Jesus and the Jubilee: The Biblical Roots of the Year of God’s Favor

Jubilee means joy—a joy that’s not fleeting, a joy that lasts. In biblical times, a jubilee was a time to rejoice. And this is still the case when the Church announces a jubilee. In Jesus and the Jubilee, biblical scholar John Bergsma gets to the roots of the jubilee, showing how this practice was established in order to preserve freedom, family, and the fullness of God’s blessing for the ancient Israelites. But what the Israelites were promised by God—and experienced partially—was truly fulfilled by Jesus. As Jesus and the Jubilee reveals, the Catholic Church is the perpetual jubilee, offering redemption, release from spiritual bondage, return to our true home and family, and rest in God’s fullness. Discover how the jubilee is the very center of Jesus’s mission and how we can fully participate in this ongoing “year of favor.”