The mission that changed the world!

When Jesus read the Isaiah text to the Synagogue crowd it would have been understood, by every Jew listening, that…

            (1) those words applied to the Messiah, the Anointed One, and

            (2) they referred to the year of Jubilee.

The Jews had a custom, ordained by God, that not only would every seventh day of the week be  a Sabbath, a day of rest, but that every seventh year would also be a Sabbath, when the land would not be farmed, and so on . . .

And after every seventh Sabbath year (that is, every fiftieth year) there would be what was called the “year of Jubilee.

In that year,

            all slaves would be set free,

            all those whose poverty had forced them to sell

                        their lands would receive them back again, and

            those who had lost family members into slavery

                        or imprisonment would be reunited with their loved ones . . .

So you can see why it was called “The Jubilee!” That is what Jesus said His mission was  . . . A mission is a calling: an objective or task that is his to carry out. What the Law prescribed and what Isaiah promised, Jesus fulfilled!

He came to bring good news to the poor, the kind of news that was supposed to have them dancing in the streets every fifty years! He came to bring broken families together, to bind up the brokenhearted, and to heal the hurting!

He came to free the slaves, to open the doors of darkness, to untie people’s hands, and to unfold their wings! To proclaim the year of JUBILEE! But not just one year every fifty—that was already supposed to be the case— but Jesus came to bring a worldwide Jubilee every year, every day, that would speak good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, healing to the brokenhearted, forgiveness for the guilty, freedom for those who feel controlled, release for those who feel trapped, deliverance, laughter, relief, joy … JUBILEE!

That was His mission  . . .  and it is our mission as well.

Our mission is not merely to go to church for an hour a two a week. Your mission is to take joy and praise and worship and healing and fun out in public, out to the streets, and share it with the world around you.

                                               

But in revealing Himself as the Anointed One, Jesus introduces His mission ...  then expects us to adopt his methods ... and apply His guiding principles. You know I love ya, Don