Leviticus 25; Psalm 32; Ecclesiastes 8; 2 Timothy 4

I don’t begin to claim to be an expert in Jewish customs, but the more I learn about them, the more I understand about Jesus.

The more I read their practices, the more clearly I see the fulfillment in Jesus.

Jesus is our Sabbath, our Redeemer, our Tabernacle, our Passover Lamb, and our Jubilee.

In digging a little deeper about the Year of Jubilee, I found this from about.com,

We still blow the Shofar every year after Yom Kippur, even in our times. Why? Because the blow of the Shofar still tells us that we can still be released from our bondage — the bondage of habitual mistakes. When a person is careless, and he lets himself repeatedly make the same mistake, he becomes habituated to constantly make that mistake. So to speak, he becomes enslaved to habit. Imagine the cigarette smoker. The first cigarette is a purposeful blunder on the smoker’s part. So too is the second cigarette, maybe even the first pack. But when a person becomes addicted to cigarettes, the cigarette becomes the master, and he becomes their slave. On Yom Kippur, we strive to gain control over our habits — symbolized by refraining that day from food and drink. Then, when the Shofar blows at the end of Yom Kippur, it is as if to announce, “All those who were enslaved (to their habits) are now free men!”

Is not Christ the perfect fulfillment of that? He has broken the chains, freed us from the bondage of our sins and made us free men. The Jubilee puts the past behind us as irrelevant.

Then we can say with David (Psalm 32),

¹ Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
² Blessed is the one
whose sin the LORD does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

I will continue to learn and seek out the depth of God’s wisdom, but find comfort in the words of Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, “¹⁶ When I applied my mind to know wisdom . . .  No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.”

Fortunately, I have a relationship with the One who does know and understand it all. And, this weekend we will have a special celebration of His most important work, His death and resurrection as our year of Jubilee. Speaking of which, I have signs to make.  If fans bring signs to their favorite sporting event, shouldn’t we have signs to proclaim our allegiance and show that we came prepared to celebrate and cheer on the winning team?

I’m thinking — Christ Arose! Let’s Celebrate!!

What would you put on your sign?

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