Jesus, The Sound of Jubilee

We’re going to get into our Word this morning. We have been in a series called God With Us. And how many of you are thankful that our God’s not a far-off God? He’s right here with us. Amen. And so we’re going to go into our Word, and I’m going to invite you to open to two places this morning: Leviticus chapter 25 — I’m going to get a lot of curious looks — and then Luke chapter 4. Leviticus 25 is where we’ll start, and we’re going to end up in Luke chapter 4 this morning.

But let’s pray and just receive Jesus’ word to us. Father, we thank You for Your Word. And Jesus, we come to You to receive what You have for us today. Lord, You said Your word is spirit and Your word is life. And Lord, we open our hearts right now to receive all that You have for us. We give You thanks for what You have in store, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Why did all this have to happen?

So last week we began a series called God With Us, and we started in the scripture out of Matthew chapter 1, verse 22, where it says, “So all this was done” — everybody say “all this” — “all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’”

And so often we hear this scripture, right? It’s on the Charlie Brown Christmas special, and it gives you the warm fuzzies and the little tingles, and you’re just like, “Oh, merry Christmas,” right? And you just get so excited about Christmastime and Christmas lights and Christmas trees. But how many of you know “God with us” means a lot? It means so much. And what does it mean when it says, “all this was done”? Why did all of these things have to happen? And why did Jesus come to be with us? What was He about? What was He doing?

You know, I think sometimes we can overlook that and get stuck in the mode of the season and not realize what was really at stake and what Jesus has actually done for us. And today we’re going to look at what Jesus had to say about Himself, about why He came to be with us. And I’m going to give us a little bit of a background, a historical framework here. Is it okay if we go through the whole Bible? Is that okay? I like to do that. I like to give the background of where God started, where we are, and where we’re going. It’s pretty cool. It’s this awesome story.

The Year of Jubilee

In Leviticus 25, verse 8 — I’m going to read this to you, and you can follow along on screen as well — starting in verse 8 it says, “And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.”

Now, we go to this and we’re like, “What does this have to do with Christmas?” But I want us to look deeply at what God instituted at this time, from the days of Moses forward. These verses describe an event that God scripted into the law of His people Israel called Jubilee. Everybody say, “Jubilee.” This was something that was to take place every 50 years, from the time of Moses on.

After seven years there would be a year of Sabbath rest, where there was no planting, there was no cultivating, there was no harvest. As people observed and remained faithful to what God commanded, God would provide enough so that they didn’t have to do anything in that seventh year other than put their trust in Him. Well, after seven cycles of those seven years, or 49 years, the following year — the 50th year — was a Year of Jubilee. So there were back-to-back years of rest: the Sabbath year on the 49th year, and then another year called Jubilee.

Now, Jubilee comes from the Hebrew word yovel. I don’t know if I said that right; Pastor Larry can correct me later. Usually when I do those Hebrew words, I literally play the sound like ten times so I know how to say it, and I’ve got to get my throat action into it. I didn’t do that this time, so I’m just going to go with “yovel.” All right. It’s derived from the Hebrew word for trumpet. And this trumpet that was blown at the time of Jubilee was often a ram’s horn, what is known as a shofar. It would be a blast of the trumpet.

The word Jubilee means to be jubilant, to be joyful. This was a celebration, a time of liberation. And this word that was spoken by God was meant to ring true in the hearts of the Jewish people. And so when the people would hear the blast of the trumpet announcing that the 50th year was now happening, it was to be a celebration. It was to be an exciting time. They would hear the horn blast, and everybody would stop and celebrate. Why? Because it’s the Year of Jubilee.

Now I want to quickly share three laws of Jubilee. The first law of Jubilee was rest. The land was to rest for the year. Okay? The second law was restoration. Anybody that had lost property in the previous 50 years — whether it was through poor management, through a bad inheritance, the decisions of parents, things that had been lost, things that had been stolen — anything that was lost would be returned to you. And so as soon as the shofar would blast, you would get back the things that you had lost. There was a law of restoration of property to the original owners. That was the second law.

The third law was release. It’s the three R’s — I mean, how catchy is that? Release: if you had become a slave — maybe you had accumulated debts and you couldn’t pay them back, and so you had to sell yourself, or maybe sell your children, into slavery — in the Year of Jubilee, slaves were released. And so in the Year of Jubilee, no matter what had happened over the last 50 years, everybody got a fresh start. Doesn’t that sound nice? Doesn’t that just sound nice, to just have the slate wiped clean?

And so this is what we’re talking about when we’re talking about Jubilee. But how many of you know God can supernaturally change things in your life? Did you know that? And I’m not talking about, “Oh yeah, I made some adjustments to my schedule, and God did some good things.” No, I’m talking about supernatural change, where you had no power in yourself to make the change happen, but God showed up. Or you were so desperate in a situation you didn’t know what you would do, but God showed up. How many of you know God wants to demonstrate His supernatural power to us? Amen. And He wants to restore and put things back in their rightful place.

And so this is what the Year of Jubilee was all about. It was about God overriding the system of the world. It was about God showing up when things didn’t look good. You see, God knew everything that had happened over the last 50 years — every decision that was made, everything that took place — but God’s desire was to put people back into their rightful place. And how many of you know this is why Jesus came to be with us: to restore us to the place of promise, to put us back into the things that God had always intended for us. Amen. This is why Jesus came.

It came with a sound

Now, the blast of the shofar was used for different things. It was used to gather the people when there needed to be a meeting. They would blast the shofar, and people would assemble, and they would share their important announcements. Or it would be blown to alert people of an attack, or for marching orders. But there was a different sound of the trumpet at the time of Jubilee. The sound for the time of Jubilee was a distinct sound. It was a sound unlike any other. And when the trumpet would blow and the sound was heard throughout the land, everybody knew something is different. Something has just shifted. We have now entered into a new year.

I want you to just picture with me what that might have looked like in the land. Picture someone who maybe had been sold into slavery, who was bound with shackles, and they’re just biding their time. They’re doing what they can to survive, to pay off their debts, the things that they owed, whether it was their fault or not. But here they are in shackles. And then all of a sudden, in a moment, they hear a sound. They hear the sound of a trumpet blowing, and they know, “I’m no longer bound by these chains. I’m now free.” And they go home to their family that they may not have seen for years. Tears of joy are being shed. Why? Because God is putting people back into their right place.

But I want you to notice: it started with God’s command, but it came with a sound. Everybody say, “A sound.” It came with a sound. The Jubilee, the restoration of God in people’s lives, started with a sound. And how many of you know the Lord is still resonating a sound today? It’s the sound of Jubilee.

The acceptable year of the Lord

Now I want to look at Isaiah 61:1. And now we’re starting to ease into the Christmas scriptures a little bit more. Isaiah 61:1 is a messianic prophecy about the future coming of the Messiah, Jesus. It says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God.”

Now notice, when it says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,” the “Me” here is talking about the Messiah to come. It’s talking about Jesus. And so really, Jesus, in this scripture in Isaiah 61, is speaking through the prophet Isaiah. And He’s saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted and to proclaim liberty.”

Well, how many of you remember what we just read in Leviticus 25:10? It says in the 50th year you will hear the sound of the trumpet and proclaim liberty. You see, the Messiah proclaiming liberty is a clear connection to the proclamation of liberty in the Year of Jubilee. Verse 2 says, “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Notice it doesn’t just say to proclaim the acceptable day, or the acceptable week, or the acceptable month. This was another correlation to the Year of Jubilee that Jesus was declaring.

And so here in Isaiah 61, Jesus was speaking through the prophet Isaiah that when the Messiah would come, He would come with a sound. With a what? A sound. When the Messiah would come, He would come with a sound, and He would proclaim that a new era has come, that a new time has begun. Come on, somebody say amen. We can see where this is going, right? Jesus came, and with Him came a sound. And that sound was that a new era, a new time, was coming. There was a restoration that was going to take place.

And I want you to notice this. Verse 2 says, “and the day of vengeance of our God.” The day of vengeance is talking about the judgment that will take place at the end of the age. How many of you know that has not happened yet? Right? But Jesus is coming again. And when He comes again, there will be something called judgment. And those who have received what Jesus has done, made Him the Lord of their lives, and received salvation from their sins in Him will be forgiven, and they will go to be with Him forever in heaven. But for those who refuse, who have not accepted, there will be something called judgment at the end of the age.

And so really there are two comings of the Messiah. There are two comings of Jesus. And when we’re talking about Christmas, when we’re talking about God with us, we’re talking about the first coming of Jesus — that Jesus came with good news: “I am here to set the captives free. I am here to usher in a new era. I am here to bring restoration to your life. I am here to announce with My voice Jubilee.” Amen. And the second announcement will be judgment.

Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth

Now I want us to go to Luke chapter 4. This is where I had you turn. This is before Jesus began His earthly ministry. I want you to notice — He’s been born, He’s been walking the earth, He’s been going to church. He’s coming into the synagogue for the weekly reading of the Scriptures. He comes to His hometown of Nazareth, and He goes into the synagogue, and they give Him the scroll of Isaiah for the reading of the Scripture.

Now let me ask you: who was speaking through the prophet Isaiah about 700 years earlier, in Isaiah 61? That was Jesus. And here He is right now in the synagogue, and He’s about to read from the prophet Isaiah. It says He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. Verse 17: “And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written.”

Notice, He found the place where it was written. Jesus wasn’t just randomly reading from a scroll. This wasn’t by accident. Jesus had a specific message that He was assigned to preach on that day. There was a specific sound He needed to bring into that atmosphere. And He was going to the exact prophetic place that declared that when the Messiah came, He would come with a sound and announce something called Jubilee. Are you guys with me?

And so He finds the place where it was written. Verse 18 says — this is Jesus reading from the scroll — “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 now notice what Jesus says — “and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Now, if you look at Isaiah 61, you notice that Jesus stops right in the middle of the sentence. Jesus isn’t talking about judgment. He doesn’t talk about how He came to bring judgment, because Jesus didn’t come this time to bring judgment. No, Jesus came to bring life. Jesus came to fulfill the promises of God, to bring salvation to the people, to bring freedom to people’s lives. And so He stops right in the middle of the sentence. He knew why He was here. He was not here to call judgment on the world. He was here to announce Jubilee — good tidings, good news, the promises of what God has for us.

And so He says, verse 19, “I’ve come to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Jesus is saying, “The reason I have come right now, why I left heaven to come to earth to be with you, is to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, to announce Jubilee.” You see, Jesus isn’t coming back again until the end of the age. And that tells us that Jubilee wasn’t just meant for the time while He was here on earth, or just for the remainder of that year. No, this was a time until the end of days. We are living in a time of Jubilee, where we should see the promises of God coming to pass in our lives. Somebody say amen.

You know, I was praying and asking the Lord — listen, we have these series. And I’m actually not a huge fan of Christmas series, and I mentioned this last week, because when you have a Christmas series, the people that only come to church on Christmas just keep hearing the same story over and over. And I’m always like, “Well, what is the Holy Spirit saying? What does He want to declare to us?” And this is exactly what He brought to mind. He’s saying, “I’ve come to set the captives free.” That’s what the Lord wanted to say to us today: “I’ve come to set the captives free.”

You see, when Jesus came into the synagogue on that day, He wasn’t just reading another scripture. He was coming to make a declaration of why He was here. “I’ve come to usher in a new era. A new day has come.” God isn’t just in heaven. No, no — He’s come, and He is here, and He is making a sound, and He is saying, “Jubilee has come.” Jesus was the sound. Jesus was the horn. He was the trumpet that came and gave the specific blast, letting everyone know that there is a signal that has come from heaven — that their days of being bound, their days of being in shackles, their days of living in bondage, those days are over. Life has come.

And so Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me.” Let me ask you: what was Jesus anointed with? This is extra credit. The Holy Spirit. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit. There was something on His life called the Holy Spirit that allowed Him to do these things. He says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives.”

And I want you to notice here that Jesus goes beyond what was said in Isaiah 61. He says, “and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” Let me tell you: if you are here today and you have need for healing, Jesus has come for that. If you are here today and there is bondage or addiction or oppression in your life, Jesus came to deliver you from that, to release those shackles. Jesus is saying, “This is why I’ve come.” He says, “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

And so here Isaiah prophesied, and Jesus verified, that Jubilee is now expanding. How many of you know the promises got even better when Jesus came? Amen. The things that are now available to us are even greater than they were before. The news just keeps getting better and better and better. And so here’s Jesus, and He’s saying, “I have come to bring deliverance to your life — from all bondages, all oppression.” Jesus was blasting the trumpet, saying, “All who have been in bondage, all who have been in oppression, I have come to declare that you are released.” Can you just imagine the shackles, all that weight, just coming off?

I want to give you a frame of reference here. When Jesus came into the synagogue to read these scriptures, 400 years had passed since a prophetic word had been given. They had not heard a prophetic word from the Lord. There were no words of the living God. People hadn’t experienced anything like this before. But Jesus gives us a glimpse, in John chapter 6, of what His word would do when He would speak it. His word was spirit, and His word was life. And so when Jesus would speak, the presence of the Lord would come. The presence of the Holy Spirit would come.

And I want you just to imagine with me the people that were in this room. They hear this announcement. They hear the trumpet blast. They hear what God is saying. And then all of a sudden — because He’s speaking it, and His words are spirit and His words are life — there’s a shift that took place in that atmosphere. The presence of God was there. They were experiencing something for the first time — something their parents hadn’t experienced, something that hadn’t been experienced for 400 years. They’re in this room, Jesus makes this declaration, and all of a sudden everybody looks up. Something changed. Something’s different. This wasn’t just a reading of Scripture. No, this is Jesus making a sound that releases freedom to His people. Are you guys with me this morning? Something had changed.

And so Jesus came to bring us back to where we are supposed to be. Amen. Back into where God always planned for us to be. Let me ask you: when Jesus said these things, did they work? Were people set free? Were people delivered? Were people healed? Yeah. When Jesus came, He brought in a new era — a time of restoration, a time of salvation, a time of freedom, a time of healing. And Jesus is saying, “I have come, and everybody that responds to My voice, everybody that responds to this sound — I’m not just going to restore them back. No, I’m going to make them a new creation. I’m going to set them free. I’m going to bring healing to their lives. And I’m going to do what God always intended and wanted to do.” Amen.

“Go and tell John”

I want to close with this story out of Luke chapter 7, verse 19. This is about John the Baptist. How many of you remember John the Baptist? He knew the Messiah was coming, right? And he was preparing the way of the Lord. And when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he literally stopped what he was doing, pointed Jesus out, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God.” You guys remember this? And he knew, “This is the one. This is the Messiah.”

Well, some time had passed, and John the Baptist was thrown into prison. And I can only imagine the discouragement that he had, because he knew that when the Messiah comes, He’s coming to bring restoration and He’s coming to bring judgment. And things weren’t looking the way John the Baptist thought they would look. How many of you know when the kingdom of God comes, sometimes it doesn’t look like what we think it should look like? And so John the Baptist had some questions, and he sends some of his disciples to find out if Jesus was the Messiah.

It says in verse 19, “And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ When the men had come to Him, they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, “Are You the Coming One”’” — talking about the Messiah — “‘“or do we look for another?”’” Do we need to look for somebody else? Verse 21 says, “And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many” — everybody say “many” — “blind He gave sight.” Does that sound like when Jesus made that announcement of Jubilee? The blind will see.

Verse 22 says, “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard.’” How many of you know Jesus was saying, “Not only have you heard the announcement that Jubilee has come — you’re seeing it with your own eyes”? Verse 22: “Jesus answered, ‘Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.’”

Notice how Jesus answered John. He doesn’t just answer with words alone. Jesus is saying, “Go tell John you’re not just hearing the sound of the trumpet blast. You’re seeing it happen before your eyes. Tell John Jubilee is here, and people are experiencing it right now.” And so this was evidence to John that Jubilee was announced, that it has come by the Messiah, Jesus Christ. “Go tell John: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised.”

What are we saying? Jubilee. Receiving the promises of God. Seeing restoration in your life. Seeing His promises fulfilled. Being loosed. Walking in freedom. All of those things have come, and they have come in the person of Jesus. They were fulfilled. He is the trumpet. He was the sound. Amen.

Making the same sound

And my hope is that as we go through this Christmas season, as we go through these weeks, we would allow a new sound to come into our hearts. That we would open ourselves up and say, “Jesus, would You show Yourself to me again? Would You make Yourself known, Lord Jesus? I know You are sounding the trumpet. Let me hear that sound again.” How many of you know Jesus is the sound of Jubilee? And I don’t know about you, but I need to hear more of Jesus. I need to hear more about what He has for me. I need to know more about the territory He’s prepared for me to walk in, the things to receive from Him. Amen.

Let’s go ahead — we’re going to close our time. Let’s stand together. I mentioned this before, but this is more than just an observational thing. This is more than just us listening to the sound. When Jesus was in that synagogue and He was declaring those things about His life, about what He came to do, He was making a declaration: “This is what I have been sent for.” And how many of you know that, as those who have received Jesus, we need to make the same sound? That we would begin declaring the same things, declaring the truth and the promises that God has made available to us, that Jesus was sent to do.

And how many of you remember when Jesus said, “The works that I do you will do also; and greater works than these you will do, because I go to My Father”? How many of you know the same anointing that was on Jesus, through the person of the Holy Spirit, is the same anointing that He’s made available to all of us? And I wonder what would happen if we would begin to make some of the same declarations over ourselves today. Because here’s His desire: “I have come to set the captives free.”

And I believe that was a specific word the Lord is bringing to us as a church, as a body, as a family. He’s saying there are people that need to be loosed, but they need to hear the sound. They need to hear the sound of Jubilee, the name of Jesus. They need to hear the good news. They need to hear what has been paid for. And so I pray that we would be people that would be bold enough to make that same sound, to make those declarations of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. Amen. What would happen if we made those declarations, if we declared those promises?

Let’s bow our heads. Father, we thank You for Your Word. Lord, we thank You for the things that You desire to take place in our lives. Jesus, You came not just to bring salvation alone. Lord, if salvation was all You brought, we would give thanks to You forever. But Lord, there was so much more that You brought, so much more that You had in mind. You didn’t want to leave us helpless or stuck in the same situation. But Lord, You came so that we could have life and so that we could walk in freedom and in wholeness.

And Lord, I thank You that You have said, “Freely you have received, freely give.” And Lord, the things that we have received in Your name, we are now able to go out and bring to others. Lord, I pray that as we go out in this time and in this next season, we would make the sound of Jubilee — the joyful noise, the declaration of the good news that is found in You and in You alone. Lord, that we wouldn’t just keep this to ourselves, but that we would be people that would stand up in the places of the people and announce what You have done and what You have come to do. And so Lord, we receive that word today. We receive Your Word by faith.

In fact, right now, if you are wanting to see an increase of this — of going out and seeing the captives set free — can you just repeat this after me? Say: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, to release captives, to see recovery of sight to the blind, and to set captives free, to set prisoners free, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Amen. Let’s thank the Lord this morning. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord, for Your Word. Thank You, Lord.

Do you know Jesus?

You know, one of the reasons I love being out in the community and doing things like Christmas in the Park, doing things like Laundry Love, is that it’s amazing how, when you love people where they are, they begin to share their life with you. And they’re making a sound. They’re making statements. And it is a sobering reminder — and I would say it’s even increased throughout the last several years — there is a greater level of desperation in people than I’ve ever seen, where people are saying, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know how my family’s going to get through this.” And it’s not just a pity party. Listen, it’s not just for show, because it’s common. It’s being heard all over.

How many of you know we’ve been given an answer? We’ve been given Jesus, and we can freely give Him to people. We can pray over them. We can meet them where they are. Listen, there are people that don’t know what to do, and they’re turning to addictions. They’re turning to things that are just going to pull them down into greater weights, into greater despair. How many of you know the church needs to step up? We’ve got to make this sound, the sound of good news, of good tidings of great joy. We’ve been given something, amen, that we need to give.

And so, listen, we don’t need to wait for some church event for those moments to happen. Those can be catalytic moments, but how many of you know this is meant to be our every day, where we go out and announce Jesus? To those who are hopeless, those who are in despair, those who are bound with addictions, those who need healing — that we would come to them and say, “I’ve got good news for you. Do you know Jesus?”

Let me just give you a pro tip. This is a pro tip, and it’s so simple. When you sense the Lord wanting to minister to someone, you can ask that very simple question: “Do you know Jesus? Because I do. Can I share Him with you?” Let me tell you, Jesus shows up right in that moment. Why? Because He is the good news. He is Jubilee. He is freedom. He is deliverance. He is healing. He is salvation. His name is power. Amen.

Is this okay? All right, we’re good. How many of you are thankful that God came to be with us? And how many of you are thankful that Jesus is King? Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.