These verses extend the concept of a Sabbath. Not only do I as an individual honor God in a weekly Sabbath (Exodus 20:10), but I am called to give this same rest to the land (Leviticus 25:4), and even to property (Leviticus 25:13). We are hearing an echo of Genesis 2:2-4: “...and God rested from all the work that God had done.”
The word “Sabbath” means “intermission” or “stop exertion” or “take a break.” Not only does my body need occasionally “to downshift,” but so does the rest of the created order. To get ourselves or plants or crops or relationships in top running order, all need the discipline of a regular Sabbath.
The year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-13) is a reminder that it all belongs to God and not to us. Buying and selling property may seem like a strange way of recalling this truth, but it is to be done in such a way that no one takes advantage of another and in such a way that we no longer divide society into the “haves” and the “have nots.”
Charles Wesley took these strange verses and turned them into an acknowledgment that in Jesus Christ we get back our life. Just as property was returned to its original owner (Leviticus 25:13), so in Christ we are restored to our heritage as children of God. Sin no longer reigns! Brokenness no longer controls us! “Ye slaves of sin and hell, your liberty receive,” Wesley wrote. Just as the ram’s horn (trumpet) sounds to signal the beginning of new relationships with the land and with one another (Leviticus 25:9), so now we hear the gospel trumpet proclaim our salvation. (This hymn is number 379 in The United Methodist Hymnal.)
Looking at this study text through Christian lens, we see these gifts manifested in Jesus Christ.
These verses remind us that we do not live in isolation. We are related to the land. We are related to one another. We are related to the divine. We are called to disciplines that keep those relationships strong and fertile. The practice of Sabbath is at the core of those disciplines.
What Someone Else Has Said: In Peace Child (Bethany House), Don Richardson describes jubilee in Jesus: “...the new life, the love, the joy of knowing Jesus Christ in a personal way. A crisis came. I called upon Him, and suddenly He was there, alive! In fact, two thousand years had not aged Him a bit! I found He still had the same power to transform lives and hold (our) loyalty that He had manifested in the Gospels two millenniums before.”
Prayer: As you prepare this lesson, let your prayer begin: “Lord, I hear the trumpet of truth...”
