Before we start on this section, we need a brief recap of what jubilee was. The jubilee laws come from Leviticus 25 and were meant to keep in check power’s natural tendency to continually grow and sap from all around it. In essence, every 50 years, debts were forgiven and property was returned. Before any one person or group could erect an impenetrable wall which kept them on top and others subservient to them, the walls were to be broken down and everyone made equal once again.
We see the emphasis numerous times in the synoptic gospels, though most strongly in Luke and its sequel, Acts1.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
Luke 4:16-19
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.”
Here we have Jesus announcing to the synagogue that he is going to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, that is, jubilee. Jesus of course contextualizes it to his time, but through Jesus’ ministry we see many of the strains from Leviticus 25 being made manifest. We’ll go over a few of these just so we can learn to recognize this fairly pervasive theme. Jubilee is obviously related to shalom yet we don’t often see these different passages are relating to it. Once we frame them in the context of jubilee we can see how they relate to the greater theme of shalom.
The Poor
In Luke, Jesus often denigrates wealth and gives scathing attacks on the rich. At the start of the gospel in Mary’s magnificat there is a call for the feeding of the hungry. Almost all of chapters 12 and 16, the end of 18 and the beginning of 19 discuss this theme of wealth. For example, he tells the rich to give to the poor (12:32-34; 16:9; 18:18-23) and praises those who give away their possessions (7:25; 36-50; 19:8-10). In fact, in Acts Jesus’ followers practice community of goods (2:34-46; 4:32-34), provide material needs for widows (6:1-6) and sent relief to the poor in Jerusalem (11:27-30). It is clear from these texts that Jesus and his earliest followers obeyed the calls to aid the poor and needy found within the Torah and the prophets.
In addition, he speaks of the dangers of riches (8:14; 16:15; 19-31; 18:24-25; 21:1-4), teaches against accumulating possessions (12:15-21) and advices his followers to a simple life not revolving around material possessions (12:22-24).
Against Oppression
Jesus speaks and acts against oppression and for what would be today called social justice. Again in the magnificat Mary speaks of scattering the proud and bringing down the powerful. In 18:1-5 Jesus plainly says that God gives justice. In 20:45-47 he denounces the proud and those who “devour widows’ houses.” In modern Bibles we have a chapter break right after that but it’s shame because chapter 21 clearly follows the same line of thought. Just after denouncing the flashy and proud who steal from widows, Jesus favorably compares the poor woman who puts in all she has to the offering to the flashy rich. He is clearly suggesting here not only that they give only a small, safe percentage, but that much of their accumulation of wealth has made (or kept) this woman poor.
Jesus also affirms women and Luke emphasizes their important role in Jesus’ ministry (8:1-3; 10:38-42; 16:18). He includes Elizabeth, Mary, Anna, the women from Galilee, Martha and Mary in his narrative. This was a deliberate stand against the structural oppression that placed women as secondary citizens. Though equality for women is not part of the Old Testament jubileean theme, Luke uses this as a natural extension of the concern for equality.
On top of all this he emphasizes service and humility which contrasts with those who lord their power over others (Matthew 20:25). In response to the disciples arguing over who was the greatest, he says that the least among them all will be great (9:46-48). The parable of the wedding feast concludes with “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (14:7-11). Finally, in 17:7-10 he teaches us to be servants.
Inclusion
Luke also includes a strong emphasis on Jesus’ acceptance of sinners, outcasts, and outsiders. For example, in 7:36-50 Luke records a story of praising a well known prostitute over the more prestigious pharisee. In response to the criticism of accepting sinners in chapter 15, Jesus tells three parables: The parable of the shepherd who will not stop until all his sheep are recovered, the parable of the woman searching everyone for her lost coin and of course the parable of the prodigal son. So while the leaders of his day made outcasts of sinners, Jesus was bringing them in and drawing them to himself. Jubilee means that all these ‘sinners’ have a future in Jesus’ messianic kingdom and community.
Looking back to the scene at the start of this post where Jesus announced his ministry, we see a striking contrast with Jesus’ emphasis within the passage versus some other Jewish groups’ emphasis at the time. After quoting Isaiah 61 and proclaiming that he was fulfilling it, he then discusses two stories where gentiles are saved instead of Jews. This enrages the audience because gentiles were outcasts and outsiders if not outright enemies. We know that the Qumran community emphasized the part in Isaiah 61:2 which speaks of vengeance on outsiders, but this is precisely the part which Jesus excluded from his reading.
Healing and Exorcisms
The healings and exorcisms in Luke emphasize the release of people from Satan’s power. This is evident in both Luke and Acts. When John the Baptist asks Jesus if he was the one to come in 7:21, Luke answers with, “Jesus had just cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and had given sight to many who were blind.” Jesus is lifting up the sick and afflicted and giving them health and wholeness. Luke makes it clear that these healings and exorcisms are part of Jesus’ messianic mission.
As mentioned in a previous post, this is far more than simply improving people’s quality of life; this is breaking the chains which oppress people. It may be that demons and unclean spirits are the ultimate masters of these chains, but it is far from just spiritual or nonphysical. Many of these people would have been excluded from many aspects of the community and ostracized in a way which dehumanized them. These healings and exorcisms challenged the religious law and even upset the social order (John 9 is a great example of displaying the disruptive power of his miracles, and from a non-Lukan source to boot!) Jesus was doing far more than simply providing relief for the suffering.
When we see all of these themes as part of the proclamation of Jubilee, we see that they are not just isolated events of Jesus being nice to others or giving life advice. They are much more than that. They look at the vision given in the jubilee writings about equality, sharing, and community and bring it into reality.
We need to be careful though. We will discuss in the next post how the passages regarding nonretaliation and suffering should be interpreted as active peacemaking rather than simply passive peacekeeping. The tendency with these passages is to do the opposite. Mountains are being toppled and valleys raised. The oppressed and loved and cared for while the rich and power are denounced. None of this can contradict the nonretaliating enemy love though, for shalom will not arrive if we are filled with a self-righteous attitude that finds satisfaction in oppressing or demolishing current oppressors. Just as loving of enemies cannot be satisfied with injustice, so these jubilee and justice passages cannot bypass the fact that this is for all, not just those who are down and out currently. The toppling of the mountains is for the benefit of the oppressors as well, though they surely won’t feel it in the process. Jubilee ushers in shalom where all worship God together and live in perfect community with one another.
Notes
1 This post was taken largely from A Covenant of Peace pp. 133-140
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