The “Year of Jubilee” (Catholic Tradition Versus Biblical Revelation)

Sacred Doors and the Quest for True Freedom

This past year—2025—was declared a “Jubilee Year” by the Catholic Church.

During that twelve-month period, five “holy doors” were opened in Rome. Over 30 million Catholics made a pilgrimage to Rome, with the promise of receiving special indulgences by walking through those “sacred portals.” Now the doors are being closed.

Schedule for closing the five “holy doors” (at a prison in Rome and four basilicas):

• December 21, 2025: Rebibbia Prison

• December 25, 2025: St. Mary Major Basilica

• December 27, 2025: St. John Lateran

• December 28, 2025: St. Paul Outside the Walls

• January 6, 2025 – St. Peter’s Basilica / inside Vatican City / final closing

Is this just an empty religious tradition or is there validity to this claim?

In the Bible, Jubilee is not symbolic ritual—it is redemptive reality.

That raises an essential question: Does the modern, Catholic “Year of Jubilee” reflect the one God established in Scripture—or redefine it?

Let’s examine this divine mandate carefully, respectfully, and biblically.

What Jubilee Means in Scripture

Leviticus 25:8-22

God commanded that Jubilee be celebrated every 50 years in Israel, marked by wonderful and unmistakable provisions for God’s covenant nation:

• Debts forgiven

• Imprisoned debtors released

• Slaves set free

• Ancestral land (property) restored

• Families reunited

• Land allowed to rest (no farming / a sabbatical year)

• Shofars (ram’s horns) jubilantly blown throughout the land of Israel

• Joyous proclamation on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement)

Jubilee was NOT earned.

It was proclaimed.

It was celebrated.

It was enjoyed as a divine provision, a gift from God.

“You shall proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants.” (Lev. 25:10)

Jubilee was God acting on behalf of His people—not people performing acts to obtain His favor.

Jesus and the Fulfillment of Jubilee

When Jesus announced His ministry in the synagogue at Nazareth, He prophetically invoked Jubilee language from Isaiah 61:1-2:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me… to proclaim liberty to the captives… to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18–19)

Jubilee has other names in Scripture:

• the year of God’s redeemed

• the year of the Lord’s favor

• the year of release

• the acceptable year of the Lord

After quoting this Isaiah-prophecy, Jesus declared:

“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)

Conclusion: Scripture presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Jubilee and the lifting of that feast to a higher spiritual level celebrated continuously during the New Testament era:

• Sin forgiven and the spiritual debt canceled

• Freedom from the prison of the past

• No longer enslaved by satanic influences or the lower nature

• Dwelling in the rest of God

• Restoration to our God-given inheritance

• Access to these benefits granted—not through manmade rituals, but by the grace of God.

Sacred Doors: Compared to the Bible

The primary purpose of the Catholic Jubilee centers on walking through “sacred doors” to obtain a plenary indulgence (remission of temporal punishment in Purgatory).

Scripture presents a different emphasis:

The Messiah says, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.” (John 10:9)

• Physical doors in Rome pale into total insignificance in comparison

• The one spiritual door for all mankind is JESUS!

The New Testament NEVER presents:

• Physical locations as sacred gateways to salvation

• Pilgrimages as means of spiritual release

• Physical rituals as instruments of forgiveness

Jesus made these things clear to the woman at the well (John 4:1-39). He indicated that true worshipers recognize:

= going to Jerusalem is unnecessary (the “sacred place” for Jews)

= going to Mount Gerizim is unnecessary (the “sacred place” for Samaritans)

So, modern believers should also acknowledge:

= going to Rome and to the Vatican to walk through doors is also unnecessary (a worthless, fruitless endeavor)

= Access to God is not spatial—it is relational. (It’s not dependent on “where” you are, but “Who” you belong to.)

Conditions vs. Grace

Catholic Jubilee indulgences require the following conditions:

• Membership in the Catholic Church

• Confession to a priest (shortly before or after)

• Receiving Eucharist (that day or soon after)

• Prayers for papal intentions

• Detachment from sin

Catholic Jubilee promises:

• A plenary indulgence for participants (freedom from all temporal punishment in Purgatory due to sin already forgiven)

• Up to two plenary indulgences per day for Catholic loved ones who have died but are in Purgatory.

Scripture, however, is consistent:

• Forgiveness flows from Christ alone freely for those who repent and believe

• The true Church is comprised of all who are born again (an organism, not an organization)

• Confession is made to God, not to a priest

• Salvation is received by faith

• Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient and final

There is no such thing as Purgatory

Purgatory was not even confirmed as Catholic dogma until 1274 A.D., more than a millennium after the original church was formed.

Early believers never taught Purgatory.

Early believers never would have walked through doors to escape an imaginary place in the afterlife.

The go-to Scripture Catholics use to try and prove the existence of Purgatory is 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. However, that passage is talking about the “Day” of the coming of the Lord, and the fiery transformation true believers will receive (glorification), not a season of spiritual cleansing over a lengthy period.

If Purgatory does not exist, then any ritual offered to escape Purgatory is nothing more than a religious scam (even if those involved sincerely believe).

“By one offering He [Jesus] has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (Heb. 10:14)

A CRUCIAL DISTINCTION

This is not a rejection of:

• History

• Tradition

• Reverence

• Beauty

• Biblical symbolism

• Sacred remembrance

It is a call to examine whether TRADITION:

Reflects Scripture

Adds to Scripture

Or replaces Scripture

“You shall not add to the word which I command you.” (Deut. 4:2)

Final Reflections: The true biblical Jubilee spans the whole New Covenant Age of Grace.

• Freedom has already been won

• Debt has already been canceled

• Prison doors have already been opened

• Grace has already been given

The Gospel does not invite us to walk through doors made of corruptible wood, stone, or metal—It invites us to enter eternal life through the incorruptible Christ, by faith.

“Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I AM THE DOOR of the sheep.’” (Jn. 10:7)

So let us:

• Honor truth over tradition

• Test teachings by Scripture

• Speak with love and clarity

• Keep Jesus Christ—not rituals—at the center

Because true Jubilee is not SOMETHING we travel to obtain.

It is SOMEONE we receive into our hearts from above.

Even as Christ is “our Passover”; Christ is also our Jubilee. He comes to any repentant and believing person, anywhere in the world.

You need not travel to Rome. Save your money.

“If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

One last thought—if walking these “open doors” truly provided the blessing promised, why would church officials ever want to close them? Isn’t that spiritual abuse? Isn’t that religious cruelty? Why not keep them open forever? Why prevent God’s people from accessing such a wondrous opportunity?

The truth is, whether opened or shut, those doors—regardless of how ornately designed they are—have absolutely no value.