Juneteenth is our newest federal holiday and it is a welcome one. How appropriate to have a day that honors fatherhood coincide with a day that honors equal protection under the law. These are both values that trace back to Scripture and are building blocks of a just and free society.

A few months ago, our family went to a Civil War reenactment in Redlands and the volunteers said they are having a harder time recruiting new actors. Some venues have canceled their civil war re-enactments altogether because it has become too politicized. People don’t want to talk about the civil war and emancipation. But we need history books, memorials, and special holidays to remind us of what it took to obtain the freedom Americans enjoy today. All history is tainted by sin, but we can rejoice where we see evidence of God’s common grace.

Dean Nelson writes, “Juneteenth is also referred to as ‘Jubilee Day’ or ‘Freedom Day,’ and both have their root in the Biblical tradition of forgiving debts, freeing slaves (in the context of Hebrew culture, slaves had typically indentured themselves to pay off debts), and releasing prisoners every 50 years. This demonstration of forgiveness is viewed by Christians as a precursor to the ultimate forgiveness and payment of the debt of sin by Jesus on the cross. Christians in America should find it easy and natural to embrace Juneteenth as an extension of this idea.”