’s Calendar
Sabbath: One day in 7 is given to God, one day each week to take off from work and enjoy God.
Sabbath Year: Divide up the land into seven sections and let one section lay fallow, unplowed each year.
God wants us to be good managers of the natural resources he has loaned to us. Christ followers are to be environmentally responsible. We are called to take care of the God’s planet.
The Year of Jubilee: Every 50 years a very special event occurs. All debts are cancelled. Servants are set free. The land goes back to original owners. It was a new start for poor people. For those who had lost out in life's race, for the weak, the outcast, the losers, they all get a chance to start over. This is God’s solution for class inequity. It is a way to prevent the rich from getting richer, and the poor from getting poorer. But even though God commanded this, there is no record of them ever celebrating a Jubilee.

Isaiah the prophet shows up around 700 years later and makes this startling prediction. When Messiah comes, Messiah will declare the Jubilee. You will know he is the Messiah by virtue of a declaration he makes.

Isaiah 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach 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.

Now fast forward to the year AD 30. Jesus is just beginning his ministry and his mom has arranged for her son to read the scriptures at First Avenue Synagogue of Nazareth. You know how mother's are. Everyone is there, Uncle Lou, Aunt Betty, grandma and grandpa. Mary has prepared a big shindig afterward. Now the tension grows, Jesus gets up to read. He opens to Isaiah 61 and everyone knows what is in the chapter. Everyone knows that whoever declares the Jubilee is declaring himself as the Messiah.

Luke 4:16-21 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 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 preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed, 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, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

In case you didn't get it. Jesus just plugged the neon sign in, "I'm the Messiah." Now the synagogue is buzzing. Who does he think he is? Isn't this Joseph's and Mary’s son? They rise up in a mob action and intend to throw him off a cliff. You talk about a party getting off on the wrong foot!!!
Luke 4:30 says, “But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way”. No one lays a hand on him.

The Jubilee gives us our mission statement in 2010. Here are four components that we must all include in our “TO DO” list today.
1. Preach Good News to the poor
2. Proclaim freedom for people who are prisoners or in bondage
3. Healing of the sick
4. Deliverance of the oppressed
The Jubilee is all about our mission on earth. How can you adjust your “TO DO” list today to reflect these priorities?