Jubilee: The Capstone Experience (Isaiah 58; Luke 4:17-21)

God’s design for Ancient Israel was for them to observe a year of Jubilee every 50 years. It was intended to serve as a hard reset, a recalibration, that brought Israel’s society back into alignment with God’s intent, so that they would be a healthy people, able to better represent God to their neighbors. Generations later, when Jesus pronounced the Year of the Lord’s favor in Luke 4, he was ushering in a more permanent state of Jubilee. It wasn’t just something that happened every 50 years, the recalibration was to happen constantly.  The American mindset trains us to think of ourselves as individuals. The grades I get in school are my grades, not yours. The money I make is my money, not yours. Yet we all know things aren’t so simple. We are individuals who also belong to one another. Because we’re connected, we experience brokenness together. Because we’re connected, we can all participate in healing, together, too.  Jesus is right now bringing Jubilee - bringing sight to the blind, freedom for the captive, good news for all those who are poor. You will carry another’s burden, and someone here will carry yours, and together we rest on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ and the life we have in him.