20250126 Luke 4:14-44 Jesus is our Jubilee
The Word “Jubilee” was used a lot in 2022, when Queen Elizebeth celebrated 70 years of service as queen. I associate the word “jubilee” with the concept of “the feast of feasts” or “anniversary of anniversaries!”
The word “Jubilee” comes from the Hebrew word “Yobel.” It means “ram’s horn” or “trumpet.” This word then communicates this celebratory trumpet sound, that announces something great! The most foundational Jubilee text is Lev 25:10-11. In our text, Luke 4, Jesus announced that he fulfilled the OT concept of Jubilee.
We will look at the Jesus’ proclamation of Jubilee, Jesus’ works of Jubilee, and our response to Jubilee.
They read, “And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. … you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines.”
These verses teach three things at the year of Jubilee. (1) Property went back to its clan. (2) Israelite slaves were set free. And, (3) the land was given rest.
The year of Jubilee was an economy “reset” to avoid oppression. It meant the tribes of Israel would not be controlled by one or two more powerful families. Jubilee was a call to love God and love your neighbor. It was a call to faith in the Sovereignty of God to care for his people.
The year of Jubilee anticipated the end of the age’s reversal of Genesis 3. In the new age, there is no bondage. People will have a proper relationship to their creator God. They will have the right relationship to people and creation as it was in Genesis 2. The "Release" of Jubilee restores order to anticipate the age to come. It brings order among the covenant people, with the covenant land, and the covenant God.” This is the original concept of the year of Jubilee.
Isa 61 anticipates an end times Jubilee of Jubilees. This Jubilee was going to be the work of the Messiah. In Isa 61, Jubilee is way more than an economic reset. It declares liberty to bind up broken hearts. This liberty comforts those who mourn. This end times Jubilee brings righteousness (Isa 61:3, 10, 11) and everlasting joy (Isa 61:7). It is connected with an everlasting covenant (Isa 61:8), the restoration of Eden (Isa 61:11). Lastly, it will include all the nations of the earth (Isa 61:11).
In Luke 4:18, Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1-2 and then declares in Luke 4:21, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus says, “18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” Jesus' ministry as the Messiah is to bring good news of liberty to the poor, blind, captives, and oppressed. Jesus is our Jubilee. All this in the Isaiah 61 kind of way!
For the type of liberty or "release" Jesus brings, we look at how the word "release" is used elsewhere. The noun “release” occurs 8 times in the rest of Luke-Acts. Every time, it is followed by “of sins.”
The liberty Jesus came to bring is from the bondage of sin with the forgiveness of sins.
Now, we should not be too quick to dismiss the Lev 25 type of restoration or liberty. When a sinner encounters God’s grace, they become radical in their grace. Christians can be radical in forgiving loans. Being born-again can lead to striving for equality and justice in society.
Jesus came to bring release from the bondage of sin and we see in his ministry that he proclaimed the Kingdom of God, and he healed diseases and cast out demons. Jesus' words were back up by actions. For us, our good news cannot be separated from good works. Economic and social justice are Christian causes if they point to Christ, our Jubilee. In the life of a Christian, all good works point to and flow from the forgiveness of sins, and the reconciliation of God, his people, and the world.
In turn Christians must be teachers. We have good news to share with the world. We proclaim release, Jubilee, the release from the bondage of sins.
Our mission is the Great Commission, to teach all people to keep everything Jesus commanded.
Casting out demons is part of Jesus’ Jubilee inaugurating ministry. It shows Jesus’ authority over the spirit world.
What does this mean for us?
A common misconception is that casting out demons is everywhere in the Bible. It’s not. It hardly ever occurs either in the OT or the NT outside of the Gospels. There are some Christian circles where demons get cast out every day of the week. In the Bible, almost all references to evil spirits and possession by demons are in the four Gospels. There are references outside of the gospels but hardly any. Why is this the case?
It seems like the presence of Jesus is connected with greater demonic activity. Jesus came to bring our redemption, so he drew the most ferocious attack of the evil one. The NT speaks a great deal about satanic activity. Satanic activity does not have to mean demon possession. Rev 12 and 20 describes something happening at the death and resurrection of Jesus. Christ binds Satan so that he no longer deceives the nations. Wherever the gospel has been preached, the nations in a sense have been set free from that demonic activity. This does not mean there is no demonic activity.
With this framework, we can expect to see more demonic activity either where the kingdom of God has not already come, or where Christians are not present, or where the kingdom has been beaten back and in danger of being destroyed.
There was a Presbyterian missionary to China called John Nevius. He wrote a book on demon possession in the 1800s, based on his observation and those of many missionaries he spoke to. He found that in areas where the gospel had not penetrated, when people were demon possessed, the presence of Christians would arouse the presence of a demon to such an extent that the demon would react to their presence. He writes that the vast majority were cast out by prayer in the name of Jesus.
Nevius’s observation fits Mark 9:29. When disciples failed to cast out demons, Jesus told them, “This kind goes out only by prayer.” Prayer, repentance and faith in Jesus is simplest way to cast out demons since it is not possible for someone to be possessed by a demon when they are possessed by Jesus Christ.
It is wrong to think, because Jesus did it, I can do it too. We cannot heal miraculously, but God can. We must pray for each other. We see that God works in our lives sometimes by healing sometimes he works by not healing. When he does not heal, he is still working. God works through illnesses or what Christians call thorns in our flesh to shape us for his glory.
Conclusion on the works of Jubilee
When we study the different sections of our text, we need to keep the big picture in mind. Jesus announced the fulfillment of Jubilee. When we take Luke-Acts as a whole the focus is the forgiveness of sins.
Through his teachings, his healings, his casting out of demons, he shows his authority. He shows that the Kingdom has come. The greatest manifestation of Christ’s authority is at the resurrection. Jesus shows his authority over death to offer the forgiveness of sins, the ultimate release or Jubilee to all who come to him.
Throughout our text there are responses to Jesus. Luke wants his readers to be challenged to respond to Jesus. We see three responses.
There is an application for us.
Because demons recognize Jesus, we need to be challenged. Recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, believing he died for the forgiveness of sins is not enough. The devil knows this too. We must believe and pledge allegiance to Jesus, repent from our sins, and make him our all in all. We cannot simply believe as the demons do.
We must admit that following Jesus is not easy. According to Luke 2:34, Jesus was “appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed.” Jesus brings the greatest news of all, and throughout the ages some will follow Jesus and others will hate him. Jesus was later put to death as the people our text tried. In the West, some reject Jesus because the concept of spiritual realities reminds us of fairy tales. We also reject Jesus because of the cost of following him. We are unwilling to change.
This is a famous quote from Adlous Huxly.
He explains why he rejects God and morality. He says, “For myself, …, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation... from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom." People reject Christianity because it would interfere with their so called "freedom."
He is right. For those who accept Jesus as their savior, we need to respond to Christ as Lord and obey him.
These are positive responses to Jesus’ ministry.
Let's remember that Isa 61 announced the binding of broken hearts, comfort for those who mourn, righteousness, everlasting joy, the restoration of Eden that includes all the nations. Jesus says he is fulfilling all this! The only appropriate response is worship, and amazement at Jesus' words and actions.
The name “Liberty Bell” was first used in 1835 by an anti-slavery publication in reference to Lev 25:10. When Christians fought against slavery, this was an amazing example of the working out of Christian Jubilee in a society. Christians experience the ultimate Jubilee, liberty from the bondage of sins, and then they understand that by extension, they can no longer treat other human beings made in the image of God like property or animals!
Jubilee declares liberty and release. Jesus, the Son of God, became a human being. He fulfilled prophecies about being the savior of the world. In his earthly ministry, he demonstrated his reign. We see in our text his authority in his teaching that amazed people, his authority in healing physical bodies, and his authority over the spiritual world and evil spirits. Ultimately, later in Luke, Jesus shows his authority over the greatest enemy, death, which is the consequence of our sins.
If you have not bowed the knee to Jesus? What is stopping you? What is so great that you do not want this Jubilee, the release from the bondage of sin that Jesus announces and inaugurates? It is one thing to want to want sexual freedom, pursue ambitions, and live on our terms, but is it really worth it? Jesus offers the Jubilee of Jubilees? The liberty Jesus offers lasts forever. He offers peace with God, the forgiveness of sins, a church family, and his Holy Spirit to work love, joy, peace, and holiness in us. If you have not, believe in him, and repent and receive his Jubilee.
The word “Jubilee” comes from the Hebrew word “Yobel.” It means “ram’s horn” or “trumpet.” This word then communicates this celebratory trumpet sound, that announces something great! The most foundational Jubilee text is Lev 25:10-11. In our text, Luke 4, Jesus announced that he fulfilled the OT concept of Jubilee.
We will look at the Jesus’ proclamation of Jubilee, Jesus’ works of Jubilee, and our response to Jubilee.
Luke 4:16-22a First, we look at Jesus’ Proclamation of Jubilee.
The following is a quick overview of Jubilee in Leviticus 25 and the Prophets. Then, we will see how it is fulfilled in Christ.Lev 25:10-11 are the foundational verses for the year of Jubilee.
They read, “And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. … you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines.”
These verses teach three things at the year of Jubilee. (1) Property went back to its clan. (2) Israelite slaves were set free. And, (3) the land was given rest.
The year of Jubilee was an economy “reset” to avoid oppression. It meant the tribes of Israel would not be controlled by one or two more powerful families. Jubilee was a call to love God and love your neighbor. It was a call to faith in the Sovereignty of God to care for his people.
The year of Jubilee anticipated the end of the age’s reversal of Genesis 3. In the new age, there is no bondage. People will have a proper relationship to their creator God. They will have the right relationship to people and creation as it was in Genesis 2. The "Release" of Jubilee restores order to anticipate the age to come. It brings order among the covenant people, with the covenant land, and the covenant God.” This is the original concept of the year of Jubilee.
The Prophets pick up the theme of the year of Jubilee.
The word, “liberty” or “release” from Lev 25:10 only appears in Isa 61, Jer 34 and Ezek 46. Each text refers back to Lev 25 and the year of Jubilee. Jeremiah 34 and Ezekiel 46 announce that the people of Israel will enjoy once more the practice of years of Jubilee after the Babylonian exile. Isaiah 61 expands the concept of Jubilee.Isa 61 anticipates an end times Jubilee of Jubilees. This Jubilee was going to be the work of the Messiah. In Isa 61, Jubilee is way more than an economic reset. It declares liberty to bind up broken hearts. This liberty comforts those who mourn. This end times Jubilee brings righteousness (Isa 61:3, 10, 11) and everlasting joy (Isa 61:7). It is connected with an everlasting covenant (Isa 61:8), the restoration of Eden (Isa 61:11). Lastly, it will include all the nations of the earth (Isa 61:11).
Finally, Jesus interprets the Year of Jubilee in Luke 4.
In Luke 4:18, Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1-2 and then declares in Luke 4:21, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus says, “18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” Jesus' ministry as the Messiah is to bring good news of liberty to the poor, blind, captives, and oppressed. Jesus is our Jubilee. All this in the Isaiah 61 kind of way!
Explanation:
Luke-Acts shows us what it means that Jesus brings Jubilee. In Luke-Acts, the poor and the blind have both literal and symbolic meanings. In Luke 18:35-43, a blind man receives sight. But Luke also uses the metaphor of “seeing” to describe receiving salvation at least four times (Luke 1:78-79; 2:9, 29-32; 3:6). The poor, the captives and the oppressed can also work in the same ways physically and spiritually.For the type of liberty or "release" Jesus brings, we look at how the word "release" is used elsewhere. The noun “release” occurs 8 times in the rest of Luke-Acts. Every time, it is followed by “of sins.”
The liberty Jesus came to bring is from the bondage of sin with the forgiveness of sins.
Application
This means that the Jubilee that Jesus brings culminates with his death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins is the ultimate manifestation of God's favor. It leads to the ultimate restoration of creation, reconciling God and Man. If Jesus is our reconciliation, we have peace with God, our minds are being renewed after God's thoughts. Our hearts are softened to pursue God.Now, we should not be too quick to dismiss the Lev 25 type of restoration or liberty. When a sinner encounters God’s grace, they become radical in their grace. Christians can be radical in forgiving loans. Being born-again can lead to striving for equality and justice in society.
Jesus came to bring release from the bondage of sin and we see in his ministry that he proclaimed the Kingdom of God, and he healed diseases and cast out demons. Jesus' words were back up by actions. For us, our good news cannot be separated from good works. Economic and social justice are Christian causes if they point to Christ, our Jubilee. In the life of a Christian, all good works point to and flow from the forgiveness of sins, and the reconciliation of God, his people, and the world.
Luke 4:31-35; 38-41; 43-44 The Works of Jubilee.
The first work of Jubilee is Jesus’s teaching.
Luke 4:14-15 offers a summary of Jesus' ministry. It says that “[Jesus] taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.” The text teaches that Jesus attends the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:16), in Capernaum (Luke 4:31). In Luke 4:43, Jesus tells us why he came. He says, he “must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other tows as well, for [he] was sent for this purpose.” The ministry of Jubilee is a ministry of proclamation. Jesus is a teacher.In turn Christians must be teachers. We have good news to share with the world. We proclaim release, Jubilee, the release from the bondage of sins.
Our mission is the Great Commission, to teach all people to keep everything Jesus commanded.
The second work of Jubilee is casting out demons.
In the context of Isa 61, the freeing of captives would have referred to the release from exile in Babylon. In Luke 4, following Jesus’ statement about proclaiming liberty to the oppressed (Luke 4:18), he casts out a demon (Luke 4:35). Jesus releases those in bondage to demons.Casting out demons is part of Jesus’ Jubilee inaugurating ministry. It shows Jesus’ authority over the spirit world.
What does this mean for us?
A common misconception is that casting out demons is everywhere in the Bible. It’s not. It hardly ever occurs either in the OT or the NT outside of the Gospels. There are some Christian circles where demons get cast out every day of the week. In the Bible, almost all references to evil spirits and possession by demons are in the four Gospels. There are references outside of the gospels but hardly any. Why is this the case?
It seems like the presence of Jesus is connected with greater demonic activity. Jesus came to bring our redemption, so he drew the most ferocious attack of the evil one. The NT speaks a great deal about satanic activity. Satanic activity does not have to mean demon possession. Rev 12 and 20 describes something happening at the death and resurrection of Jesus. Christ binds Satan so that he no longer deceives the nations. Wherever the gospel has been preached, the nations in a sense have been set free from that demonic activity. This does not mean there is no demonic activity.
With this framework, we can expect to see more demonic activity either where the kingdom of God has not already come, or where Christians are not present, or where the kingdom has been beaten back and in danger of being destroyed.
There was a Presbyterian missionary to China called John Nevius. He wrote a book on demon possession in the 1800s, based on his observation and those of many missionaries he spoke to. He found that in areas where the gospel had not penetrated, when people were demon possessed, the presence of Christians would arouse the presence of a demon to such an extent that the demon would react to their presence. He writes that the vast majority were cast out by prayer in the name of Jesus.
Nevius’s observation fits Mark 9:29. When disciples failed to cast out demons, Jesus told them, “This kind goes out only by prayer.” Prayer, repentance and faith in Jesus is simplest way to cast out demons since it is not possible for someone to be possessed by a demon when they are possessed by Jesus Christ.
The third work of Jubilee is healing the sick.
In Luke 4:38-41, Jesus rebukes the fever of Peter’s mother-in-law, and then people were bringing the sick with various diseases. Jesus laid his hands on them and healed them. Healing was part of Jesus’ jubilee inaugurating ministry. Works of healing were part of the works of the Messiah (Isa 35:5-6) so they as they are part of Jesus' ministry they reveal his identity as Messiah.It is wrong to think, because Jesus did it, I can do it too. We cannot heal miraculously, but God can. We must pray for each other. We see that God works in our lives sometimes by healing sometimes he works by not healing. When he does not heal, he is still working. God works through illnesses or what Christians call thorns in our flesh to shape us for his glory.
Conclusion on the works of Jubilee
When we study the different sections of our text, we need to keep the big picture in mind. Jesus announced the fulfillment of Jubilee. When we take Luke-Acts as a whole the focus is the forgiveness of sins.
Through his teachings, his healings, his casting out of demons, he shows his authority. He shows that the Kingdom has come. The greatest manifestation of Christ’s authority is at the resurrection. Jesus shows his authority over death to offer the forgiveness of sins, the ultimate release or Jubilee to all who come to him.
Luke 4:14-15; 22b-30; 34, 36-37; 40-41, 43 Third, we look at the Responses to Jubilee!
Throughout our text there are responses to Jesus. Luke wants his readers to be challenged to respond to Jesus. We see three responses.
First, demons respond to Jesus in Luke 4:31, 41.
Demons knows exactly who Jesus is. In Luke 4:34, a demon calls Jesus “the Holy One of God.” In Luke 4:41, demons call him “the Son of God.” R. T. France writes, “As supernatural beings, [demons] have an insight into Jesus’s real nature that is not yet open to human observers, and they recognize him as their natural antagonist.”There is an application for us.
Because demons recognize Jesus, we need to be challenged. Recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, believing he died for the forgiveness of sins is not enough. The devil knows this too. We must believe and pledge allegiance to Jesus, repent from our sins, and make him our all in all. We cannot simply believe as the demons do.
A second response in the text is from those in Jesus' hometown, Nazareth.
When Jesus announces that he is bringing Jubilee, the response was positive (Luke 4:22). But things changed when Jesus reminded the people in his hometown of the time of Elijah and Elisha. In doing this, he compared that generation to one of the least spiritual periods in Israel’s history. Elijah and Elisha healed disliked Gentiles rather than Israelites. Jesus is suggesting that Gentiles were more worthy of his ministry than Jews! At this point, they become so angry they want to throw him of a cliff (Luke 4:28). At this time, throwing a person off a cliff was the proper way to stone someone.We must admit that following Jesus is not easy. According to Luke 2:34, Jesus was “appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed.” Jesus brings the greatest news of all, and throughout the ages some will follow Jesus and others will hate him. Jesus was later put to death as the people our text tried. In the West, some reject Jesus because the concept of spiritual realities reminds us of fairy tales. We also reject Jesus because of the cost of following him. We are unwilling to change.
This is a famous quote from Adlous Huxly.
He explains why he rejects God and morality. He says, “For myself, …, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation... from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom." People reject Christianity because it would interfere with their so called "freedom."
He is right. For those who accept Jesus as their savior, we need to respond to Christ as Lord and obey him.
A third response is positive.
Luke 4:14-15 records that the people “glorified him” when he taught in synagogues. This word “glorified” is only used elsewhere reserved for God. Luke is stressing the authority of Jesus’ teaching ministry and at least his own belief in Jesus’ deity. In Capernaum, Jesus casts out a demon and the people are amazed. In Luke 4:36, they say “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” In Luke 4:40 the people bring their sick to Jesus. In Luke 4:42 they are trying to keep him from leaving.These are positive responses to Jesus’ ministry.
Let's remember that Isa 61 announced the binding of broken hearts, comfort for those who mourn, righteousness, everlasting joy, the restoration of Eden that includes all the nations. Jesus says he is fulfilling all this! The only appropriate response is worship, and amazement at Jesus' words and actions.
Conclusion
The most famous bell in the United States is a broken bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Originally it was the Pennsylvania State House Bell. It had Lev 25:10 inscribed in it, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants there to.”The name “Liberty Bell” was first used in 1835 by an anti-slavery publication in reference to Lev 25:10. When Christians fought against slavery, this was an amazing example of the working out of Christian Jubilee in a society. Christians experience the ultimate Jubilee, liberty from the bondage of sins, and then they understand that by extension, they can no longer treat other human beings made in the image of God like property or animals!
Jubilee declares liberty and release. Jesus, the Son of God, became a human being. He fulfilled prophecies about being the savior of the world. In his earthly ministry, he demonstrated his reign. We see in our text his authority in his teaching that amazed people, his authority in healing physical bodies, and his authority over the spiritual world and evil spirits. Ultimately, later in Luke, Jesus shows his authority over the greatest enemy, death, which is the consequence of our sins.
If you have not bowed the knee to Jesus? What is stopping you? What is so great that you do not want this Jubilee, the release from the bondage of sin that Jesus announces and inaugurates? It is one thing to want to want sexual freedom, pursue ambitions, and live on our terms, but is it really worth it? Jesus offers the Jubilee of Jubilees? The liberty Jesus offers lasts forever. He offers peace with God, the forgiveness of sins, a church family, and his Holy Spirit to work love, joy, peace, and holiness in us. If you have not, believe in him, and repent and receive his Jubilee.
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