	Bob Hostetler > Devotions

Proclaiming Jubilee

by Bob Hostetler

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me...to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Isaiah 61:1-2, NIV).

The nation of Israel had a custom, ordained by God, that not only would every seventh day be a sabbath, but also every seventh year, during which year the land would not be farmed. And after every seventh sabbath year (that is, every fiftieth year), the nation would proclaim the "year of Jubilee."

In that year, all slaves would be freed, all who had been forced by poverty to sell their lands would receive them back again, those who had been imprisoned would be released. No wonder it was called "Jubilee!"

That--in a broader sense--is what Jesus proclaimed when he preached Isaiah 61 in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21). He came to bring good news to the poor, to bring broken families together, to bind up the brokenhearted, to heal the hurting. He came to free the slaves, to open the doors of darkness, to untie people's hands, to unfold their wings! He came to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, the year of God's grace, the year of Jubilee!

But not just for one year every fifty; otherwise, he would not have had to come, for that was already the case. No, Jesus came to bring a worldwide Jubilee, that every year, every day, would speak good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, healing to the broken.

That is what he wants this year to be for you! And he wants your help in "proclaiming Jubilee" to others. Will you do it?---

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your deliverance; please make this year a Jubilee in my life and the lives of those around me.

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