Tag Archives: Biblical rest

Jesus and the Jubilee: Exploring His Interaction and Fulfillment of Prophecy in Luke 4

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The Year of Jubilee, also known as the Jubilee Year, is an important concept found in the Old Testament of the Bible, specifically in the book of Leviticus. It was a special year that occurred every 50 years in the agricultural and social life of the ancient Israelites. The Jubilee Year was designed to provide a time of restoration, redemption, and liberation for the people of Israel.

The Year of Jubilee was intended to bring about social justice and economic equality among the Israelites. It served as a reminder that the land and resources ultimately belonged to God and that the Israelites were stewards of them.

During the Jubilee Year, all land that had been sold or transferred since the previous Jubilee was returned to its original owners. The purpose was to ensure that families did not permanently lose their ancestral lands and to prevent the concentration of wealth in a few hands. In addition to the restoration of land, all debts were to be canceled during the Jubilee Year. Israelites who had fallen into debt bondage or servitude due to poverty were set free, allowing for a fresh start and a release from financial burden. The Jubilee Year also included a sabbatical rest for the land, similar to the weekly Sabbath. Agricultural activities, such as planting and harvesting, were to cease, allowing the land to regenerate and recover.

The Year of Jubilee reinforced the principles of social justice, compassion, and concern for the less fortunate within the community. It promoted the idea of communal solidarity, where the community as a whole shared the responsibility for the welfare of its members. The Jubilee Year was seen as a time of spiritual renewal and a reminder of God’s faithfulness to His covenant with the Israelites. It symbolized liberation, freedom, and the restoration of relationships, both with God and with fellow human beings.

It is important to note that while the concept of the Jubilee Year is found in the Old Testament, there is limited historical evidence of its actual observance in ancient Israel. Nonetheless, the idea of the Year of Jubilee continues to inspire discussions on social justice, economic equity, and the responsibilities of societies towards their members.

In Luke 4:16-21, there is a significant interaction between Jesus and the concept of the Jubilee Year. This passage describes an episode early in Jesus’ ministry when he returned to his hometown of Nazareth and went to the synagogue to teach.

Reading from the Scroll of Isaiah: Jesus was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and he unrolled it to the portion that contained a prophecy about the Messiah. He found the passage that read: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19; quoting Isaiah 61:1-2).

Identifying Himself as the Fulfillment: After reading the passage, Jesus declared that the prophecy was fulfilled in their hearing. By associating himself with this messianic prophecy, Jesus was claiming to be the long-awaited Messiah who would bring about the fulfillment of God’s promises, including the proclamation of the year of the Lord’s favor or the Jubilee Year.

Jesus’ identification with the Jubilee Year emphasized his mission of liberation, restoration, and redemption. b. He came to bring spiritual freedom, healing, and release from all forms of bondage, whether physical, social, or spiritual. c. Jesus’ ministry challenged the prevailing social and economic structures, calling for justice, compassion, and equality, which resonated with the underlying principles of the Jubilee Year.

By associating himself with the proclamation of the year of the Lord’s favor, Jesus conveyed his role as the Messiah who would bring about the ultimate fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan. He preached a message of liberation and restoration, both in the spiritual and social realms, in alignment with the underlying principles of the Jubilee Year. This declaration served as a foundation for Jesus’ ministry and his mission to bring salvation to all people.

How Culture Confuses the Puzzle of the Sabbath

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I’m wondering how you ended up at this website reading a post about “rest”. Of all the things people are reading about these days, what caused you to stop here just now? I suppose there are lots of reasons one might have but what are those reasons for you?

Whatever your motivation, I’m guessing you wouldn’t refuse if someone offered you a satisfying recipe for rest and a compelling argument to rethink what it means. The Bible studies and ideas I’ve presented on RethinkingRest.com are representative of why I have completely changed the way I approach rest. Not only have my definitions of “rest” changed, but the practical application isn’t the same either. 

And it’s not what you are thinking. This site isn’t one that will try to settle arguments about what day the Sabbath is or what activities are approved and which should be avoided on such a day. You’ll find this to be a completely different perspective on the topic. It will be a refreshing break from the tired Sabbath discussions that seem to have occupied a generation of evangelicals. 

I grew up in the middle of those discussions. 

I also grew up playing baseball. There was a strong Little League tradition in our small community. One of the years I was in middle school (in the early 1980’s), our local high-school baseball team made it to the playoffs. Most of the post-season games that year were played on week days after school, but the championship game happened to be scheduled for a Saturday afternoon. Normally this is a great idea. It allows teams and families time to travel. 

That particular year, one of the best pitchers on the team (and his family) consistently observed a 7th-Day Sabbath. Their family took Saturdays off from many of their normal weekday activities for religious purposes. As the team kept winning their playoff games, I remember there being great conversation in the community about whether the star pitcher would choose to play if they made it to the championship game.

They did keep winning… and they qualified to play that Saturday afternoon. After much discussion (and I’m assuming prayerful consideration as well)… the pitcher decided to play in the title game. Even though they lost a close one-run contest, the conversation surrounding the decision to play, or not, made an early impact on me.

That baseball season was just a couple years after the movie Chariots of Fire won four Academy Awards (including Best Picture).  For those who haven’t seen it, Chariots of Fire is a film based on the true story of two British Olympic athletes in the 1924 games. In the movie one of the athletes, Eric Liddell, is favored to win the 100-meter race. Liddell is a devout religious man and He refuses to run in a qualifying heat because it is held on Sunday. 

Though I was young at the time, I remember being somewhat confused about how many different ideas and practices there were regarding this sacred concept. One athlete refuses to run on Sunday, another doesn’t know if he should play baseball on Saturday. These ambiguities, and many others like them, have lead to a general state of confusion for many. It is common for followers of Jesus to second guess what the sabbath is and how they should respond to it. 

I think we can all agree, biblical rest is a confusing topic. I grew up attending church, and one might think church attendance would have brought more clarity to the topic, but that wasn’t necessarily the case. On the contrary, it was in the church that I found great diversity in how people thought about biblical rest. Most assumed rest was simply one variation or another of observing the Sabbath (the fourth commandment). For years that’s what I assumed too.

For me, early confusion about the topic lead to apathy and eventually, even though I remained a believer in Christ, I lost interest in the Sabbath. It was later in life, while in my Master’s program, that I began to re-engage with the topic. It was in a Bible class, studying the book of Hebrews, that I began to ask new questions about biblical rest. It is those questions, and the answers that followed, that lead to a surprising discovery, a greater understanding, and the desire to write about this topic.

I invite you to dive in with me and discover why it is we should be rethinking what we think we know about rest.