Let Freedom Ring

Series on I am Joe’s Favorite Verses
Luke 4:18-19
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 25:8-12; Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:14-21 

[Many years ago, there used to be articles in the Reader’s Digest titled “I am Joe’s ___” with the blank being filled with a body part or organ. Over the years, I’ve written verses that are meaningful to me on 3x5 cards. In this series we’ll be looking at some of my favorite verses. In other words, “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”.]

 

In 1751, the Pennsylvania Assembly ordered the creation of the iconic Liberty Bell. Even though it was twenty-four years before the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, the seeds of freedom were bubbling to the surface. The following inscription is engraved on the bell.

 

"Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof".                                          KJV            Leviticus 25:10

 

This verse refers to the "Year of Jubilee". The Lord decreed that every fifty years was to be a year of redemption for the Israelites. This involved freedom from all types of bondage. All prisoners and captives were set free, all slaves were released, all debts were forgiven, and all property was returned to its original owners.

 

The Year of Jubilee was to remind the Israelites of the holiness of God, and to keep themselves holy. It began on the Day of Atonement, which was an annual ritual to atone for the sins of Israel. The beginning of the Year of Jubilee was when they were to “blow the ram’s horn loud and long throughout the land”.

 

Despite these religious rituals, Israel rebelled against the Lord. As a result, much of Isaiah’s prophecies were about the judgement of Judah and Israel. This included the future Babylonian invasion, and the resulting exile of Jews. However, Isaiah also spoke a message of hope and freedom.

 

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
    for the Lord has anointed me
    to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
    and to proclaim that captives will be released
    and prisoners will be freed.
^2a He has sent me to tell those who mourn
    that the time of the Lord’s favor has come…           NLT

 

This is a direct reference to the Year of Jubilee. And although most Jews at the time would have assumed Isaiah was speaking about himself and the Babylonians, his words also had a future meaning. One that they didn’t foresee until hundreds of years later when an itinerant rabbi walked the land of Galilee.

 

As Jesus visited his hometown of Nazareth, he went to the synagogue where he was given a scroll to read and then teach from. After reading the above passage from Isaiah, he then sat down to speak.

 

²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”       NIV

 

In other words, Jesus claimed to be the Messiah. It was his way of “blowing the ram’s horn” to declare that it was the Year of Jubilee. That he had come to free the captives. Not the captives of Babylon or Rome, but the captives of sin.

 

He came to fulfill the Day of Atonement when, once and for all, not only would Israel’s sins be atoned for, but all people everywhere. Let freedom ring!

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

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