Christ and Jubilee Year

Jubilee & Christ

On the Sunday before Pentecost we read about the Jubilee year in Leviticus 25:8-13. The Jubilee Year is the 50^th year and is the conclusion of seven 7 year cycles. The word Jubilee has its etymological root in this festival year. The Hebrew word ‘Yobel’ which means trumpet was used for this year. The sound of the trumpet glared on the day of atonement signified the arrival of this august year. According to Leviticus 25, the Jubilee year was an occasion for liberty (v.10), return to one’s ancestral home (v.10), rest from labor (v.11) and period of holiness (v. 12). The reason for reading about the feast of 50^th year prior to the feast of the 50^th day is not accidental. The jubilee year points us towards Christ.

First the Jubilee year teaches us that Christ came to redeem. Jubilee year was a year of liberation for all who were bonded. In fact it was even redemption or freedom for the land. The Jubilee year reminded the Israelites that God was the ultimate owner of all.  According to St Luke, Jesus began his public ministry by proclaiming the arrival of the Jubilee year. Jesus stood in the synagogue at Nazareth and read from Isaiah and declared, ““The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). Obviously the Jubliee period does not represent one calendar year but to the new age inaugurated by Christ.

Secondly the Jubliee year teaches us that Christ will bring us into a rest. The Jubilee year was a time of rest from labors. Our earthly life is filled with toils and we often find it difficult to find rest here. But for those who believe in Christ the life after death is a period of rest in Him. We read in the book of Revelation, “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them” (Revelation 14:13). This particular verse is alluded to in the funeral liturgy. As the coffin is about to be closed the face is covered and oil is poured over the earthly remains of the departed while the priest prays for the departed to “receive rest from labors”.

The Jubilee year spoken about in Leviticus 25 looks forward to the heavenly rest and liberation from bondage that Christ gifts to his disciples.