I was reading in the Gospel According to Mark, chapter 10, this morning and had something strike me.
It was while Jesus had been teaching about service to others, I am sure you remember the passage, it's where the sons of Zebedee approached the Lord and asked to be seated on either side of Him when He takes his throne. Of course the other disciples became irritated by this presumptuous behavior by James and John and began to get a bit put out with them, Jesus then explains that in His Kingdom those who would be great will be servants to all. Then He concludes with this verse:
Mar_10:45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
That got me to thinking just what did Jesus mean by a "ransom for many", so, as I have learned to do I typed in the term ransom into the search engine of my copy of E-Sword and came up with some interesting results.
"Ransom", in the Old Testament is used 10 different times and comes from 3 different words and 3 times in the New Testament from 2 Greek words:
It was while Jesus had been teaching about service to others, I am sure you remember the passage, it's where the sons of Zebedee approached the Lord and asked to be seated on either side of Him when He takes his throne. Of course the other disciples became irritated by this presumptuous behavior by James and John and began to get a bit put out with them, Jesus then explains that in His Kingdom those who would be great will be servants to all. Then He concludes with this verse:
Mar_10:45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
That got me to thinking just what did Jesus mean by a "ransom for many", so, as I have learned to do I typed in the term ransom into the search engine of my copy of E-Sword and came up with some interesting results.
"Ransom", in the Old Testament is used 10 different times and comes from 3 different words and 3 times in the New Testament from 2 Greek words:
| H6306 פּדין פּדיון פּדים פּדיום pidyôm pidyôm pidyôn pidyôn (1,2) pid-yome', (3,4) pid-yone' From H6299; a ransom: - ransom, that were redeemed, redemption. Exo_21:30 | H3724 כּפר kôpher ko'-fer From H3722; properly a cover, that is, (literally) a village (as covered in); (specifically) bitumen (as used for coating), and the henna plant (as used for dyeing); figuratively a redemption price: - bribe, camphire, pitch, ransom, satisfaction, sum of money, village. Exo_30:12 Job_33:24 Job_36:18 Psa_49:7 Pro_6:35 Pro_13:8 Pro_21:18 Isa_43:3 | H6299 פּדה pâdâh paw-daw' A primitive root; to sever, that is, ransom; generally to release, preserve: - X at all, deliver, X by any means, ransom, (that are to be, let be) redeem (-ed), rescue, X surely. Hos_13:14 | G3083 λύτρον lutron loo'-tron From G3089; something to loosen with, that is, a redemption price (figuratively atonement): - ransom. Mat_20:28 Mar_10:45 | G487 α ντίλυτρον antilutron an-til'-oo-tron From G473 and G3083; a redemption price: - ransom. 1Ti_2:6 |
So from these definitions we can see that the word has changed very little over the centuries.
Then something else caught my attention, the passage from Hosea. It seems to me that Jesus was referring to Himself as the object in the prophecy that Hosea (13:14) had made beginning with verse 4 and running through verse 14. Biblical prophecy is like that, it often has double meaning and while Hosea was prophesying about the tribe of Ephraim and how it died to God and how it was God who redeemed them from their idolatry, he was also speaking about the Messiah and how the Messiah would be the ransom, or price for their redemption. Redemption from the power of the grave.
To understand this we must go all the way back to Adam.
Adams breaking of Gods heart and violating Gods one rule was to result in death, utter destruction. However, Gods love for Adam was so great that he did not want to destroy his man so God provided a substitute, a ransom, an innocent animal. (Gen 3:21) and removed Adam from the Garden to prevent him from eating of the tree of life that would have let him live forever in his fallen state. I believe that God did this in his mercy as man now had an evil heart and this evil would result in the hate and fear filled lives into eternity.
Since a covenant was given to that first man and he broke it, the punishment clause remained as all of Gods covenants are unbreakable by God, so the only way He could satisfy that covenant and bring it to a close was to fulfill the punishment through one man (Gal_3:13). That man was Jesus, fully man but fully God as well.
Not only did Jesus free mankind from the curse of Adam, He redeemed us from all of the curses of all the covenants . And, He struck a New covenant with mankind, a blood covenant. In that New Covenant we are required to do a few things, the first is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then we are to Love each other as He loved us, as a result we are given a New Covenant individually:
Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Who is the House of Israel? We who believe are:
Rom_2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom_2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
So what do you think?
Please let me know by making a comment.
Non-abusive comments will be published even if you disagree.
Then something else caught my attention, the passage from Hosea. It seems to me that Jesus was referring to Himself as the object in the prophecy that Hosea (13:14) had made beginning with verse 4 and running through verse 14. Biblical prophecy is like that, it often has double meaning and while Hosea was prophesying about the tribe of Ephraim and how it died to God and how it was God who redeemed them from their idolatry, he was also speaking about the Messiah and how the Messiah would be the ransom, or price for their redemption. Redemption from the power of the grave.
To understand this we must go all the way back to Adam.
Adams breaking of Gods heart and violating Gods one rule was to result in death, utter destruction. However, Gods love for Adam was so great that he did not want to destroy his man so God provided a substitute, a ransom, an innocent animal. (Gen 3:21) and removed Adam from the Garden to prevent him from eating of the tree of life that would have let him live forever in his fallen state. I believe that God did this in his mercy as man now had an evil heart and this evil would result in the hate and fear filled lives into eternity.
Since a covenant was given to that first man and he broke it, the punishment clause remained as all of Gods covenants are unbreakable by God, so the only way He could satisfy that covenant and bring it to a close was to fulfill the punishment through one man (Gal_3:13). That man was Jesus, fully man but fully God as well.
Not only did Jesus free mankind from the curse of Adam, He redeemed us from all of the curses of all the covenants . And, He struck a New covenant with mankind, a blood covenant. In that New Covenant we are required to do a few things, the first is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then we are to Love each other as He loved us, as a result we are given a New Covenant individually:
Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Who is the House of Israel? We who believe are:
Rom_2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom_2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
So what do you think?
Please let me know by making a comment.
Non-abusive comments will be published even if you disagree.
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