1995 issue 3 - sermon on luke 4:14-30 - the startling preaching of jesus in nazareth, part 2 -...

8/12/2019 1995 Issue 3 - Sermon on Luke 4:14-30 - The Startling Preaching of Jesus in Nazareth, Part 2 - Counsel of Chalced

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signifies full and perfect rest. And the

fiftieth year is the first year after seven

sabbaths of years. Thefi rst day, or first

year

signifies newness, a new

beginning, a new day, a new era, a new

day. The Jubilee Christ came to

establish is a new day and a new order

and a new era blinging in the new

heavens and earth filled with new

people

in

Chlist.

Second, THE RAM'S HORN. The

jubilee began with the blast of a ram's

hom. The velY word, 'Jubilee, in

Hebrew is derived from a word which

means aram'shom, Ex.19:13;josh.

6:5. TIle blast of this ram's

hom

introduced and

represented

the

breaking in of a New Era, announcing

a

new

calendaric, economic, and moral

era for the holy nation. The blasting of

the ram's hom also announced the

celebration of the enthronement of a

victorious king. The underlying

principles the basic provisions of the

Mosaicjubilee were meant to set forth

would become the distinctives of the

New Era that would dawn with the

coming of the Anointed One of God,

the

Suffeling SelVant of the Lord, i.e.,

the Messiah.

Third,

THE

DAY

OF

ATONEMENT. The beginning of the

jubilee was to

be

proclaimed on the

Day ofAtonement, the tenth day of the

seventh month. This day, the New

Year's Day of the solar calendar, was

the one day of the year

upon

which all

Israel---through the transference of sins

by

Yahweh to the 'scapegoat,'

---gathered

to

receive expiation for all

sins deliberate and indeliberate. No

only therefore does Israel on the

day

of jubilee announce with

the

ram's

hom

both

a new calendaric

and economic era, but also a

time

of

new

beginnings MORALLY for

the nation.

-

Sloan

The jubilee Year began with the

Day of Atonement.

TIms was Israel

reminded

in

the most impressive

manner possible that all these social,

civil and communal blessings were

possibi'e

only

on

condition

of

reconciliation

with

God

through

atoning blood; atonement in the high est

and fullest sense, which should reach

even to the Holy of Holies, and place

the blood on the velY mercy-seat of

Jehovah. This is true still, though the

nations have yet to leam it. 11le

salvation of nations, no less than that

of individuals, is conditioned by

national fellowship with God, secured

throngh the great Atonement of the

Lord. Nat until th e nations leam this

lesson may we expect to see the clying

e \ ~ l s of the earth removed, or the

questions of property, ofland-holding,

of capital and lahor,justly and happily

solved. - Samuel Kellogg" .The Book of

Leviticus

pg. 509f, (Klock

St

Klock

Chlistian Publishers;' Minneapolis,

Minnesota, 1978 repj'int).

Fourth, THE RETURN OF

PROPERTY. This is the first of four

provisions of the Jubilee Code: all

property must be retumed, according

to

the original Mosaic disnibution,

to

the miginal owner or his family. If

because of increasing indebtedness a

jew

was forced to sell his propelty or

any part thereof, the sale was

not

to be

regarded as a pennanent alienation of

that land,

but

rather more like a lease,

i.e., the plice ofthepropeJtywas

to be

fixed according to the number of

harvests remaining between the time

of the sale

and

the next approaching

year of ubilee,

Lev.

25:25-28. - Sloan.

The theologi.cal basis forthis pennanent

inalienability of the land, (in the Land

of Promise), is the fact that Jehovah

Himself is the Owner of the land.

Because it belongs to Him, it could not

be pelmanently sold.

Fifth, THE

RELEASE

OF

SLAVES.

In the Jubilee

Year

all Jewish slaves

were released, who had been forced

into a kind of debter's slavery because

offalteling finances, Deut. 15: 12; Exod.

21:22-6. TIle theological basis forth

is

p r O \ ~ s i o n relates to theuni que covenant

relationship between Jehovah

and

Israel. Israel is the son and servant of

jehovah.

Sixth, THE CANCELLATION OF

DEBTS. The Jubilee Year is an

imensified Sabbatica]

Year;

and

in the

Jubilee, as in the Sabbath Years, all

debts, (charitable loans), were

cancelled.

In

Israel's society the

poor

were to be

assisted by

nOll

imerest-bcming, charitable loans, from

which they were released every seventh,

and fiftieth, year. This not only

heightened the sense of solidarity

among the people of Israel, it also

emphaSized the sovereign choice of

Israel by jehovah. It is because of

Yahweh's

a c t i \ ~ t y

of delivering them

from Egypt for the purpose

of

giving

them Canaan and 'to be your God' tha t

theJews are to sustain the poor among

them. Ollce again

it

is within

the

historical and theological framework

of the Exodus that these injnnctions

too are to be understood. - Sloan

Seventh, THE PROHIBITION OF

LAND CULTIVATION. The final

provision of the Jubilee laws is the

command to let the land i.e fallow,

to

rest,

\ ~ t h o u t s o w i n ~

plUning, reaping

or harvestingil for

an

entire year, evelY

fiftieth year. The people of Israel were

to trust the providing hand of

ehovah

to sustain them throughout that year.

TIle theological basis for this provision

is the creative work of God. The

Redeemer is the Creator and Provider.

The Pml heiic Use o

the ]ulJilee Laws by Isaial1

Isaiah looks forward, prophetically,

toaday, duringtbereign ofLhe Messiah,

when the provisions of the Jubilee will

be

fully

realized

in

the life of the people

of God. And so il is the book ofIsaiah

through which the language and image

of the Jubilee Year are introduced

in

the gospel of Luke, and it is therefore

the PROPHETIC USE of the Jubilee

March, 1995 ~ T H E COUNSEL of Chalcedon l' 5


3/5

code which the present sLUdy must

take as its point

of

departure. - Sloan

Certain provisions of the Jubilee

legislation became, through the O .T.

prophets, eschatalogical themes,

i.

e.,

themes that would characterize the

effects of the work of he Messiah when

He arrived

on

th e scene. These

provisions Isaiah makes his central

themes in Isaiah

6l.

odal]u

stice

The intent

of

lhe jubilee legislation

was to bring about a socio-economic,

political, (an d spirimal-moral) reversal

ofsociety. Israeliteshad specific, social

responsibilities toward each other ,Lev.

25:17-55. And as Mary prophesied in

her

MAGN

IFICAT, LIe 1:51-53, the

Messiah would bring a global reversal

of

the human order that would bring

true

ju

stice to all men, socially,

politically

and

economically.

Restomtioll

The release of property, slaves and

debts, along with the rest f

or

tire land

during thcJubi1ec together constit

ut

ed

a kind of national restoration to the

covenant people.

Hum

an society is to

be restored under the Messiah to

dignity,liberty, justice, prosperity, and

over-all health. Luke records Peter as

explaining that th e

Mess

iah would

bring times oJreJreshing and the peliod

oj restoration oj

all

thin

gs

, about which

God

spoke by the mouth oj

Hi

s

holy

prophets

Jro

anc ient time.' Acts

3:19-21.

SpiJitual Renewal

Along with social, political, and

economic renewal will come spiritual

and personal

ren

ewal with the Jubilee

as it is realized and administered by the

Messiah. This will bring about a

renewal in

th

e

tru

e worship

of

the

Living God in spirit and in truth AND

a renewal

of

faith fulness to the

commands

of

the Savio r. In fact the

remembrance ofJehovah's saving acts

and one's devotion

lO

Him provide the

basis and motivation for the lsraelite's

social responsibilities to one another.

It is precisely in faithfulness in social

r

es

toration that the spiritual and moral

restoration of the Jubilee manifest

themselves.

So

me have tried

to

find a tension

between the social and the spiri tual

aspects of the renewal Christ came to

brin

g.

The Liberation Theologians

emphasi

ze

exdusively the social and

political reversal, (and from a Marxist

perspective at that), while the Pietists

emphasize exclusively the spiritual

renewal. But there need be no tension

when one recognizes them ulLi-faceted

relation of the social and the spirimal

in Christian renewal. This is clearly

seen in the way the provisions ofsocial

justice and spi.r-imal renewal are related

in the Jubilee legislation: 1). In every

case the social

fea

tures of the release

legislation are cJosely ,even inseparably,

related to the wors

hi

p practiCes, faith

and spiritual renewal of the individual

Israelites

and

of

the nation as

a

whole.

(2). In most cases,

th

e redemptive

ac tivit y of [he Lord and lsrael 's

confession of faith and faithfulness to

God's prescribed way of worshipping

Him

provide the theological and

motiva

ti

onalbasiso

f

the social elements

of the

ju

bilee-sabbath year legislation;

i.e., the latte r gives socio-legal

expression to the former. - Sloan.

3).

Failure

to

carry out so cial

responsibilities to each other in the

Jub ilee legislation is

th

e refusal to give

the Lord the veneration due Him. 4).

Ultimately, and that eschatologically,

both the vi tali ty of the cult (worship)

and the establishment of social justice

depend upon the gracious,

proclamatOlY activity

of

the Lord God

of )srael. - Sloan

Faith

The in frequency of the

Ju

bil

ee

Year---every 50 years---necesssited an

emphasis upon faith , i.e. , a patient,

and hopeful anticipation of Yahweh's

deliverance fro m

th

e bonds

of

6

l

THE COUNSEL

of

Cha]cedoll l' March, 1995

oppr ss

ion

into n w er of

prosperity. - Sloan

Evidcnce

that Isaialr

Uses

the Jubilee Laws Prophetically

''T lte

Favol'able Year

of the Lord

Jesus

ends

His reading

of th

e

Sc ripturewi th the words, .. tol'lTJclaim

the

Jav(1mh1c

year

of

the

Lord.

The

fact

th

at Jesus enels His reading wi th these

words is imp ortant forit isaSUMMARY

CA

PSUL

ATION

of

hatwhich has gone

before in the Scr

iptur

e reading, i.e.,

the series ofin IlniLives which describe

the particular , concrete acts

of mercy

by which Yahweh sanointeel agent

\\-ill

t)1)ify

and inaugurate Goel'snewage.

Sloan . Luke PUllJosefully uses the

word, favo

rable:

(DEKTOS), as a

further indication

of

th e centrality of

this phrase for

understanding

tb e

import

of

Jesus' reading. - Sloan. The

repe ti tion of this word in LIe 4:24

reilecLS

Luke's,

and

Jesus', intention to

give the phrase

of

4: 19 a 'climactic

position' in the reading: which fact

also aids in explaining the omission of

the ph rase about God's day of wrath.

Sloan

Also , Luke's retention of the

word

,

year, ENIAUTOS in Greek, indicates

Luke's awareness

of

the parallel, as

perpetuated by Isaiah , between the

favorable year of Jesus' reading and

the year

of

release e ~ t i c u s 25: 10.

(ENIAUTOS is used in the Septuagint's

translation of Leviticus 25:10; and as

we

have seen, Luke was steeped in that

version

of

the

Old

Testament.)

Therefore,

Lu

ke uses the same word in

the climactic phrase

or

Jesus' rea

ding

not merely to keep the parallel, but

because there is in Luke's retention

of

E

NIAUT

OS not

a quantitative

reckoning

of time (for that ,

both

Leviticus 25 and Luke use the Greek

wo rd, ETOS), b

ut rath

er

th

e signaling

of an existential, quali tative irruptIon

into the present reality of a

spe

cial age,

a new era , indeed , a res tored order

of

things ... - Sloan.


4/5

The parallelism

of

meaning

therefore between the use of

"favorable",DEKTOS, byLnkein4:19,

and "release," APHESIS, by

Moses

in

Leviticus 25: 10 is clear:

''Lhe

jubilee

legislation proclaims a special time at

which

all

debts will be cancelled, "year

of release," and Jesus' reading too

proclaims the irruption of

a

special

age, "year,"which iSlO

he

characterized

by DEKTOS, i.e., God's favorable

acceptance of all man's

"set free the downtrodden," which is

TETHRAUSMENOI in Greek, refening

to h o ~ e Who are "shattered in fortune

and spilit, the victims of crushing

oppression.l>- Sloan.

The Ideniily

o

the Poor and

Oppressed in Isaiah 61 58

II

is vcryimportant to

rem em

beno

wholll Isaiah was referring when he

spoke of

the

poor

and the

oppressed," and how

he

conceived that

need [or their correction. Hisemphasis

is on the social, economic, political,

MORAL

and SPIRITUAL deliverance

oflclis people. In his gospel he points

to

"the Holy One oflsrael as the One who

alone will cHect a radical change in the

fortunes

o[ the

poor. And

the

transforma ion that is

promised

is

viewed

as

part

of a radical and

thoroughgoing renewal of the present

order,

lsa.

41:17-20."- Stonehouse.

debts to Him as paid

in

full" - Sloan

2

Isaiah in no way disregards the

As

accomplished by

the Lord who insists

that

men shaH recognize tbat

He

and

He

alone

has

done it, 48:5, this

announcement of

salvation,

+ : 17f,

inevitably cannot have in

view that

the poor

of

the

eanh,

as such, simply

because of their poveny,

will

be

without

want.

The poorwho ultimately

The

Parallel

Infinitive Phrases

social conditions of his

time nd

The twice-repeated

aorist infinitive verb

"proclaim," KARUXAI, of

Luke 4:18-19 is clearly

connected with Jnbilee

legislation, Leviticus

25: 10. The phrases in

Luke's record of Isaiah

6]:]

to

preach the

gospel

the

need for their correction.

His emphasis is ~ r i

the

social,

economic, politi,;;al, moral nd

spiritual deliverancf of His people.

to the poor," and

to

proc1a im release to

the captives,

and to proclaim

the

Javorable

year oj the

Lord, obviously

are meant to

be

understood

as

parallels.

To proclaim "release," (APHESIS in

Greek) refers clearly to the levi tical

proclamation of the Jubilee, dming

which time all were "released" from all

debts and from slavery. This word

seems to have the plimary meaning of

"LIBERATION" in the O.T,]er. 34:8,

15, 17; Ezek. 46: 17; Isa. 61:1; Lev.

25:10. In the N.T.,

it

appears that most

of the time the

word means

"FORGIVENESS," althougb it never

completely loses its original meaning

of "release" from debt or slavery.

Captives,

or

prisoners,

in the

phrase in Isaiah, "release to the

captives," is AIXMALOTOI in Greek,

and means "prisoners

of

war," or

anyone who is shackled by

pauperizing economic and social

conditions."- Sloan. The Messiah ~ 1 1

come

to

"release the captives," and to

their needs will be met. Who are the

"poor" and how are they

to

be delivered

from "poverty" by the Messiah? Isaiah

mentions them oftenin his prophecies,

42:6f; 29:18f; 58:6,7. Isaiah makes

it

clear that it is the poor

of

God's covenant

people that he has in view, and it is

against those who have been ordained

to

rule righteously, but who are

oppressing God's people, that the wrath

of God is pronounced.

The

Lord

en

ters

into

judgment WiLl1 the elders and p1inces

oJHis people:

'/tis

you who

have devoured

the vineyard; the plunder oj the poor is in

your

1101


5/5

OJ

)ubilary Theology

in Ole Gospel

q[

Lulie. (1977. SdlOlia Press

Austin.

Texas). This book

is

a dissertation

pr

ese

nt

ed

to the Faculty

uf"n

,

co

l

ogy

of

the Univers

it

y of Basel.

Sw

itze

rl

and.

[or the Degree o[ Doctor

o[

Th

eo

l

ogy.

The Greek word. DEKTOS.

"favorable.

translates

the

Hebrew

word.

RASON.

which does

no

t

occur

in

Leviticus

25. However

t.he related

(cognate) verb. RASAJ-l,

is

used in the

context oftheJ ubilee legislation. of the

land receiving its due p a ~ n e n t of a

sabbath year fallow in Lev. 26:34. 43.

In the N.T except for

LIe 4:24.

DEKTOS.

refers to GOD'S acceptance.

n e

Hebrew verb. RASAJ-l means t

pay a debt wh

en

referring

to

the one

paying it. or conversely.

to

befavorable'

when refentng

t

God's

acce

p

ta

nce

of.

.and pleasure in the

(nOlmally sac

rifidal)

payment. The Gr

eek

word, APJ-lESIS.

translated. release. is rooted in the

cance

ll

ation ofdebts. To becominueel.

Zeeman Gontlnued from page

12

And

the

eyes of

both of them

were opened.

Si

mil

arly when Jesus

was

on

the road t Emmaus.

And he went in to tarry wi th

them.

And

it came

to

pass

as

he sat at

meat with them he took bread

and blessed it

and brake it

and gave it unto them.

And their

eyes were

opened.

And they knew him.

And

he vanished out of their

sight

and th

ey said

between

themselves:

did not our hear

t5

burnwithin

us?

n

8

l'

THE COUNSEL

of

ChaJcedoll

l'

March . 1995

Mcilhenny continued fr om pag

18

ind ude dying on a cross). but of

everything

He

told the disdples t

teach

th

e Church to

clo

....

A

LL

authori ty h

as

been

give

n to

Mein heaven and oneanh.

Go

therefore

and make di scip les of all

the

nmions

...

lca

ching

th

em

to

observe

all

that I commanded you; anello. I am

witb you always. even to the end of the

ag

e."

(Matt. 28:

18-20)0

GentlY co

nt i

nue from page 21

byper-pTeterism

r

educes it furtheTto forty

YCilrs The prophetical expTe ss

ions

of

th e kingdom tend

to

speak of an

enOTmous

peTiod

of tim

e,

eve n

employing teTms

th

ataTe frequently used

of

etemit

y.

Does

ChTis

t's kingdom

paTallel David's so that it only lasts fOT

the

same time

framel

History and Church Errors

Eleventh,

hyp eT-

pTe

teTists

eternalize

time, by allowing history to continue

forev

e

r.

Th

is

n

ot

only

goes

against

expTess

statem

ents

of Scripture, but

also

ha s Qod dea lin g with a univeTse in

which

sin

will dwell fOTever and

eveT

and

ever.

TIl

ere is no final

conclusion

to

the

matt

er

of

man 's

rebellion; theTe is

no

final

r

ec

koning wilh sin. Christ te

lls us

that

th

e judgment will be againstrcbels

in

thei

r b

odies,

not sp

iritual

bodies (Matt.

10 :28). Th

e

hypeT-preterist sys

tem

does

not reach

back faT enough (to the

Fall

and

the curse

on

th

e physical

wOTld) to

be able to und e

rs

tand the Significance

of

Tedemption as

it moves to a final,

conclusive consummation, Tidding the

cursed world of sin. The full failure of

the

First Adam must be

oveTcome

by

the full success of

th e Second Adam.

Twelfth, hypeTpre terism has serious

negative impli

ca

ti

ons

for

ecclesiastical

labor. Is the

Qrcat Commission

delimited to the

pTe-A.D. 70 era,

due

10

the interpret

at ion

of the end by

hypeT-pTete

ri

sts (Ma

tt

.

8:20)1

Is the

Lord 's Suppersupernuous today,

ha

v

ing

bee.n

fulfil

led in Christ's (al

lege

d)Second

Advent in A.D .

70

1 Cor.

11:26)?Q

1995 issue 3 - sermon on luke 4:14-30 - the startling preaching of jesus in nazareth, part 2 -...

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