Leviticus: Jesus is Our Feast and Jubilee

Well, good morning.

We have two sermons left in the book of Leviticus, which we've been studying our way through since January.

So we have a lot to cover.

We have three three chapters to cover.

This is actually one of those sermons where I look at my past self last fall when I outlined all this and like why did I decide to cover three chapters in one Sunday?

Because it's a lot to cover.

So I'm going to summarize a bit, but here we go.

Point number one is this Jesus walks with us in the extraordinary of life.

This is thinking about this chapter 23 and what Courtney just read for us.

Every Thanksgiving, my family, we wake up early, we walk down to the square, we do the gomble jog, and then we come home, we watch the parade, we eat, we nap, we watch home alone.

Like this, you know, we do the family stuff.

And at some point, maybe the next day, uh, we will set up our Christmas tree inside our house in the corner of our den.

There it is.

There's my dog brother posing, perfect postcard.

Brother, and that's a fake tree, if I can just go ahead and confess to fake tree people.

Yep, live tree people, we know.

Go ahead.

Yep.

Live tree people are always a more proud people than fake tree people.

Fake tree people are very shame-filled, but it's a fake tree.

Now, whether you put a fake tree or a live tree in your house, uh that's not ordinary.

Like that's an extraordinary situation, right?

That's an extraordinary season.

It's all designed to be that way.

The Christmas season for us is extraordinary.

All cultures do this.

We set aside days or seasons to be extraordinary, uh, to remind us of that which means the most to us.

So when we read chapter 23, we read about seven feasts.

We are reading about extraordinary seasons designed to help them remember something.

Just like we have Advent into Christmas, Lent into Easter, they have seven feasts.

So I'm gonna just review each feast for just a few minutes, a little bit of information here as we go through it.

Feast, the first feast, feast number one.

Passover, verses four through eight, teaches that God delivers.

This meal was once a year.

So on the 14th day of the first month, it celebrated when their people, when they came out of Egypt and they smeared blood over the doorpost.

And when they did that, death passed them over, which allowed them, God delivered them out of that slavery.

And so the people would sacrifice a Passover lamb and they would have this great meal.

So Passover is actually the origin of us taking communion each week.

It's a celebration, it's a remembrance that Jesus is our Passover lamb.

He delivers us.

This is the day after Passover, in this last seven days, right at the beginning of the barley harvest.

And at this feast, they ate unleavened bread, which is helping them remember when they left Egypt, they left in such a hurry to get out that they didn't have time for their bread to rise.

Now, later on in this feast, the symbolism of unleavened bread sort of widens out with the idea that yeast is a symbol of corruption.

And so refusing yeast for a season was this idea of removing corruption from their lives.

See, Paul connects all this in the New Testament.

Listen to this.

1 Corinthians 5, 7.

Cleanse out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened.

For Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed.

You can hear how Paul is writing, thinking about these feasts.

Feast number three, the feast of first fruits, verses 9 through 14, teaches that God claims.

So when the barley was ripe, everyone gave the first grain to the Lord.

So this is the origin of our New Testament Christian practice of giving, that we take the first of our resources and give it back to the Lord.

All the other nations, they used their giving as a way to try to manipulate God or their deity to bless them, to give them a good harvest.

But the Israelites were different.

They trusted that God would provide, and they didn't have to try to arm twist God.

So they lived in trust and then they lived in gratitude.

Feast number four, the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, verses 15 through 22, that teaches that God provides.

So it's the 50th day of the year at this point, and the people took a day off and they gathered together.

They brought two loaves of bread, but this time with yeast.

And this was a celebration.

It was a celebration of abundance.

That they were reminded, even in the abundance that God has given them, they're reminded in this feast of the poor and the needy.

And so we have faith being about trust and gratitude.

And then here we have faith being about trust, gratitude, and compassion.

Feast number five, three more feasts.

Feast number five, feast of trumpets, verses 23 through 25 teaches that God remembers.

So it's the seventh month of the year at this point, the least demanding in terms of farming.

And people would take time out from the work.

God actually commanded them to rest.

A trumpet would blast, and when the trumpet blasted, they were being reminded that they were all part of a covenant.

They were being reminded they belonged to God.

Which is so important.

It's just easy to keep working.

Just like keep working and do the next thing the next day.

But we need to pause.

We need to remember that we belong.

Verse uh Feast 6, Day of Atonement, verses 26 through 32 teaches that God forgives.

This was probably the high point of the year.

Whatever their sins, whatever their mess-ups, are all swept away in the forgiveness of God.

And as we saw in Leviticus, as we've been seeing, that the whole book of Leviticus drives us to chapter 16, the pinnacle of the book, and everything's coming out of chapter 16 in the back half of the book.

The center of the book of Leviticus is the free forgiveness of sinners by God.

And this day of atonement is that in their calendar year.

Feast 7, the last feast, the feast of booths.

That's verses 33 through 36 and teaches that God reminds.

So this is the final feast.

This is a seven-day festival.

Everyone moves out of their homes and they move in temporary shelters like tents.

So this is sort of like a woodstock or burning hand, but much more wholesome than burning man.

No pictures of burning hand will go up on the screens this morning.

Not going to risk that.

This is a wholesome Jewish festival to remember God's provision for them in the present and in the future.

So, seven feasts for the people to pause, for the people to reflect.

A couple months ago, a guy gets up on America's Got Talents.

Anyone watch AGT?

Anyone just watch AGT?

There's like four of us.

Okay.

That's right.

That's fine.

Maybe we'll get together later and talk about it.

This guy gets up on AGT and he sings about Jesus.

And the clip's about three minutes long, and I want us to watch what happens as he sings about Jesus.

Worthy is your name.

Well, maybe the Holy Spirit, maybe some good editing, right?

I think maybe both.

What's clear is most people are so distracted in the world that they never pause to reflect on why we are here.

And then something like this happens, and maybe even for you watching it, like something inside of you happens.

Or a feast happens.

Or you walk into church after a season of being distant.

And here's what we learn.

We learn that it's important for God's children to pause and gather, to reflect and celebrate what God has done, is doing, and will do for you.

Chapter 24, verses 1 through 4.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly outside the veil of the testimony in the tent of meeting.

Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord regularly.

It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.

He shall arrange the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold before the Lord regularly.

So in this chapter 24, there's three items for the people to care for.

There's the lamp, there's bread, and then there's the sacred name.

Point number two is this Jesus walks through with us through the ordinary of life.

Chapter 23, the extraordinary.

Chapter 24, the ordinary.

Last Sunday was Father's Day, and my girls gave me this.

Beautiful bougie ice cream scooper, hand-carved wooden hand.

I mean, I it's it can't get more beautiful.

And the thing is, is in our drawer is this, like from Target.

Like we have this one.

Um, just just kind of basic, like not, but this one, this is like this is amazing, right?

So if these are side by side, uh this one doesn't really have any meaning, it'll get the job done.

But this one's completely different.

This new scooper, when I go to scoop my bluebell cookies and cream, and I know some of you guys, you're buying the Talenti and the Ginnies, you high dollar folks, but I'm just classic, humble bluebell, right?

When I go to scoop that, I mean, I'm reminded of something much more.

Because, see, this came with something else.

This came with this, which is my Father's Day card, filled with sweet little notes to me, of which is none of your business, and I'm not gonna read it to you.

So, this item, that's just a basic item like a lamp or bread.

It's not just an ice cream scooper, it's much more because it means something.

And so, chapter 24, we're talking about a lamp and we're talking about bread, but we're talking about more than a lamp, and we're talking about more than bread.

Verses 1 through 4, the lamp reminds the people that God is the creator of light.

The lamp burned all through the night to remind them that God is even in the darkness.

The bread, verses 5 through 9, reminds the people that God provides.

Each week, 12 loaves will be brought.

They'd be placed there as a symbol of God's provision of the twelve tribes of Israel.

It's a reminder that God is always providing for his people.

And then the last is the sacred name, verses 10 through 23, reminds the people that that which is sacred must be safeguarded.

There's this story in the end of this chapter where a guy blasphemes the name of the Lord.

So it's more than like a cuss word.

It has something to do with such a high disrespect for God's care and concern for his people.

And this man was held in custody, and the story goes on, this man was killed due to the ancient law.

Now that's really, really intense.

But here's what we learn.

What we learn is this we should watch over big and little things as to honor God.

That which is sacred should be safeguarded, should be protected.

So chapter 24 has this ordinariness to it with this lamp and this bread, compared to chapter 23 with those seven feasts, which seems very extraordinary, which is a reminder for us that walking with Jesus is done in big celebrations and big moments and mountaintops, verse chapter 23.

And then it's also done in incredible ordinariness of life in chapter 24, which is freeing because it turns out life is just usually really, really ordinary.

Like one day can really look like the day before.

And Jesus walks with us.

Chapter 25, verses 8 through 12.

This is speaking about the Sabbath year every seventh year, and the Jubilee year every 50th year.

Verse 8.

You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years, then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the day of atonement, you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land.

And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.

It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property, and each of you shall return to his clan.

That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you.

In it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself, nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines, for it is a jubilee, it shall be holy to you.

You may eat the produce of the field.

Point number three is this our faith walk with Jesus is one of Jubilee and liberty.

The sabbatical year, the Sabbath year, uh, occurred every seventh year, and the land was to rest.

Debts were to be forgiven, Hebrew slaves were to be released, and then every 50th year, the year of Jubilee, debts are forgiven, slaves are freed, and all lands returned back to their original owners.

So this meant every 50 years, every 50 years, wealth and poverty were reset.

This reveals God's heart and care for the vulnerable, for the poor, for oppressed and enslaved.

And Jubilee calls us, not necessarily to mirror the same model in society, but it calls us as God's people to have God's heart for the vulnerable and the poor.

It's a call to compassion.

But the problem is, is none of us are perfectly compassionate.

So Jubilee also points us to Jesus.

In the book of Matthew in the New Testament, John the Baptist was a leader there at the beginning of the New Testament, and he's starting to have some doubts about who Jesus is.

Is Jesus really the Messiah?

And Jesus responds to him in Matthew by alluding to Isaiah 61, verses 1 and 2.

Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn.

So Isaiah 61 is Leviticus 25 language, Jubilee language.

And Jesus is using this to speak about Himself.

It's a prophecy about Jesus.

Jesus ushers in not a 50-year, every 50 years, you know, free of debts and free of enslavement, but an eternal Jubilee.

That we as a people, and then you as an individual, that you can have a Jubilee for your heart and your soul.

Freedom from your sins, freedom from enslavement.

This is what Jesus is speaking of.

In that Matthew passage, this is where Jesus eventually heads toward Matthew 11, 28.

Jesus says, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.

For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

So what does all this mean?

Well, it means we're liberated by Christ, and it means we feast on Christ.

It means He's our jubilee, our celebration.

A few weeks ago, eight of us from our church went to serve ministry partners in Guatemala.

Here's a picture of us as we were serving some children up in a village and ran like a VBS for them and provided food for them and played a really rousing game of soccer out there in that dirt field and had a great time.

So we served children, we served the elderly, we helped local churches, we did home visits, we prayed for families.

And then every evening we returned back to this ministry compound in San Juan, Guatemala.

Here's a picture of the lake, and San Juan is right at the end of those dots.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful place, right?

And every evening we were returned back to that ministry compound.

We walk into the dining hall and we would sit down and every the food was so good.

It was so good.

It was amazing.

These Guatemalan mamas had been in the kitchen all afternoon, every day, every night the dinner got better and better.

It's just a feast.

It's the only mission trip, right?

You're gonna gain weight.

Like this is this is a mission trip and a culinary trip, like brought together for us to go on.

It's amazing.

It was just feast after feast.

This is a good image of the Christian life.

Resting and feasting on a provision given to us by somebody else.

This is what Jesus is for us, for our hearts and our souls.

This word jubilee comes from the Hebrew word, which alludes to the trumpet that was made from a ram's horn.

So when we say jubilee, it is a metaphor, it's alluding to that horn.

This horn would be blown at the beginning of a celebration.

It would signal to everybody to celebrate.

So when we say Jesus is our Jubilee, we're saying Jesus is our celebration.

I made a quick list this week just of how Jesus is my Jubilee, how he's your Jubilee.

You could probably add a lot to this list.

Here's the three first things that came to me.

Jesus is our Jubilee, we are fully forgiven and liberated from our sins defining us.

Jesus is our Jubilee, we are fully righteous because Jesus is righteousness for us.

Jesus is our jubilee, we are securely accepted and in a peace-filled relationship with God.

Beloved, we have a feast.

And we have a jubilee, and it's Jesus.

Let's pray it again.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you walk with us in the ordinary and in the extraordinary.

That our hearts can feast on you.

And that you are enough for all of our mess-ups and stakes, for our brokenness, for when we are beat down.

That Jesus is enough.

Worthy are you, Jesus.

Worthy are you.

Jesus, we feast on you.

Help our hearts all the more not to be distracted by this world.

And to reflect, and to remember that we belong to you.

In Christ's name we pray.