A spiritual “Year of Jubilee“
Luke 4:14-21 NKJV
Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. So, He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Then He closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Cyril of Alexandria
What does preaching the acceptable yar of the Lord mean? It signifies the joyful tidings of his own advent, that the time of the Lord – yes, the Son – had arrived. For that was the acceptable year in which Christ was crucified on our behalf, because we then were made acceptable to God the Father as the fruit borne by him. That is why the Lord said, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself.” Truly he returned to life the third day, having trampled on the power of death. After that resurrection he said to his disciples, “All power has been given to me.” That, too, is in every respect an acceptable year. In it we were received into his family and were admitted to him, having washed away sin by holy baptism and been made partakers of his divine nature by the communion of the Holy Spirit. That, too, is an acceptable year, in which he manifested his glory by inexpressible miracles.
(Proof of the Gospel 3.1.88C-89A)
Warren Wiersbe
The reference here is the “Year of Jubilee” described in Leviticus 25. Every seventh year was a “Sabbatical year” for the nation, when the land was allowed to rest; and every fiftieth year (after seven Sabbaticals) was set apart as the “Year of Jubilee.” The main purpose of this special year was the balancing of the economic system: slaves were set free and returned to their families, property that was sold reverted to the original owners, and all debts were canceled. The land lay fallow as man and beast rested and rejoiced in the Lord. Jesus applied all of this to His own ministry, not in a political or economic sense, but in a physical and spiritual sense. He had certainly brought Good News of salvation to bankrupt sinners and healing to brokenhearted and rejected people. He had delivered many from blindness and from bondage to demons and disease. Indeed, it was a spiritual “Year of Jubilee” for the nation of Israel! (The Bible Exposition Commentary)
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
I Cannot Tell Why He Whom Angels Worship
