Leviticus 25:8-12. 8“You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10And 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. 11That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. 12For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.
The year of Jubilee. A great big national re-set. All slaves set free. Every debt cancelled. All ancestral lands returned to the family. No sowing or harvesting of the fields. Even the land took its rest. This was an opportunity to start over, to have a second chance. Jubilee prevented systemic and generational poverty, and returned equality to the families of Israel.
What does this have to do with Pentecost? Well Jubilee is its own Pentecost – you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land. When Jesus began his public ministry he proclaimed himself to be the fulfillment of the year of Jubilee.
Luke 4:16-21. 16And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18“The 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, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus, the Spirit empowered Son of God, launched Jubilee in his name. At Pentecost, Jesus gave that same Spirit to his disciples, and ultimately to all who would believe. What does this all mean? It means that the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church at Pentecost is our Jubilee, isn’t it? In what way?
Freedom from slavery: When Jesus gave us the Spirit he was setting us free from our slavery to sin. Just as the Israelite slave was set free in the year of Jubilee, the Spirit has set free all who were enslaved by the power of sin.
Romans8:2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
Sin no longer holds condemning or controlling power over we who are in Christ. The law of sin and death has been replaced by the law of the Spirit. Here the word law means “controlling principle” or “power.” So what is Romans 8 saying? It is saying that we have a new master, a new controlling principle over our lives. And this principle is a person, the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, Christ. Our new master indwelling us is actively empowering us to say no to sin. Sin that has already been fully forgiven.
The inheritance of a kingdom: The year of Jubilee was closely connected to the inheritance of the land. Leased or sold property was restored to its original owners in the Jubilee. Remember, all the land was a gracious gift from God going back to the Abrahamic Covenant. The Promised Land was given to Abraham and restored and distributed to the tribes under Joshua. Jubilee ensured an inheritance for families, and prevented the hoarding of property.
In the same way the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it (Eph. 1:13-14). What is our spiritual inheritance? The Kingdom of God. And literally Christ himself. And nothing can take that away from us.
Rest from our labor: No sowing. No reaping. No gathering.The land will take its rest and so will the laborers. In an agrarian society this was an act of faith. In the same way the Spirit comes to us by faith and offers us the rest from our labors in regards to salvation. No more proving our own worth, or earning our reward in Heaven. No more making up for all the wrong that we’ve done with “extra credit.” No more striving for God’s favor or appeasing an angry God. Not with the Spirit of Chris in us. By his grace we have entered into a place of rest and relaxation, the pressure is off.
Jubilee reveals the heart of God. His compassion for his creation. His justice and mercy for his fallen creation. And his restoring power for his new creation. But even greater than the Year of Jubilee is the Savior that it points to. Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension brought about our spiritual Jubilee. Freedom from slavery to sin. An inheritance in the Kingdom of God. And rest from all our labor.
You: Where does your life need a re-do right now?
You in Christ: In what ways can you experience spiritual Jubilee through Christ? Freedom? Inheritance? Rest?
Christ in you: What would it look like to be a “living Jubilee” for your community around you?
Prayer: Father, my life definitely needed a re-set before Jesus. Thank you for giving me the Spirit as my spiritual Jubilee. Help me to enjoy my forgiveness, my inheritance, and my rest. Amen.
To Live is Christ 