Jubilee

According to the slave-ransom analogy, we human beings are the slaves. He is enslaved by sin. God offers the ransom. Satan is involved in the enslaving process, but the ransom is not paid to him, because he is not the legitimate owner of sinful people. He keeps them in darkness and holds them in his deceitful power, but he is not their legitimate owner. He is a usurpe and thief, an accuser. The slave-ransom analogy is not spelled out completely in the New Testament since it is God paying a ransom to God confuses the picture. That is why the Bible authors drop it there.

We are no longer slaves to sin. We are no longer in the dominion of Satan but rather Jesus went to the slave market and bought us with his own blood with the purpose of freeing us. This principle affect us in the sense that we belong to the Jesus. We belong to the dominion of Jesus. He is our new master in the dominion of God. He is our Lord and Savior. Our old lifestyle should change according to the lifestyle of Jesus.

In the Old Testament type of Kinsman-Redeemer a relative would buy the freedom of relatives who had become slaves because of debts they could not pay. In the New Testament Jesus is our type of Kinsman-Redeemer. Our sins/debts are so huge that we cannot pay the debts for our sins so we need a Kinsman-Redeemer in the person of Jesus to pay for our sins/debts. Thank You Jesus.

In the New Testament world, the class of humans that were freed by payment of a redemption price or a ransom is referring to us human beings who were under the slavery of sin. Jesus, Peter, and Paul used this analogy of slavery and ransom in this week's theme verse to remind us all that we were all under condemnation but not anymore because Jesus bought us back from slavery. We are no longer enslaved to sin. The Christian life helps to constantly remind us that we have been redeemed/ransom from slavery and we have been redeemed from the curse of the law.

When we talk about Jesus' resurrection we are referring to his body being resurrected from the dead. Death has no power over him and he has conquered death forever. By his ascension we mean the 40 days he spends on earth after his resurrection from the dead. After the 40 days he lead his disciples to Bethany outside Jerusalem and he ascended before their eyes into heaven and sits or takes his rightful place ate right hand of his Father. His ascension into glory marks his final aspect of his resurrection.

The single New Testament passage that best sums up for me the lessons of Isaiah 53 is John 1:29, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." I chose this passage because it is the New Testament foundation passage on which our Bible study about the Lamb of God is based. John is the forerunner of Jesus and he pointed to Jesus for his listeners to know that it is not about him but about Jesus who comes to take away the sin of the world. He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets and the Law and therefore we should listen and follow his way of doing things.

After his resurrection, Jesus body never changed. He still have his human body. He could be seen by the women and his disciples. He was touched by some of them. He could talk and eat with his disciples. He could pass through the grave clothes and locked doors to see his disciples.

Jesus became my substitute and bore my sins in his body. He became a curse on my behalf. He did everything necessary for me to have eternal life. He paid the price for my sins. He bore the punishment that is due me and died on the cross. JESUS IS LORD!

The grave clothes were not touched. They were still in position as if nothing had happened. The head clothes too were in the same position. This peculiar happening has strengthened the faith of Peter and John.

Suppose I have obstructed justice and to stand trial and on the day of judgment in the courtroom somebody from nowhere and somebody I have never met before stood on my behalf and pleaded my case before the judge. The judge acquitted me. What a glorious day for me to be set free and experience what it means to be free from the domain of sin and slavery. This man took my place and took responsibility for my crimes committed against humanity. He paid the price in full and that is I do not need to pay for it myself. Jesus did it all on my behalf. He paid the price for my sins. I do not need to pay for my sins anymore. This is what theologians called "the substitutionary atonement."

Jesus was dead and buried. The tomb was found on Easter morning to be empty. The disciples were not prepared for Jesus' death. The disciples proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem, near where he had been buried. The disciples encountered a number of experiences which they took to be appearances of Jesus risen from the dead. Mary Magdalene saw him first and spoke to him. Other women also saw him and touched him. Jesus appeared to Peter and other apostles. Jesus appeared to Thomas. Later, Jesus appeared to more than 500 people at one time.

The New Testament parallels to Isaiah 53 that convince me that Jesus himself saw his own mission and destiny spelled out in Isaiah 53 is Galatians 1:4, "who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father." I am convinced.

In Matthew and Mark one angel appears; in Luke and John there are two angels. In the Synoptic Gospels, Mary Magdalene and other women go to the tomb In John's account, Mary Magdalene goes alone.

The large group of people being referred to in Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 is the whole human race. This is a universal sacrifice of salvation because Jesus takes away the sins of the world, and that is inclusive. Jesus' sacrifice was wasted on some people because it is not every body who heeds the call to repentance.

Jesus' resurrection and his ascension are two related different events. The difference between Jesus' resurrection and his ascension is that Jesus' resurrection was when his body left the tomb and appeared alive to his disciples and others, never to die again. Jesus ascension occurred about 40 days after his resurrection and took place just outside of Jerusalem near Bethany.

This is what we know from the Gospels about the properties of Jesus' resurrection body: - Jesus described it as "flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39c) - He could eat (Luke 24:42-43; Acts 1:4) - His body could be touched and handled by others (Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:39b) - He could walk and talk (Luke 24:15), even cook (John 21:9), just as a normal human body - Yet Jesus' wounds were still visible in his renewed body (Luke 24:39-40; John 20:20, 25-27) - Jesus could be recognized by others -- but only when he wanted to be. The timber of his voice remained the same (Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:16, 31; John 20:14-16,20; 21:4,12) - Jesus could enter locked doors (John 20:19,26) disappear (Luke 24:31) and appear (Luke 24:36) at will. In his renewed/resurrected body, Jesus has the ability/capability to navigate in the physical world, but was not limited to the physical plane.

In Luke 24:12 and John 20:6-8 the position of the grave clothes brought Peter and John to faith. If the body of Jesus was stolen by grave robbers they would have taken the grave clothes with him. What was peculiar about the grave clothes was that they were still intact and this suggested the fact that his body was not stolen but rather Jesus slipped through them when he was risen from the dead.

The similarities we find in the resurrection accounts are: 1. Jesus was dead and buried. 2. The disciples were not prepared for Jesus' death. They were overcome with confusion. 3. The tomb was found on Easter morning to be empty. But this in itself did not inspire faith. Mary thought the body was stolen. 4. The disciples encountered a number of experiences which they took to be appearances of Jesus risen from the dead. 5. The disciples proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem, near where he had been buried. Based on the agreements between the accounts, what seems to have happened was: * Mary Magdalene saw him first and spoke to him (Mark 16:9; John 20:16). * Other women also saw him and touched him (Matthew 28:9) Jesus appeared to Peter and other apostles (Luke 24:34; 1Corinthians15:5; Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36) * Jesus appeared to Thomas (John 20:26-28). * Later, Jesus appeared to m,ore than 500 people at one time (1Corinthians 15:6).

When we compare each of the stories, we can find a number of differences. For example: 1. In the Synoptic Gospels, Mary Magdalene and other women go to the tomb. In John's account, Mary Magdalene goes alone. 2. In Matthew 28:9, Jesus appears to the women before they tell the disciples. In John 20:13-17, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene after she reports to the disciples. In Mark, the women tell no one of what they had seen. 3. In Matthew and Mark one angel appears; in Luke and John there are two angels. 4. In Matthew, the purpose of the women's visit was to go "look at" the tomb. In Mark and Luke they bring spices to anoint Jesus' body. In John the anointing took place on Friday night and no purpose for Mary's visit is given. 5. In Matthew and Mark, Jesus is wrapped in a large linen shroud. In John 19:40; 20:5-7 and Luke 24:12, Jesus is wrapped in strips of linen. 6. In Matthew and Mark, Jesus' resurrection appearances are in Galilee, while Luke only records appearances in the vicinity of Jerusalem. The differences in eyewitness testimony validate the authenticity of the story. There will always be minor differences whenever any eye witnesses testify to any event in what they saw and how they perceived the event. Rather than seeing these accounts as evidence of error, we see them as evidence of authenticity. All these differences add to the credibility of the witnesses.

The single New Testament passage that best sums up for me the lessons of Isaiah 53 is 2 Corinthians 5:21 "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." I chose this passage because it gave me the concept of the great exchange that took place on the cross. Jesus willingly took our sins in his body and gave us his righteousness. Thank You Jesus.