(Leviticus 25, Jeremiah 34, Luke 4)

Jubilee is first mention in the Bible as Israel is about to enter the land that has been promised them by God. They are actually commanded by God to rest. These slaves, who have been wandering in the desert, are told to not work the land, but to do this radical thing, that must have seemed mad to them, and crazy to the people living around them – for one year they were not to depend on their sowing and harvest, but on God's provision.

A God is saying – I'll feed you, a whole country, and take care of your needs. That was the way there to spend their first year in their new home.

God was saying: Use the time you would have spent on working the land, on gathering food for yourself, and spend time on your relationship with me. Believe that I will provide for you, for your practical needs, if you'll only seek me. It was a call to an entire nation to focus on prayer, reconciliation, on building up their communities, their country, their families, their spirituality. It was a year of healing, and putting things right.

And this year of Jubilee wasn't a one time thing. The command was ongoing. Sow and work normally for six years, and then every seven year observe this year of Jubilee – or a year of Sabbath.

Jubilee wasn't only a dedicated time between man and God, but it had repercussions between people too. Every seven years all debts between people were to be cancelled. Imagine the impact of this. Up till this day, social problems like slavery and chronic poverty are often a result of debts so large that those who owe money can't get ahead, can't make what they need in order to pay back the owed sum. And so they stay in this cycle, stuck, with no end in sight, and no way to break out of it.

But in the reality of Jubilee, debts weren't life sentences. Not only that, but slaves were supposed to be set free after seven years. Slavery wasn't a lifetime thing – which would be passed down to your children, for example. You'd know, as an Israelite, that you could again taste freedom again in your lifetime.

Jubilee was also a time where the whole country would be focused on reconciliation between each other – the spirit of this year was forgiveness and renewal.

Problem was, as the years went by, after Israel had settled in the land, they stopped obeying the command. The increasingly began enslaving their own people, exploiting people for weaknesses. And you'll find, leading up to the time of exile to Babylon, the majority of the prophets will go on and on about these very real, social issues. Slavery, injustice in the courts, the oppression of the weak, the orphan, the widow, the marginalised. The further the people of God move away from God, the more of these kinds of problems you'll see.

And after the time of exile, there's a long silence in Israel's history pages. There's just this lingering light – a whisper of a Messiah who would be sent from God to deliver Israel from their oppression and oppressors. The Messianic was seen, in a sense, as a permanent Jubilee.

So imagine one Sabbath morning, a nazarene walks into the synagogue, it's his turn to read from the scriptures, and he opens the scroll to Isaiah chapter 61.

"The Spirit of Adonai Elohim is upon me,
because Adonai has anointed me
to announce good news to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted;
to proclaim freedom to the captives,
to let out into light those bound in the dark;
2 to proclaim the year of the favour of Adonai
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn..."

These were words connected in the Jews' minds to the Messiah – the year of God's favour, of Jubilee, that wouldld last forever, that would break the Roman chains, their own captivity.

And this teacher, Rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth, closes the scroll after readingg this and says today, in your hearing, these scriptures are fulfilled. This prophecy is come true.

He was saying: here I am. The Messianic time has come, the Jubilee is here, standing in front of you – watch this space, because I am going to do something here.