Monday, October 19, 2009

The Year of Freedom

What did Jesus really preach?

I was reading a book the other day by Dr. Leroy Thompson in which he talked about the passage in Luke 4 where Jesus read from the book of Isaiah at the synagogue. The quote from Isaiah ended with "to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." (I'm going by memory here, so bear with me.)

Do you know what the acceptable year of the Lord is? It's the year of Jubilee--the year when slaves were set free, property returned to their owners, and debts canceled. Well, in Dr. Thompson's book, he mentioned about Jesus preaching the acceptable year of the Lord, and then in parentheses he said something like "(the year when all debts are canceled)."

Have you ever read something and a light bulb goes off in your head? You hear a "ding!" and the bell rings? The understanding of something dawns on you, and you get it?

I had that type of moment when my eyes read that parenthetical statement. Jesus preached debt cancellation. Hello! Did you get that? Believers, Christians, the Church, disciples--however you want to call it--are supposed to experience Jubilee, the acceptable year of the Lord. We're supposed to be enjoying freedom from debt!

Wow. If you didn't get that "ding" moment, don't worry. Just keep reading Luke 4 and studying about the year of Jubilee from the Old Testament. It'll come!

Till next time,
Jeanette