The Acceptable Year of the Lord
Jesus proclaimed,
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”
Mark 4:18, 19
In the old Testament, the “acceptable year of the Lord” was equated with the year of jubilee, when slaves were freed from bondage, debts were erased, and the taken land was given back to its original owner. The Lord instructed, “And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family” (Leviticus 25:10).
And the Lord added, ”According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you”(Leviticus 25:15). No person could sell land in perpetuity, but only until the year of jubilee. In that year all land was to be given back to its original owner but it might be redeemed at any time by the owner, or a relative only after paying due amount.
The due amount was to be calculated by the number of harvests between the time of redemption and the year of jubilee. Thus, at the year of Jubilee, all property would automatically revert to its original owner “And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land” (Leviticus 25: 24).
In the New Testament, Jesus declared that He was the fulfillment of that Old Testament provision for He came to free the captives of Satan in body, mind, and spirit (2 Timothy 2:26) through His redemptive work at the cross (John 3:16). All those who feel they are “poor in spirit” and in need of repentance will be blessed by His enabling grace and get delivered from the power of sin (Matthew 5:3). All the captives that were wounded and crushed will be set free from its clutches. Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28). This is the good news of the gospel.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
