In our traditions, there are two forms of liturgical readings of the Parashiot of the Torah, the one year cycle and the three year cycle. The Pharisees read it in one year and the Sadducees in three. Many believe that at the time of Yeshua, the Torah was read over the three year cycle which is why they deduce that his public ministry was for three years. In Luke 4:16-22 it is written: "He came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:' the spirit for the Lord is on me for he has anointed me to bring good new to the afflicted, he has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord.' He then rolled up the scroll. Gave it back to the Shamash and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them,' This text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening."

According to the Rabbis, this Haftarah portion would have been read on Yom Kippur together with the Torah portion, Behar when God spoke to Moshe on Behar Sinai (Mount Sinai). Leviticus 25: 8-10 states: "You are to count seven Shabbats of years, seven times seven years, that is, forty nine years. Then on the tenth day of the seventh month on Yom Kippur, you are to sound a blast on the shofar; you are to sound the shofar all through you land and you are to consecrate the fiftieth year, proclaiming freedom throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a yovel (jubilee) for you…"

Yeshua began his ministry with this reading in Isaiah revealing something important, a message of Redemption, of spiritual healing where one day all who trust in him would return to a state of perfection as it was meant to be at the very beginning…this was the ha Besorah (Good News) of Yeshua. He was proclaiming that he was the fulfillment of the yovel.

It was well known in the Jewish community of the day that these verses spoke of Messiah and Yeshua clearly stated that in their hearing, these words were being fulfilled that very day. Without ever saying outright" I am the Messiah" he tells us instead the functions of the Messiah, all of which he fulfilled: "proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord".

Yeshua was saying that those who had ears to hear, in other words, those who belonged to him from the foundation of the world would understand that he was announcing what he was going to do and that he was going to fulfill all that God promised he would do.

Yeshua came to tell us that the yovel is our freedom and that he is our ticket to that freedom. Our sages understood that the yovel meant redemption and renewal and had a Messianic connotation.

So how do we look at this yovel today in our lives? First of all it is extremely important for us to understand that idea of redemption and renewal is something that only God can do for us. We do not have any power to redeem or renew ourselves no matter how hard we try. There are no self-help courses that can change our natures.

Also God never call us to tell other people how to live their lives. Only He is their judge. God is asking us to be testimonies, real life examples during good and bad times of God's faithfulness and presence in our lives. God never called us to solve other people's problems. The greatest testimony that Israel has today is that in spite of thousands of years of the nations trying to wipe us off the face of the earth, we are still here. God said " I am giving you the land" in the same way that he gives us everything else including faith. It is not our faith but His faith that he puts in us. God does not expect us to acquire faith. We cannot buy it in the local pharmacy so there is really nothing for us to boast about when it comes to having faith. (See Ephesians 2:8-10). We can simply ask for him to increase his faith that he places in us. We don't even have the ability to surrender ourselves to Him no matter how much we say "I surrender all", it is simply something we cannot do. All our righteousness is like filthy rags before Him. (Isaiah 64:6)

Faith tends to be easier when we see results because we rely on the material. However less materialism is true yovel since we are to walk by faith and not by sight. When we learn to truly trust in him we can climb any mountain of problems. God is not asking us to have a blind faith. Our faith is backed by his word which is filled with fulfilled promises. . If you look at a beggar, he depends on what others give and are limited to that. We are triumphant as we rely on God's promises and provision and not depend what others can do or give to us.

If you are indeed a Godly person, i.e. one who had God working within, understand that transformation is a process. In that process let me ask you this:

1) Who owns you? In whom are you placing your trust for your
    daily provision, in someone or something other that God?
2) What is your prison? What are the bondages that your mind
    and life is tied to not allowing you to experience the yovel
    that Yeshua freely offers to you, having paid it with His own
    life?

May God add blessings to His Word!

Rabbi Percy Johnson (Netanel ben Yochanan)

     Rabbi Percy Johnson
     [nxy [b lantn

     © 2008 Use by Permission

     Kehilat She’ar Yashuv