WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.980 Now, if you have your Bibles, you will find it helpful to have them open at Leviticus 25, 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:23.039 page 128 of the Church Bible. As we think about Jesus and Jubilee, but first, 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:30.399 what comes to your mind when you hear the word Jubilee? I imagine for some of us, 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:37.119 it might be nothing. You may never have heard the word before. For others, you hear the word 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:47.179 Jubilation, Jubilee, maybe you think of joy, party, celebration. In the UK, the word Jubilee 00:00:47.179 --> 00:00:54.740 has become associated with the royal family. So, there was the Platinum Jubilee a few years ago 00:00:54.740 --> 00:01:01.859 of Queen Elizabeth II. So, a Jubilee in the royal family marks significant anniversaries in life and 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:10.159 service. For some of us with older and longer memories, you might think of the Jubilee campaign 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:18.439 back in the year 2000. Some of us maybe remember that. There were people from at least 40 countries 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:26.000 sort of came together, academics, church leaders, seeking the end of third world debt. 00:01:27.739 --> 00:01:34.199 And so, there was this huge worldwide campaign and petition. Now, when we come to Jubilee in the Bible, 00:01:34.340 --> 00:01:40.099 which one of these ideas is helpful for us? Well, I think this last one, this last one, 00:01:40.099 --> 00:01:46.379 of ending debt of bringing freedom is the most important because Jubilee is a freedom word 00:01:46.379 --> 00:01:55.319 in the Bible. Every 50 years, according to God's design in Israel, a horn, a trumpet would sound. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:05.679 It would be a time of release from debts. If you'd sold yourself into slavery, a return, 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:16.360 a release from slavery, a restoration to family land would happen. So, it's a huge moment in society. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:26.040 Here's another question as we get going. What came to Jesus' mind when He spoke about Jubilee? 00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:34.479 So, we heard that a section of that sermon in Luke chapter 4, where Jesus deliberately proclaims 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:41.139 the year of the Lord's favor, the year of Jubilee. He says, now it's here, and I have come to bring it in. 00:02:42.099 --> 00:02:48.539 So, Jesus understands that Jubilee was a revelation, a demonstration of God's heart of grace. 00:02:48.539 --> 00:02:58.060 Jesus. It's a vision for restoration and renewal, and Jesus says, my ministry is about that. 00:02:59.419 --> 00:03:05.899 Jesus' ministry fulfills in a wonderful way all that Jubilee promised, that God would bring freedom 00:03:05.899 --> 00:03:13.799 through His Son, that in the life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus, God provides release, 00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:23.920 redemption, restoration, rest, that goes far beyond economics, but gets right to the heart of our need. 00:03:24.020 --> 00:03:29.040 It becomes a spiritual thing. So, we're going to keep that in view as we look at a few things 00:03:29.040 --> 00:03:33.620 about the Jubilee as we find it in Leviticus 25. We'll think about the pattern, which is interesting, 00:03:33.700 --> 00:03:39.920 the purpose, which is vital. We'll think about how it was practiced, and then we'll finish by thinking 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:45.759 about Jesus as the person who brings Jubilee, and not just once every 50 years, but by God's grace, 00:03:45.819 --> 00:03:51.679 we can know at this day, we can know every day the freedom that Jesus came to bring. But let's begin 00:03:51.679 --> 00:04:02.339 with a pattern for Jubilee. So, verse 8 and 9 of our reading, count seven Sabbath years, then sound the 00:04:02.339 --> 00:04:08.599 trumpet on the day of atonement. It's interesting, I think, to see how the people of Israel were invited to 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:15.960 mark time. You know, we have calendars, and we have diaries. How did they mark time? And how was that 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:21.019 significant for Jubilee? Well, there was this pattern, wasn't there, of the Sabbaths? There was 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:28.120 this seven times seven pattern, so 49 years where, just like creation, where God said six days to work, 00:04:28.180 --> 00:04:35.100 one day to rest. In Israel, there was seven days to work the land, one year for the land and the people 00:04:35.100 --> 00:04:44.300 to rest. And they were to do that seven times. And then on year 50, that was the Jubilee. And it was 00:04:44.300 --> 00:04:49.460 also a Sabbath rest for the land. So, the Jubilee, whenever we think about this Jubilee, we have to 00:04:49.460 --> 00:05:01.140 connect it with Sabbath, a time of rest and restoration, of recognizing God as creator and provider. 00:05:01.139 --> 00:05:09.339 And to understand, too, that Sabbath becomes identified with God releasing people from slavery. 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:15.639 And that's absolutely then tied up as well with the day of atonement. So, last week, if you were here in 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:23.319 church, we thought about this wonderful ceremony. Every year, God gave His people the day of atonement. 00:05:24.180 --> 00:05:28.699 This was one day where the high priest would go into God's very presence, would offer sacrifice 00:05:28.699 --> 00:05:36.500 to cover the sins of the people, to remove sin, to enable the holy God to live in relationship with 00:05:36.500 --> 00:05:43.899 His people. And God deliberately connects the Jubilee with atonement, because Jubilee is about 00:05:43.899 --> 00:05:52.259 redemption. It was saying to the people that God is the one who cancels our moral debt, 00:05:52.259 --> 00:05:59.060 our spiritual debt, our spiritual debt by His grace. And there was then the invitation within society 00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:08.659 to cancel economic debt. God has restored me into fellowship, so I should restore people to the land. 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:15.599 So, it's about Sabbath. It's about redemption. It helps us to learn important truths about God. 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:24.240 The people of Israel were left in no doubt during the Jubilee year. God is creator. God is provider. 00:06:24.700 --> 00:06:32.020 God is the one they are invited to rest in and to trust in that He will provide. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:40.460 Psalm 24, the earth is the Lord's and all that it contains. Jubilee reminds us God is the great 00:06:40.459 --> 00:06:49.159 Redeemer. That with Jesus that is the promise of forgiveness. With God that is this promise of life 00:06:49.159 --> 00:06:58.379 in God's land under God's blessing. A really rich salvation idea. And so today, even as we begin, 00:06:58.500 --> 00:07:08.500 God is giving us an invitation. Sabbath is an invitation. Rest is always a gift. 00:07:08.500 --> 00:07:15.540 But resting in God's presence is a real gift. It becomes a weekly time to reset, 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:23.100 to focus on worshiping, trusting God. And that's freedom for us. 00:07:24.579 --> 00:07:32.620 To have a Sabbath as a high point in our calendar is a gift to us as much as it was for Israel. 00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:41.360 And recognize too that God is inviting us to know true freedom, as Jesus talked about. 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:51.980 That in Jesus we can be released from the guilt of sin. And we can be released to enjoy life with Him. 00:07:52.939 --> 00:07:57.660 The invitation comes through faith in the Lord Jesus. 00:07:57.660 --> 00:08:05.580 So the pattern for Jubilee is significant, but so too is the purpose. 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:08.300 Verse 10, 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:16.700 Consecrate the 50th year and proclaim liberty, freedom, throughout the land to all its inhabitants. 00:08:16.940 --> 00:08:19.280 It shall be a Jubilee for you. 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:29.119 Now, boys and girls, you will know this. Every device, I have a device, every gadget comes with 00:08:29.119 --> 00:08:37.579 either a reset button or a way for our phone or our technology to be reset. You know when it gets 00:08:37.579 --> 00:08:43.919 that glitch or it just doesn't work, we all know what buttons we have to hold down and press to restart. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:50.259 We want to get back to a previous condition when it was working properly. Well, the year of Jubilee 00:08:50.259 --> 00:08:58.259 was like that. It was God's way to fix what was broken. But what was broken wasn't a device. 00:08:58.779 --> 00:09:06.719 We didn't have devices back then. What was broken was society. This was God's way to fix it when people 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:13.259 had got themselves into debt and become poor. This was God's fix when they had lost their home 00:09:13.259 --> 00:09:22.180 and lost their sense of place. So if you think about that, for most of the nation of Israel, 00:09:23.019 --> 00:09:30.399 the year of Jubilee would become this once-in-a-lifetime moment. If things have gone bad, 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.840 Jubilee is my hope that things can get better again. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:41.360 So we've got to believe that for a poor person in Israel, they would live anticipating, 00:09:41.620 --> 00:09:47.500 counting in their calendar, when is it the year of Jubilee? Because when it's Jubilee, 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:56.000 I don't have to be a slave anymore. When it's Jubilee, I don't have to live with this building deck. 00:09:56.899 --> 00:10:03.220 When it's Jubilee, I can get back to my family land, the land that God gave me. So again, 00:10:03.220 --> 00:10:09.940 it's so important. It doesn't get much bigger if you're an Old Testament Israelite than this. 00:10:11.100 --> 00:10:19.139 It's a great social reset. God has provided a fix. When people would, because of their sinful hearts, 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:24.500 be tempted towards greed that would force people from the lands and take advantage of them, 00:10:25.180 --> 00:10:31.220 there's a reset. This is God's reset to bridge the gap between rich and poor. 00:10:31.220 --> 00:10:38.019 This is God's way to care for the very smallest unit in society. So Israelite society, you had your 12 00:10:38.019 --> 00:10:43.440 tribes, and those tribes were divided into clans, and those clans were divided into the smallest unit, 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:50.240 the family unit. And the Jubilee was caring for the family. So it's a social reset, but it's also an 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:58.100 economic reset, because God is so wise and so merciful that He's established this year to prevent a 00:10:58.100 --> 00:11:05.220 poverty cycle, to prevent poverty passing, a legacy of debt passing down through the generations. 00:11:05.940 --> 00:11:11.720 Because every 50 years, a person would be freed from their debt and returned to their land, a place 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:19.879 where they could provide for themselves. But it's also a wonderful personal reset as well. 00:11:20.899 --> 00:11:25.000 And this is something that some of us will understand, and some of us, depending where we come from, 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:31.500 might not get it. But if you are from a rural place, if you are from a country place, if you are from the 00:11:31.500 --> 00:11:40.279 land, then you will know very well how close the connection is between a person and the land. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:47.980 I studied Scottish history, and I studied the Highland Clearances, and I listened to the poetry 00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:55.139 of people who had been ripped from their land and sent on their boats to Canada and America. And that 00:11:55.139 --> 00:12:01.340 sense of grief, that land that they loved that was very much tied up with their personal identity, 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:03.779 they saw it going over the horizon. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:13.180 God gives Jubilee so that people can be back in their place. They can be God's people 00:12:13.179 --> 00:12:20.979 in God's place, knowing His blessing. And it's a wonderful picture of God's plan of salvation. 00:12:21.539 --> 00:12:27.139 And in the storyline of the Bible, the idea of Jubilee helps us to understand the coming and the 00:12:27.139 --> 00:12:35.120 mission of the Lord Jesus. Because it brings a salvation promise of a debt that is canceled, 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:41.659 of a freedom that's enjoyed in God's presence, of living gladly under God's rule. Think about Jesus' 00:12:41.659 --> 00:12:49.039 mission. Jesus' mission, and He understood it, it centers on the cross. And what happens there on 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:57.600 the cross is that Jesus has come to secure freedom from sin and guilt. Paul in Colossians 2 uses this 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:03.939 wonderful image that when Rome was executing criminals, they would pin up the record of debt 00:13:03.939 --> 00:13:09.679 above the criminal's head. And we're invited to imagine that when Jesus dies on the cross, 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:15.959 He is dying for my record of debt. So we can look at the cross, and if our faith is in Jesus, we can say, 00:13:16.319 --> 00:13:24.559 my sin, my debt has been paid in full. That's Jesus' mission, freedom. And Jesus' message, 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:35.799 I am the way to experience and to enjoy life with God now, and life in a restored creation, 00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:45.419 and fellowship with God in the future. Jesus brings us into the kingdom now, but we look forward to when 00:13:45.419 --> 00:13:51.679 He returns and establishes the new creation, and we live with Him in a perfect world forever. 00:13:52.959 --> 00:14:02.399 So the purpose of Jubilee speaks to the purpose of Jesus. Now let's move there, thirdly, to think about 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:09.779 the practice of Jubilee. And just let me return for a moment to the Jubilee 2000 campaign, this idea of 00:14:09.779 --> 00:14:15.319 debt forgiveness to be extended to whole nations, that some of the world's poorest could have their 00:14:15.319 --> 00:14:23.360 massive debt burden removed. It was a moral campaign, if you remember. It began in the universities with 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:29.079 the academics, but it was very much driven by churches and church leaders. And then you had guys 00:14:29.080 --> 00:14:37.020 like Bono from U2 who became the sort of public figurehead. You might remember there were human 00:14:37.020 --> 00:14:42.120 chains that were formed in different cities in Europe. So when the G8 summit met in Birmingham, 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:49.940 50,000 people formed this human chain, bringing this message to break the chains of debt slavery. 00:14:50.259 --> 00:14:56.180 And the result of this campaign, 20 million people signed a global sort of petition online. 00:14:56.179 --> 00:15:00.379 And the result was, and I think it continues to be the case, that there is now much more 00:15:00.379 --> 00:15:07.379 international awareness of the problem of third world debt. There was certainly a challenge to the 00:15:07.379 --> 00:15:14.299 corruption that was happening in some of these countries, greater accountability. And some 70 00:15:14.299 --> 00:15:22.120 billion pounds of debt was written off. 35 countries did have a huge measure of their debt release. 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:32.860 Now, when we turn to the practice of Jubilee in Leviticus 25, how did it work out? What would the 00:15:32.860 --> 00:15:40.740 impact be of the Jubilee? I want to think about two things. Firstly, to think about the land, 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:48.220 because the land is a huge focus. So in verses 11 and 12, if you have your Bible, it says that the 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:55.120 50th year should be a Jubilee for you. Do not sow and do not reap, for it is a Jubilee and is to be 00:15:55.120 --> 00:16:02.700 holy for you. So think about the fields. The fields were to have a rest. This was a holy year. So the land 00:16:02.700 --> 00:16:08.500 was to be rested, and the people were to trust that God would provide not just one year of harvest, 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:14.720 but three years of harvest. So there's a clear lesson in the Jubilee that the people should trust God. 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:22.279 And then in verses 13 to 17, there are instructions about the family lands. There's this recognition, 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:31.180 poverty might force the sale of your family land, but God's law forbade that it be permanent. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:37.740 In fact, it says in verse 16 that what you're buying and selling is actually the number of crops, 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:43.620 the number of harvests until the next Jubilee. And in verse 17, they were told very clearly, 00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:51.259 do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. That's the lesson. They are to live 00:16:51.259 --> 00:16:59.179 fearing their God. This is to be a spiritual form of economics. Verse 23, recognizing that all the land 00:16:59.179 --> 00:17:05.420 is God's land, that the land was a gift of God's grace, and so they are to care for one another 00:17:05.420 --> 00:17:12.480 when it came to family land. We didn't read verses 27 to 31, but that's a really interesting little 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:21.779 section. Because there's a distinction made between city houses and farm houses. City houses, 00:17:22.779 --> 00:17:27.940 it could be permanently transferred. So there was this one year where if you had enough money, 00:17:28.019 --> 00:17:33.039 you could redeem and buy back your house in your city, but otherwise it would pass permanently to 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:38.759 the person who bought it. But that wasn't the case for your house on your family land. 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:44.879 That could be redeemed at any time and had to be given back at the Jubilee. And so you might ask, 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:51.319 why does God care about country more than city? No, the whole idea is the land is God's gift. 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:59.160 The land is the source of family income, so that house and that land must be protected because God cares 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:07.079 for the people. As city dwellers, I think sometimes we struggle with themes of the land in the Old Testament, 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:13.899 but we have to remember as well that the land was a big part of God's promise. God had acted to save 00:18:13.899 --> 00:18:20.659 His people from slavery, but also to give them this wonderful new home, the promised land, the land of 00:18:20.659 --> 00:18:25.819 Canaan. It was a place where they would work and they would rest and they would worship under the rule 00:18:25.819 --> 00:18:36.799 of God, knowing God was with them. It was a big deal. When Jesus came, slightly different language, but John 14, 00:18:37.679 --> 00:18:45.759 Jesus invited His followers to understand that He was preparing a home for His people. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:52.359 Jesus said, my Father's house has many rooms and I am going to prepare a place for you. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:19:00.539 Jesus would go to die, to rise, to return to heaven, to prepare the way so that all who trust in Him would go 00:19:00.539 --> 00:19:05.940 to be with Him, to live in that home, in that land. 00:19:05.940 --> 00:19:12.539 When we trust Jesus who said, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father 00:19:12.539 --> 00:19:23.039 except through me. So, the Jubilee focused on the land, but it also focuses a lot on the idea of 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:34.340 redemption and release. There's lots of details that we could look at, but we'll look at verses 47 to 55 00:19:34.339 --> 00:19:42.459 as a case study. So, here is a situation where an Israelite has hit hard times. Things have become 00:19:42.459 --> 00:19:48.740 difficult, and so he has been forced to sell himself to become a slave or a servant. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:20:01.579 What remains true? Verse 48, if they sell themselves to the foreigner, they retain the right of redemption. 00:20:01.579 --> 00:20:12.399 There is always the prospect of freedom if they can gather enough money. Secondly, 00:20:13.919 --> 00:20:21.720 one of their relatives may redeem them. An uncle or cousin or any blood relative in their clan may 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:28.740 redeem them. So, we maybe are familiar with this idea of kinsmen redeemers. A near relative who is 00:20:28.740 --> 00:20:36.480 willing to bear the debt, who is willing to pay the price, who is willing to secure redemption. 00:20:37.539 --> 00:20:46.220 Famous Old Testament story of Ruth, the book of Ruth, Boaz is her kinsman redeemer, Naomi's kinsman 00:20:46.220 --> 00:20:55.359 redeemer. And we understand that redemption comes at a price. Verse 50, they and their buyer are to count 00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:59.959 the time from the time from the year they sold themselves, and the price is based on that. 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:09.419 And also, at the end of the chapter, to understand that God releases his people at Jubilee. 00:21:10.419 --> 00:21:17.119 Verse 51, even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:26.799 released in the year of Jubilee. Why? For the Israelites belong to me, and I am the Lord your God. 00:21:27.679 --> 00:21:34.159 So, you get this wonderful idea that the God of grace, who rescued his people from slavery at the 00:21:34.159 --> 00:21:45.679 Exodus every 50 years, is going to do it again. This reset button of the Jubilee is an expression of God's 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:54.660 saving grace time and time and time again. Two things for us to think about briefly in this regard. One, 00:21:56.299 --> 00:22:06.799 that the message of Jubilee is a message of hope, that God brings good news for those who are poor, 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:14.940 for those who are oppressed, saying there is a day coming of reversal, of restoration. 00:22:16.599 --> 00:22:23.579 It's the kind of themes picked up by Martin Luther King. The civil rights movement in America often drew on 00:22:23.579 --> 00:22:32.659 those biblical themes. There is a day coming. And we have this wonderful message about God, that God sees and 00:22:32.660 --> 00:22:42.960 God cares, that God gives hope for those whose lives are broken. God cares for those who are small and weak. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:49.500 We have a God who in Jesus can make everything new, including us. 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:56.920 But I think as Christians, we also, as well as recognizing the hope that Jubilee brings, 00:22:56.920 --> 00:23:02.700 we also need to see that just as it was for Israel, Jubilee brings a present responsibility. 00:23:04.140 --> 00:23:10.340 So, there was a law in the Jubilee legislation about how someone who was following God had to live. 00:23:10.420 --> 00:23:16.220 They had to not take advantage. They had to make sure that the poor were cared for. 00:23:17.740 --> 00:23:23.960 And as God's people, we have an ongoing responsibility to care about justice, 00:23:23.960 --> 00:23:32.460 about mercy, about people's dignity, to acknowledge people's worth. 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:40.059 You know, as an individual or as a church, we will likely not change the world. 00:23:40.779 --> 00:23:45.319 But that doesn't mean that we don't have responsibility, and we can help, and we can 00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:48.880 change in our neighborhood. And by God's grace, we should. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:58.900 Well, let's move finally to the person that Jubilee points to, having looked briefly at some of the 00:23:58.900 --> 00:24:07.140 details. Let's see how Jesus pulls it together and makes it all about him. Picture the scene in the 00:24:07.140 --> 00:24:14.940 Nazareth synagogue on that day. As Jesus walks in, a relatively unknown teacher coming back to his 00:24:14.940 --> 00:24:21.080 hometown as he's hometown as he deliberately picks up the scroll of Isaiah, as he deliberately looks for 00:24:21.080 --> 00:24:28.460 that section that speaks of the year of the Lord's favor, and he announces in that sermon, 00:24:28.980 --> 00:24:41.940 I am your Jubilee. I am your way to freedom. I can restore you to life with God. 00:24:41.940 --> 00:24:54.779 How can Jesus bring such a hope-filled, joy-filled message? How does Jesus fulfill those Jubilee themes? 00:24:57.620 --> 00:25:09.960 Well, Jesus declares that he is the one who brings true rest. Matthew chapter 11, verse 28, 00:25:09.960 --> 00:25:20.900 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. There is rest from Jesus, 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:30.240 the Son of God, as he declares God's grace. He says to us, we don't need to earn our salvation. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:38.779 We don't need to work so hard that God will somehow accept our efforts. Rather, we rest and trust. 00:25:39.960 --> 00:25:48.400 In the work of Jesus for us. Jesus has come to keep the law for us. Jesus has come to die as if he were 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:54.940 a lawbreaker, taking our place and our punishment, though he had done no wrong. Jesus has risen again 00:25:54.940 --> 00:26:03.480 to give new life with God to all those who trust him. All the work is done. We are invited to rest and 00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:13.599 to trust in this wonderful gift. Jesus brings true rest. Jesus comes to bring true restoration. 00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:22.360 Many of us are physically far from home today. This is not where we grew up. For some of us, 00:26:22.460 --> 00:26:30.819 we are in another continent. Another level, many of us have that longing for home in that sense of, 00:26:30.819 --> 00:26:37.759 where is the place where I find security? Where is the place where I know I belong? 00:26:38.639 --> 00:26:42.740 Where is the place where I experience true love? 00:26:45.259 --> 00:26:50.659 Maybe we live with that longing unfulfilled in this world, but with Jesus, 00:26:50.660 --> 00:27:00.100 He brings us access to a wonderful family, the family of God. He is the true elder brother who 00:27:00.100 --> 00:27:07.120 brings us to God the Father. And He says to us that while our sin separates us from God, 00:27:07.300 --> 00:27:16.620 He has come to deal with sin to bring us home. Jesus restores us to fellowship with God. That one 00:27:16.619 --> 00:27:24.479 relationship, that one family we were made for, that one love that will last forever is ours in Jesus. 00:27:27.479 --> 00:27:36.239 And Jesus has come to bring true redemption, true relief. Remember His words at the beginning, 00:27:36.399 --> 00:27:44.159 everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Do we know what it is to feel a sense of guilt? 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:54.080 To feel a slave to habits and patterns? Well, there is wonderful news from Jesus. He is the one who has 00:27:54.080 --> 00:28:04.580 come to break the chains of debt in a decisive way. He has come as our kinsman redeemer. He has become 00:28:04.580 --> 00:28:13.940 one of us in order to identify with us, to represent us, to take our debt for us, to pay the price in full, 00:28:13.940 --> 00:28:22.700 with His bloodshed on the cross, so we can live with total freedom. And so Jesus comes to fulfill for you 00:28:22.700 --> 00:28:33.460 and for me the purpose, the plan of jubilee. We don't need to wait for a trumpet to sound. 00:28:34.460 --> 00:28:40.799 We don't need to mark time in our calendar waiting for jubilee. We can have that today. 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:54.019 It can be experienced every day. That sense of renewal and restoration and rest. It comes as a gift from Jesus. 00:28:54.019 --> 00:29:06.220 taking our debt of sin, restoring us to life with God, resting now with the promise of eternal rest. 00:29:07.220 --> 00:29:15.960 When Jesus comes in that final reset, when He comes as judge, when He comes to establish the new creation, 00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:24.620 when His people will experience the joy of never-ending jubilee. Let's pray and give thanks. 00:29:24.620 --> 00:29:30.759 Father God, we thank You for what the jubilee represented for the Old Testament believer, 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:38.360 a chance to be set free, a chance to be restored to their land and into community. 00:29:38.359 --> 00:29:46.839 And we thank You for what that anticipates Jesus fulfills. And we thank You that He came to forgive 00:29:46.839 --> 00:29:55.219 our debt of sin. We thank You that He came to restore us to life with God. And that with Jesus, 00:29:55.219 --> 00:30:05.959 we have the promise of a land and a home, heaven and the new creation, life with God, 00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:15.100 knowing Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and living under His rule gladly. And so we pray that we would 00:30:15.100 --> 00:30:25.299 experience some of the joy of jubilee even today as we rest and as we trust in Jesus our Savior. Amen. 00:30:25.299 --> 00:30:25.399 Amen. 00:30:30.399 --> 00:30:37.000 Now let's close singing the hymn together, Cornerstone, and we can stand together to sing. 00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:37.079 Amen.