some Leviticus then there are other
books in the Bible so we will look at
other books too but not quite done with
laviticus Leviticus 25 if you have your
Bible you've got Genesis Exodus then
book number three is Leviticus and right
near the end in chapter 25 there are a
series of laws about the land and about
something called the redemption of the
land now aren't you glad you change your
clocks for words you could make it to
hear about land redemption laws in
ancient Israel 4,000 years ago believe
it or not that relates to you and me
today in an awesome way because God is a
redeemer we're going to talk about what
that means that God is able to buy us
back from what has taken us away and so
that's where we're going today in
Leviticus 25 it talks about to special
events for the people of Israel in the
Land of Israel that they were to do when
they got there they're not there yet
there in the desert and these lands
these laws have to do with two different
things one a Sabbath year a Sabbath year
if a Sabbath day is a day off Sabbath
your is a year off sound good to anybody
sign me up a year off sounds great no
but then it goes further than that and
then there is not just a Sabbath year
we're going to be talking about
something they call that the god called
the Jubilee year and that Jubilee year
is what especially relates to us today
in the New Covenant so Leviticus 25
Leviticus 25 let me pray for this father
I thank you so much for the glory
encapsulated in these ancient laws I
thank you for the heart that gave them I
pray that these words that we read would
not be dead but they would be spirit and
they would be life to us I pray God that
what we read and talk about today
would provide a window into your heart
and that it would be transformative Holy
Spirit I pray you would take this time
and speak to each one of us as we've
been talking about by name in Jesus name
Amen Leviticus chapter 25 verse 1
Leviticus 25 verse 1 we'll start with
the Sabbath year says the Lord said to
Moses in Mount Sinai speak to the
Israelites in say to them when you enter
the land i'm going to give you the land
itself must observe a Sabbath to the
Lord for six years so your fields and
for six years prune your vineyards and
gather their crops but in the seventh
year the land is to have a year of
Sabbath rest a Sabbath to the Lord do
not sow your fields or prune your
vineyards do not reap what grows of
itself or harvest the grapes of your
unattended vines the land is to have a
year of rest wow I'm feeling relaxed
just reading it ah I need you whatever
the land yields during the Sabbath year
will be food for you for yourself your
male and female servants they need a
break too and the hard worker and
temporary resident who live among you as
well as your livestock even your cow and
your ox and donkey need a break and even
the wild animals in your land whatever
the land produces may be eaten okay
Sabbath year beautiful that once every
cycle of seven years the land rests the
people rest the the animals themselves
rest and then in verse 8 count off seven
sabbath years okay seven times seven
years so that the 77 Sabbath years
amount to a period of 49 years okay so
we're talking once a generation about
right then have the trumpet sounded
everywhere on the tenth day of the
seventh month on the Day of Atonement
sound the trumpet throughout your land
consecrate the fiftieth year and
proclaim Liberty throughout the land to
all its inhabitants it shall be a
jubilee for you each of you is to return
to your family property and to your own
clan the fiftieth year shall be a
jubilee for you do not so do not reap
what grows of itself or harvest the
unattended vines for it is a jubilee and
it is to be holy for you eat only what
is taken directly from the fields in
this year of Jubilee everyone is to
return to their own property once a
generation God hits the reset button and
everybody comes home to their ancient
ancestral lands that God gave them
originally talked about a family reunion
some people hadn't seen each other in
years it's time to come home it's time
to come together it's time to get the
land back now some people coming home I
get a little complicated right some
people might think a family reunion that
might be relaxing for you I don't know
well hey our God we're gonna see is the
God who unravels drama who provides a
fresh start and a new beginning and the
Jubilee was meant to be that for the
people a year to declare Liberty the
land restored everyone goes home because
some people had ended up leaving their
homes here's how it happens life can get
complicated you own some land one year
you have a bad harvest maybe there's not
as much rain something goes wrong you
don't have quite enough money from that
harvest to buy seed for next year so
what do you do you borrow some money to
buy seed to sow so you borrow some money
you get a little a little debt just a
little one and you start sowing the seed
and then it's another bad here just a
couple bad years in a row and next thing
you know you don't have enough money to
pay the debt so suddenly things get
complicated and you have to start
selling land
some of the land to pay your debt and
buy seed for next year and then whoops
the next year is got to be a really big
one because now you've got the debts as
well and maybe it's not so big and the
next thing you know you're selling all
your land and now your debt is starting
to get crushing and just to keep up with
it what do you end up doing in ancient
Israel you could sell yourself as a
permanent servant another word for that
could be slave into slavery and so God's
people who are meant to live in the
promised land because life gets
complicated could end up losing the land
losing their money losing their family
and sometimes even losing their freedom
now if the laws of the Old Testament are
a window into the heart of the lawgiver
we see that God cares about people whose
lives get complicated God cares about us
when our lives unravel when one thing
leads to another and he says I will stop
those patterns at once a generation and
i will give everybody a fresh beginning
in my land it's the year of Jubilee so
let's read a little bit more about this
about the debt part of it verse 14 verse
14 if you sell land to any of your own
people or buy land from them do not take
advantage of each other you are to buy
from your own people on the basis of the
number of years since the Jubilee and
they are to sell to you on the basis of
the number year number of years left for
harvesting crops were 16 when the years
are many your to increase the price when
the years are few your to decrease the
price because what is really being sold
to you is the number of crops did not
take advantage of each other but fear
your God he's watching and I am the Lord
your God so in other words they were to
know that once every 50 years if you
sell the land that person supposed to
get it back so the price should change
depending on how many years to the
Jubilee you're actually selling years of
crops to one another they were supposed
to do that verse 18 if you do this if
you follow my decrees and be careful to
obey my laws you
live safely in the land and then the
land will yield its fruit and you will
eat your fill and live there and safety
now you may ask what will we eat in the
seventh year if we do not plant or
harvest our crops I will send you such a
blessing in the sixth year that the land
will yield enough for three years while
you plant during the eighth year you
will eat from the old crop and will
continue to eat from it until the
harvest of the ninth year comes in gotta
trust god this is going to work out it's
a step of faith which is why the people
of Israel did not obey this law and
which is part of what led to the
consequences of their losing the land
completely so the land could rest the
way it was supposed to verse 23 the land
must not be sold permanently because and
here's a key point we're going to come
back to God says the land is mine and
you reside in my land as foreigners and
strangers throughout the land that you
hold as a possession you must provide
for the redemption of the land which
means people can buy back what they've
already sold or lost now let's down in
verse 25 here talks about how things can
get complicated if one of your fellow
Israelites becomes poor and sells some
of their property their nearest relative
is to come and redeem what they have
sold if however there is no one to
redeem it for them but later on they
prosper and acquire sufficient means to
redeem it themselves they are to
determine the value of the year since
they sold it and refund the balance to
the one to whom they sold it they can
then go back to their own property but
if they do not acquire the means to
repay what was sold will remain in the
possession of the buyer until the year
of Jubilee it will be returned in the
Jubilee and then they can go back to
their property in other words you sell
the land you lose it you can have a
relative buy it back for you or if you
end up saving up enough money you can
buy it back for yourself but if you
can't then God steps in every 50 years
and says I will buy it back for you and
that's the year of Jubilee and the
consequences of that are not just
getting land
but also getting free look at this
skipping down to verse 39 if any of your
fellow Israelites become poor and sell
themselves to you do not make them work
as slaves they are to be treated as
hired workers or temporary residence
among you they are to work for you until
the year of Jubilee then they and their
children are to be released they will go
back to their own clans into their
property of their ancestors because the
Israelites are my servants whom I
brought out of Egypt they must not be
sold as slaves do not rule over them
ruthlessly but fear your God let's skip
down to verse 54 even if someone is not
redeemed in any of these ways they and
their children are still to be released
in the year of Jubilee for the
Israelites belong to me as servants
they're my servants whom I brought out
of Egypt and i am the lord your god
awesome awesome this is relevant for us
today this is not talking about some
sort of utopian socialism no no people
get to own the land right but nor is it
just sort of the social Darwinist
capitalist every person fight for
themselves and just let nature take its
course no God intervenes this is
something special this is a country that
for a period of time was the kingdom of
God on earth it was a time when the
people of Israel for a season got to be
a country ruled by King Yahweh the Lord
was their king they were his servants
the land was God's king and he
bequeathed it to them awesome a picture
of the way things were once with Adam
and Eve in the garden and a picture of
the way the things will be once again
when Jesus comes back and he will be the
king of kings and the Lord of lords and
the government will be on his shoulders
this is a picture of heaven and it's
also a picture spiritually of what God
is already doing and we're going to see
about this because there's a future
a future for Humanity of owning of being
owned by God and of owning what God has
give them now this Jubilee reasserts to
baseline truths it's based on two truths
that I want to emphasize truth number
one is in verse 42 of Leviticus 25 25 42
it says because the Israelites are my
servants whom I brought out of Egypt
they must not be sold as slaves God is
saying i bought these people i rescued
them from slavery in Egypt I used plays
to set them free and I brought them to
myself so that of all the nations on
earth they would be my treasured
possession even though all the nations
are mine they will be for me a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation a special
people that belongs to me and because
that people belongs to God no one and
nothing else can own them they are to be
a free people freely serving the Living
God amen that is what it's about no one
and nothing has the right to own or
control one of God's servants because
someone is already in charge of my life
I'm not available I belong to him his
name is written on my forehead no one
else's nothing else can be written their
gods serve it holy to the Lord now the
second part of that the corollary is
that God as king with his servants moves
into land and he gives each family each
person attractive land and here's the
other point God says the land belongs to
me and I have given it to you
temporarily as stewards and the point
being no one can take away the land God
had given to his people get where I'm
going with this what God has given to
one of God's servants cannot belong to
anyone else
no one can take away from you what God
has entrusted to you for his glory
because you belong to him now this
provides a window into the heart of God
write the laws in the Old Testament give
us a window into the heart of the law
Giver they help us see who God is we've
said this before a lot of people think
the God in the Old Testament was grumpy
he was difficult he was angry he was
mean and the god of the New Testament
got real nice no no god is love he
always has been loved he always will be
loved god is holy holy holy he always
has been wholly he always will be God is
the same yesterday today and forever and
these laws show us the heart of God they
show us that throughout history God has
been in the business of restoring lives
that have unraveled that's good news
that's good movies that's Liberty
throughout the land that God cares for
people who find themselves stuck in
situations that they feel they just
can't get out of maybe there's things
that have happened to them that they had
no control over maybe there's some bad
decisions they made and then they can't
quite make it right but for whatever
reason they felt stuck and trapped God
cares about people who feel like that
God cares for the poor he has always
will God cares for people who are
oppressed for those who feel trapped or
overwhelmed by forces beyond their
control God is into canceling debts
breaking bondage and restoring families
and that is good news that's the heart
of God that we see in Jubilee that's
God's vision for Humanity God cares for
people who feel isolated and lonely who
have been separated from their families
who don't know how they can possibly go
home he restores their hope their
opportunity their future and their
dignity God brings people home
prese prese god is the god of jubilee
and he still is the heart of the father
Jesus told this amazing parable remember
the parable about a father who had two
sons and one of the stuns asked for his
inheritance early he went and he
squandered it he made his own bad
decisions and then he was left living in
the mud serving you know feeding pigs he
was jealous of the pigs because of what
they were eating and suddenly he snapped
into his senses it says what am I doing
here my father's servants live better
than this I know what I'll do I'll go
home I'll go back to my father and i'll
offer myself as his slave as his servant
it's better than this and the Bible says
Jesus said that the father when he saw
the Sun a long way off you know the
story he must have been standing at the
door looking out the window every day
saying maybe today he'll come home God's
heart God's Jubilee heart longing to see
the sun's come home and then one day he
saw him in a distance he's like it can't
be you know the story he runs out you
know I'm just I visualize an old you
know slightly overweight you know big
bearded Jewish patriarch running out
there no dignity no nothing my little
boys coming home he runs out and he hugs
him and falls on his neck and kissing
the Sun goes into a spiel father I'm not
worthy you know I've sinned against God
and against you I am no longer worthy to
be called one of your sons he's got it
memorized right he's been practicing the
father's like yeah that's a very nice
speech whatever save it for later call
the servants get that kill the fatted
calf we're going to have a feast get a
robe for my son what does that robe
represent represent his inheritance this
boy was going to be rien heritage I'm
not taking you as a servant I'm gonna
take you as a son I'm taking you as a
son and he puts the robe on him and he
puts the ring a representation of his
authority in the household as a son
again he brings him
and they eat they celebrate they do
great things because it is time to
celebrate that this son of mine was dead
and is alive again he was lost and he is
found and we need to celebrate well
along with all the Angels right that's
the heart of the Father and it's the
same heart of God in the Old Testament
it's the same heart of a God who wrote
the Jubilee laws for the people of
Israel it's the heart that longs for
God's people to come home who longs for
God's people to be free that they could
know that they belong to God and that
what God has given he never takes back
he gives it to them to belong to them to
be God's children and and he is their
King and they are his people now this we
see if you would turn with me to the
book of Isaiah chapter 61 we see this
prophesied by Isaiah this concept of
Jubilee would one day become part of the
mission of the Messiah because the
people of Israel like I said there is no
record of them ever actually obeying
this law it would have required people
giving land back all right setting
slaves free people don't do that easily
and so the people of Israel did not we
don't know if they maybe they try to do
some sabbath years we don't know but
there's no record of it and I would
think there would be a record of it if
they did it and it would have been
awesome and so God after several
generations said you know what the land
hasn't rested my people haven't rested
you violated my covenant they lost their
right to be in the land for a season
till they came back but God says that
that Jubilee is still God's heart and
that Jubilee will come true one day so
in Isaiah 61 please look at this with me
this prophecy by the prophet Isaiah
predicts the coming Jubilee under the
Messiah the Messiah supposedly speaking
is speaking prophetically through Isaiah
when he says the spirit of the sovereign
Lord is on me because the Lord has
anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor he has
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to
proclaim freedom for the captives and
release from darkness for the prisoners
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God to
comfort all who mourn to provide for
those who grieve in Zion to bestow on
them a crown of beauty instead of Ashes
the oil of joy instead of mourning in a
garment of praise instead of a spirit of
despair and they will be called Oaks of
righteousness a planting of the Lord for
the display of his splendor they will
rebuild the ancient ruins and restore
the places long devastated they will
renew the ruined cities that they that
have been devastated for generations
strangers will Shepherd your flocks
foreigners will work the fields and the
vineyards and you will be called priests
of the Lord you will be named ministers
of our God you will feed on the wealth
of the nations and in their riches you
will boast instead of your shame you
will receive a double portion and
instead of disgrace you will rejoice in
your inheritance and so you will inherit
a double portion in your land and
everlasting joy will be yours for I the
LORD love justice I hate robbery and
wrongdoing their land their their
inheritance have been stolen in my
faithfulness I will reward my people and
make an everlasting covenant with them
their descendants will be known among
the nations and their offspring among
the peoples all who see them will
acknowledge that they are a people the
Lord has blessed now look at the end I
don't know if it's isaiah i don't know
if it's the church but someone starts
celebrating verse 10 i delight greatly
in the lord and my soul rejoices in my
god for he has clothed me with the
garments of salvation and arrayed me in
a robe of his righteousness as a
bridegroom adorns has had like a priest
and as a bride adorns herself with her
jewels for as the soy
Oh makes the sprout come up and the
garden causes seed to grow so the
sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all the
nations now that is a Jubilee that is
the time when God's people will be set
free and that garment of heaviness will
take it off and the spirit of joy the
spirit of heaviness removed the oil of
joy will crown their heads priests of
the Living God they'll rebuild the
houses that have become decrepit and the
lands and there will be celebration and
joy that is the Jubilee we're waiting
for its the Jubilee the people of Israel
were waiting for the time when the
prodigal can come home so guess what
Jesus did at the beginning of his
ministry did you know that some of you
might already know this Jesus's life
mission statement is pointing back to
the Jubilee jesus said that is what i
have come to do Luke chapter 4 Luke
chapter 4 verse 14 look what Jesus says
he goes home to Galilee his hometown he
had already started you know doing some
healings and teaching and doing things
but he then was in the desert being
tempted by the devil for 40 days and
then he returns to Galilee his hometown
in the power of the Spirit and news
about him spread throughout the whole
countryside Luke 4 verse 15 he was
teaching in their synagogues and
everyone praised him and Jesus went to
Nazareth where he had been brought up
and on the Sabbath day he went into the
synagogue as was his custom he stood up
to read and the scroll of the prophet
Isaiah was handed to him unrolling it he
found the place where in so Jesus was
preaching that day in the synagogue ok
he gets the scroll in its Isaiah 61
Jesus says verse 18 the Spirit of the
Lord is on me because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor he
sent me to proclaim freedom for the
prisoners and recovery of sight for the
blind to set the oppressed free to
proclaim the year of the Lord's favor
bowl and then he stopped and people were
like wait a minute wait a minute the
verse doesn't end that way
right like if I came up here and said
for God so loved the world that He gave
His one and only Son that and then I
then I stopped you would say that
whosoever believes in Him should not
perish because you know the verse right
you know you went to awana you got it
memorized right your parents made you go
probably you know this is you know you
know the verse they all knew these
verses they memorized that they're
waiting for it the verse says in the
Book of Isaiah to proclaim the year of
the Lord's favor and the day of
vengeance of our God but Jesus stop
there he stopped after the year of the
Lord's favor the year of Jubilee he said
I have come to proclaim the good news
now there will be a day of vengeance a
day of judgment will come when he will
come and set the universe right but now
is the time when the Jubilee has been
proclaimed and they would have been like
wow he stopped halfway an incomplete
sentence see Jesus then rolled up the
scroll in verse 20 he gave it back to
the attendant and sat down the eyes of
everyone in the synagogue were fastened
on him and Jesus began by saying to them
today this scripture is fulfilled in
your hearing can you imagine and
everyone's it's like Wade only way to
one winner you just said the Jubilee is
here not just any Jubilee but the
Jubilee that's going to cover the whole
earth the Jubilee when everybody's going
to be set free did you believe that only
the Messiah can do and Jesus is sitting
there quietly saying the Scriptures
fulfilled in your hearing today see
that's what Jesus came to do he came to
blow that trumpet and say set the
captives free it's time for people to
come home it's time to set people free
good news to the poor Jesus did that his
whole ministry was about bringing the
Jubilee to broken people whose lives had
unraveled because of the debt that they
had incurred not financially but because
of sin now I do believe that there is a
financial component to all this I think
God cares about the physical poor I
don't want to super spiritual eyes this
Jesus cared about the widow whose son
had died and she didn't have anything
else to leave live on Jesus cared about
the man Bartimaeus who was blind and had
to beg for his food Jesus cared about
the marginalized the Gentiles the
handicapped people who didn't have any
other option in society Jesus cared
about them he cared about the physical
poor good news to the poor and we also
should amen but beyond that there is
also spiritual poverty you see even if
we're not in jail physically many of us
are in jail spiritually there are
invisible chains that bind us you ever
seen the Christmas Carol right you know
Ebenezer all those chains that were
being lugged around it's a ponderous
chain you've built right isn't that the
way he put it we have chains that we
carry Jesus right after he proclaimed
this went into the synagogue and as he
was preaching as he was preaching a
person stood up and started screaming it
was freaky he started screaming saying
what do you want with us I know who you
are son of David he was possessed by a
demon and Jesus said you be silent come
out of this man in Jesus name and people
said who is this he teaches with
authority and gives commands to evil
spirits and they go and she said that's
right because I've come to set the
captives free and there are people all
of us because of our sin the devil has
access to our life and I don't mean that
just symbolically I'm not trying to
freak anyone out right but we have
sinned legally when we sin there is a
debt incurred and the enemy the devil
the word for that is prosecuting
attorney accuser he has a case against
us he has access to our lives and many
of us have let him in we've opened up
all kinds of windows in the house and
the bugs have flown in spiritually
speaking and we get stuck you've heard
the phrase we use this in discipleship
level 2 about the monkey on your back
right right that monkey grows and grows
and grows he got fed and fed and fed and
then he's not a little pet monkey
anymore he's a big gorillas as I want a
banana now and you have to feed him the
devil has people chained and jesus said
i have come to set the captives free
because I've come to proclaim the year
of Jubilee and I'm going to take care of
the debt and we're gonna let people go
now jesus also what else did he do
during his ministry he did a lot of
healing didn't he well there's two
particular stories sometimes sickness
can feel like a type of slavery and I
don't believe that sickness is a result
of of our sin some people when they're
sick think oh god must be punishing me
I've been bad right and the answer is
well yes of course you've been bad
you're human you send yes we need Jesus
to forgive us but we don't believe that
every sickness is God punishing people
job was very sick and he was a good man
who didn't do anything to deserve it
there was something else going on but
sickness can feel like we're trapped by
it like were burdened by it and there's
one story in the Gospels of a bleeding
woman she'd had a flow of blood for 12
years she was ceremonially unclean she
anyone she touched became ceremonially
unclean she had tried doctor after
doctor and she'd spent everything she
had you ever felt like that you tried
everything you try this you try that
this doctor this psychologist this
program this and nothing seems to work
in her desperation she thought I know
that this man has power and if I sneak
up and I just touch that tassel at the
end of his garment I know is going to be
okay she snuck through the crowd and it
said that immediately when she touched
the hem of His garment her bleeding
stopped and she felt in her body that
she was and the word they use is freed
from her suffering now Jesus didn't let
her sneak away into the crowd because he
she was still going to feel like a slave
she was still going to feel unclean and
Jesus like we got a chain heal not just
your body we have to heal your heart we
have to heal your mind so he stops
looking around who touched me right and
he's in a big hurry he had to heal some
girl who was dying but he was a
wait a min i got time for this he
stopped and he looks around somebody
touched me the apostles his bodyguards
say yeah there's a lot of people
touching you everyone's crowding up
against you Jesus and Jesus like don't
talk to me that way somebody touch me
different you know and he's looking
around and then finally the woman comes
forward trembling because a woman who
was ceremonially unclean shouldn't go
around touching rabbis but Jesus is like
I'm not just any rabbi and you're not
just some unclean woman Jesus looks at
her and says daughter me huh daughter
you're not unclean anymore you're my
little girl do it is me Nina you're my
daughter he says daughter your faith has
healed you and then look at the language
he used go in peace and be free from
your suffering you see Jesus came to set
the captives free there's another story
of a woman who was hunched over you know
the story she would walk with a some
type of scoliosis issue where she would
walk hunched right you know the you've
heard the story and on a Sabbath day
Jesus saw this woman in the synagogue
and every was wondering if he was going
to be so gutsy as to try to heal someone
on the Sabbath day apparently they
thought that was work right so you're
not allowed to work on the Sabbath no
healing people you know this is church
not supposed to heal people here and
Jesus is like you guys don't get church
you don't get the Sabbath and so Jesus
called the woman up she's hunched over
and look at the language it uses in Luke
13 verse 12 when Jesus are he called her
Ford and said to her woman you are set
free from your infirmity can you imagine
how dramatic it must have been as this
woman and the Bible says for 18 years
had been like this for the first time in
her life she wasn't looking at the
ground she was looking up looking Jesus
in the face boy that would be I don't
fenton ones put that in one of the Jesus
movies but they need to because you
could do it from her perspective and you
see the ground for 18 years the ground
the ground the ground and then wool and
there's the face of them
who has made it so that i can walk with
my head held high and Jesus said should
not this woman a daughter of Abraham
whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen
long years not be set free on the
Sabbath from what bound her Jesus is in
the business of setting people free he
came to proclaim the Jubilee and he came
to people who felt stuck in their sin
see jesus knows that it's not so easy to
stop once you started doing something
wrong right my son asked me this daddy
why do I always want to do what's bad if
you tell me not to do it suddenly I want
to do it and I said well you are human
sorry it's even way and once you start
though you get stuck in your sin you
know I have a special a special empathy
for people who struggle with addictions
because with friends who have addictions
to different substances and just feel
like they can't stop I see myself in
that with my own sin and struggles and I
know that that horrible feeling that how
am I ever gonna stop doing I know it's
killing me but I'm doing it anyway and
you feel trapped you feel chained to it
I had a friend of mine who he visited he
lives in LA and he visited Vegas with a
group everybody goes to Vegas I guess
and he went to Vegas and he was there
and in the spirit God gave him a vision
when people were sitting there at the at
the slot machines are not going to say
you're you're in sin if you go on
vacation to Vegas but the gambling is a
problem and and he saw people gambling
and he and it's like he could see people
chained to the slot machines it's like
they were chained to it and he could see
the chains around them because they just
couldn't stop and sin is like that Jesus
came to people who felt stuck in there
said I wonder if that's why jesus said
whoever sins is a slave to sin all right
and I wonder if that's why Jesus when he
saw the paralytic they lowered a man on
a mat who couldn't walk who couldn't
move his arms who would stuck there and
Jesus looked at him take heart son your
sins are forgiven
because he knew this person has a
physical infirmity but what really keeps
us stuck and trapped as our sin and she
said be encouraged I can set you free
Jesus went to the tax collectors who
were addicted to money and addicted to
to doing it the wrong way and and what
was it Matthew or whether there was a KS
is one of a Matthew was one of them
Zacchaeus comes down from the tree they
have dinner together they're having a
feast at his house and say K stands up
and said I'm going to return anything
I've stolen and repay it for full that I
going to give half of what I own to the
poor and Jesus said today salvation has
come to this house because this man too
is a son of Abraham he's not a slave of
sin and money anymore he is a son of
Abraham and his inheritance is more than
money his inheritance is being free to
serve the Living God you know I've said
this I've shared this testimony before
you'll forgive me for repeating myself
but is so impacted me a friend of mine
who I met through the church through his
family in church had had made some
horrible decisions committed some crimes
received a sentence of twenty six years
in prison so long not just a little
while 26 years and I visited this this
man after the sentencing and I was
wondering what kind of shape is he going
to be in and I saw him and he was
looking at me with a glow in his eye and
a glow in his face and he said I'm freer
now than I ever have been he said when I
was out there it was all drugs it was
all sin it was all sex and and I feel
free inside and he says I just know I'm
going to be okay and he meant it and I
was as I said they're looking at this
guy with this light shining at him and I
said blessed are the eyes that see what
I see blessed are the ears that hear
what I hear because God is the one who
sets the captives free Mary Magdalene
one of Jesus's closest followers worked
as a prostitute before she followed
Jesus Jesus had to cast seven demons out
of her and she was sitting right next to
Jesus's mother at the foot of the cross
she was the one Jesus appeared to first
on Easter Sunday Mary that's the first
word that's the first person who he
called by name because I have bought you
back from your sin I bought you back
from your lifestyle and I have made you
mine I have redeemed you and I have
called you by name God is in the
business of setting captives free he
sets us free from our neuroses from
anxiety and depression and fears that we
feel like how am I ever going to stop
feeling this way I felt like this since
I was three Jesus says I can give a new
heart I can take out a heart of stone
and give you a heart of flesh you can be
transformed by the renewing of your mind
where the Spirit of the Lord is there is
freedom it works Jesus works jesus is
our jubilee Jesus is the one who sets us
free you know being in prison and I you
know have friends many of you have lived
this experience and I have many friends
who have lived that for a season it can
be very lonely very isolating very
lonely and it's like that in life some
people may not be in a physical prison
but they feel all alone broken families
broken friendships hatred bitterness we
see in our country racial strife people
feel isolated and separate from one
another and Jesus comes and promises
freedom see the enemy came to steal kill
and destroy but jesus said that's not
what I have for you I have come that you
might have life and that you might have
it abundantly freedom physical freedom
emotional freedom spiritual freedom i
have come to set the captives free jesus
said you will know the truth and the
truth will set you free you see the
Apostle Paul tried to get free himself
at one point we talked about this in
discipleship just this week in Romans
chapter 7 he was trying to stop doing
stuff he knew was killing him right
we don't know what it was but it was bad
apparently and he said in Romans 7 verse
14 such as hard as I try I just don't do
the good that I want to do but the evil
I do not want to do that is what I keep
on doing he says I'm a prisoner of the
law of sin at work with me what a
wretched man I am who will set me free
from this body of sin and thank God he
came to understand thanks be to God
through Jesus Christ he delivers me and
now instead of the guilt and the shame
that I live with the Bible says there is
now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus the devil can't condemn you
anymore now it's not automatic that
freedom came at a price you see to be
bought someone has to pay a price to buy
you back from the slavery into which we
have sold ourselves the devil can accuse
us and can condemn us because of our sin
Jesus came to buy us back now like I
said in the Jubilee you could have a
relative by your lender and buy you back
from slavery but what if you didn't have
anyone to do that well you could try to
save up enough to buy back your life but
what if you couldn't save enough to do
that God says I've got good news for you
I am your Redeemer I am the one who will
purchase you I will pay the debt you owe
and that is why the day of Jubilee the
year of Jubilee began what day of the
year did you catch this it began on the
tenth day of the seventh month which if
you remember from a couple weeks ago is
the day of atonement it was on that day
that the priest would go into the Holy
of Holies in that Tabernacle with the
Shekinah glory and you go into the inner
place where the law was in the tab in
the in the Ark of the Covenant and the
glory was hovering over and he would go
with the blood of a sacrificial lamb and
goats and bulls and he would go in there
and he would smear the blood over the
cover as if to say this blood is the
blood of the Covenant this is the blood
that is paying the debt incurred by all
the sins of the P
people and the incense would rise and a
cloud would cover the Shekinah from this
sinful man who was offering a sacrifice
the message is the Jubilee is not free
freedom cannot just be given freedom
must be purchased to purchase a person
from their slavery from their debts and
God is giving a message on the day of
Jubilee that the price that must be paid
is the blood of a sacrificial lamb Jesus
says I am coming not just to proclaim
freedom but to buy your freedom and I
will do it with my own blood and that
blood will work because now when Satan
comes to accuse you of sin you can say
my penalty my sin has been paid for by
Jesus I am guilty but the debt has been
paid I don't belong to you anymore I
belong to the Living God I am free
because he's paid the price for me
praise God jesus is our Jubilee he's our
Redeemer he's our savior he is the one
who says you now belong to me I have
bought you with the price that's why in
the New Testament even though slavery
was still going on greco-roman world he
said do not become slaves of men because
you were bought with a price get free
get free because you are my servant no
one else can own you nothing else can
own you said sin no other sin can own
you flee from sexual immorality because
you were bought at a price therefore
honor god with your body you are now
redeemed by the Lord we are his and that
is why he rescues us from all slavery we
are a servant of God no one and nothing
else can own us permanently no person
can claim hundred percent ownership of
you not a king not a master not a
political party it's important for us to
emphasize this around election time no
government owns us not a sin not a drug
not immorality not an illness of fear or
a neurosis Noah dick
Shin we belong to God his name is on our
forehead he's bought me with a prize and
so nothing else can claim me and that is
what the Jubilee is all about that's why
Jesus proclaimed it that's why we live
in proclaiming that you believe the
people getting people free you know
what's amazing even death cannot have
the final word over us even death Jesus
went to the grave of his good friend
Lazarus and he saw all the crying and he
himself wept at that grave but then he
said no no no no no I'm going to turn
this around he said I am the
resurrection and the life the one who
believes in Me will live even though he
dies and the one who lives and believes
in Me will never die Jesus is the king
who rules not on the basis of paths of
some sort of inheritance from being
descended from a priest but on the basis
of the power of an indestructible life
Jesus is the resurrection and said God
raised him from the dead freeing him as
if death is a trap as a chain God freed
him from the agony of death because it
was impossible for death to keep his
hold on him he shared in our humanity
that by his death he might break the
power of the one who holds the power of
death that is the devil and free those
who all their lives were held in slavery
by the fear of death where Oh death is
your victory where Oh death is your
sting death has been swallowed up in
victory thanks be to God he gives us the
victory through Jesus Christ our Lord
Jesus has a life that can even overcome
that Christians can live confidently our
God our God has purchased us we belong
to him and as a son and a daughter of
God he has given us an inheritance that
even though we might squander it for a
season we can never lose it permanently
if we're really a son or a daughter of
God may be weird like those Israelites
who lost it for a few years who sold
ourselves into slavery but jesus said
okay that's enough of that I am going to
buy you out of slavery i'm going to buy
back your house i'm going to get your
family back together because God gives
us our life back the devil cannot steal
from us what God has given your
salvation Your Holiness your dignity
your joy your peace your love your
emotional and psychological health your
family and your future come from God and
no one can take that permanently if
we've lost that for a while well it's
time to say Jesus you're my Jubilee
bring me back home I'm going to claim
that back the enemy has come to steal
kill and destroy that but you've come to
give me abundant life and I am going to
live in that abundant life I'm going to
come home you've given me my life back
this is a picture of heaven it's a
picture of a world set free it's an see
the whole world is messed up by sin this
world and it's important for us to make
this point is not the way it's supposed
to be there was never supposed to be sin
there was never supposed to be hatred
and death there was never supposed to be
even sickness and none of this was part
of the original plan sin actually
twisted the creation the Bible says that
the creation itself groans now is in the
pains of childbirth eagerly awaiting
longing for the time when it will be set
free from bondage to decay and brought
into the glorious freedom of the
children of God the whole world will one
day enjoy a jubilee the trees the plants
the animals the earth will have its
Jubilee there will be a new heaven and a
new earth because the first heaven and
the first earth will pass away and there
will be a trees that give leaves with
healing for the nations and a river of
life flowing from the throne and we will
be his people and God Himself will be
among us and be our God the Bible says
he will wipe every tear away from our
eyes because he knows that those years
of losing what we had originally had
years and years of slavery and it hurt
and we need to come home like that
prodigal son and maybe we need to cry it
out on his shoulder that's why a lot of
Tears happen at the altar there the
tears of the prodigal sons and daughters
sometimes there's different things that
happen but coming home
home and to say god this has been hard
and I just need to cry on your shoulder
for ohio but i know i'm home now but i'm
afraid even now i might go back and
she's like don't worry about it i bought
you I'll hold on to you you're in the
palm of my hand no one can snatch you
out of my father's hand my father is
greater than all the old order of things
has passed away behold I make all things
new the Jubilee is when God hits the
reset button and makes the creation new
no longer will there be any curse the
throne of god and the lamb will be in
the city and his servants that's us will
serve him in verse 4 of revelation 22
says they will see his face and his name
will be on their foreheads there will be
no more night they will not need a lamp
or the light of the Sun for the Lord God
will give them light and they will reign
forever and ever no more a slave now
princes and princesses raining together
with King Jesus in the kingdom of God
that is our identity that has already
begun that is in process but it happens
in every life that invites Jesus in and
as we are about to come to the Lord's
table today we're about to celebrate the
price that was paid for our freedom I
have to give you an opportunity if you
are here and you want to invite Jesus
the Jubilee to set you free today I want
to invite you to do that and I'm going
to ask you if you want to make that
decision today right where you are i
invite you to stand before the Lord and
to say lord if you have not accepted
Jesus and you want to stand up and say
Jesus or maybe you have backslidden and
you're coming back I invite you if you
want to make that decision to stand in
the presence of God right now and say
Jesus I belong to you is there anyone
who wants to make that decision today
and I'm going to ask us to bow our heads
in prayer and give people this moment to
make this decision father in Jesus name
we are the prodigal we are the ones who
need to come home and have that name
clearly written on our foreheads again
and see that we belong to you we are
your people Lord God bought with a price
and again now in this moment I want to
invite if you want to make that decision
to yield your life to Jesus a fresh so
that you can participate of this don't
don't hold back you just stand before
the Lord and I want to pray for you
right where you are is there anyone who
wants to make that decision today I want
to give you a moment to do that praise
You Jesus or father I pray in Jesus name
that you would let your children know Oh
God that you are setting them free god I
thank you that there is no debt too high
because you paid it all there are no
chains that are too strong that you
can't break amen