Debt, just about everyone has it. But did you know Jesus talked a lot about debt. In fact, in his sermon on the mount, Jesus made debt forgiveness central to prayer.
Jesus’ first public pronouncements about his life and ministry are explicitly tied to the prophetic promise of the coming Jubilee, a time of debt forgiveness and property restoration found in Jewish law.
When Jesus taught in Nazerth after his testing in the wilderness we read in Luke 4-
“And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.’ And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”
Jerry Bowyer, writing for crosswalk.com points out that Jesus started his ministry with Isaiah’s announcement that Israel would be restored from exile and would honor the debt forgiveness laws of the Torah.
Jesus also brought up the debt issue in his first major large public address, the famous Sermon on the Mount.
In it Jesus presents his model prayer, which includes “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” That’s from Matthew 6:12.
Bowyer claims Jesus knew that Israel had ignored this rule (or, paid just enough attention to figure out legal loopholes to go back to ignoring it again) and that this carried with it a warning from God: the presence of a permanent underclass.