Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
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Jubilee
God says: Count off seven Sabbaths of years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the Day of Atonement consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land , to all its inhabitants. It shall be a year of Jubilee. ''Leviticus 25:8-10''

Jubilee was a very rare word. It was the Hebrew word for a ram's horn. The Jews were instructed to fashion a trumpet out of the horn of a wild ram, and this was to be so sacred that it was to be played only once every fifty years. Then there would be Jubilee. During Jubilee, three things would happen.

First, all debts were canceled. Anyone who had been living under bondage of debt would be freed. This expressed God's heart for the poor. ...

In the Jubilee Year, God says there will be a fresh start for those who are poor¨for those who are likely to be sitting on the sidelines. In case anybody missed the intent, or might try to circumvent it, or think it was just a matter of mechanics, God goes on: Do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor brother. Rather be open-handed and freely lend him whatever he needs. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought. The year for canceling debts is near so that you show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart. Then, because of this, your God will bless you. ''Deuteronomy 15:7-10'' In the Jubilee Year, debt is forgiven.

The second thing that happens in the Jubilee Year is all prisoners are released. Now, in our day, this doesn't sound like good news, because we think of people who are in prison for really bad things, and we're not sure we would want them all to be released. In the Old Testament days, about the only thing they locked you up for was debt. For almost anything else, they would stone you. If you talked back to your mom and dad, they'd get the stones out. Jubilee Year meant the prisoners were going to go free.

Third, in the Jubilee Year, all the land was supposed to go back to its original owner. Now in the ancient day, far more than in our day when economics are much more complex, wealth was tied to land. If you were in a family where your dad or your grandfather had become sick, or done something wrong, or made a mistake, or been the victim of injustice and your family lost its ability to own land, that was it. You were out of luck. Jubilee meant hope for the poor.

You might wonder, what was the rationale for all of this? This is what God says: The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine, and you are but aliens and tenants. ''Leviticus 25:23'' ...

There is only one problem with the Jubilee Year. They never actually observed it. The best we can tell, it was never actually observed. ...

You know, God hasn't given up on this Jubilee idea yet. It's a good idea. It's God's idea. We can't pull it off ourselves, but it is going to happen. It's going to happen when Messiah comes. When Messiah comes, He will proclaim the Jubilee, and He will make it stick. For instance, the Prophet Isaiah wrote that the Messiah would say:

  • The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me , ''That's Messianic language. The Messiah is simply ?The Anointed One.?'' , to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captive and release for the prisoners to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. ''Isaiah 61:1-2a'' That's Jubilee! When Messiah comes, then Jubilee is coming!

    And they waited. Year after year, decade after decade, century after century ,they waited.

    Finally, this rabbi named Jesus comes. He's going to give His very first sermon. He goes back to His hometown and enters the synagogue. The people are all gathered; they've known Him since He was a little kid. He takes the scroll, turns to these words in Isaiah 61, and then He reads them to the people:

  • The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor , to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. ''Luke 4:18''

    Then He rolls up the scrolls. The Scripture says that all eyes are fixed on Him. Then He sets them aside. He sits down, because that's what rabbis did. He says:

  • Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. ''Luke 4:21''

    What He's saying is:

  • Jubilee is finally here, and I'm it. It's arrived on this planet, first of all in Me , in My body.

    And it's come in some unexpected ways. Not only is it here for Israel. He makes it real clear that it's also here for their enemies, the Gentiles.



    By: John Ortberg
    Category: Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
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    Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

    Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area. He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
    He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was 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 heal the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim release to the captives,
    recovering of sight to the blind,
    to deliver those who are crushed,
    and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
    He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began to tell them, "Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
    All testified about him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, "Isn't this Joseph's son?"
    He said to them, "Doubtless you will tell me this parable, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.'" He said, "Most certainly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land. Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, except Naaman, the Syrian."
    They were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things. They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they might throw him off the cliff. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way.

    Luke 4:14-30
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