Over the last few weeks, we have been looking at the names of Jesus that were given to Him through the prophets in the Old Testament. We’ve looked at how these titles explained the character of Jesus, how Jesus lived out those characteristics, and what that means to us today. Today we are going to look at a name for Jesus that’s a little different than the ones we have looked at in previous weeks. Today’s name is one that we don’t see directly attributed to Jesus in the Old Testament, but we only see Jesus given this title in the New Testament. Even though we don’t see this name specifically in the Old Testament, we see the idea of it in the Old Testament that is literally fleshed out in the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. This morning we will be looking at Jesus, the Redeemer.
Now to understand what Redeemer means and why the New Testament authors were so willing to attribute it to Jesus, we need to go back to the Old Testament book of Leviticus, specifically Chapter 25. The word “Redeemer” literally means to pay a price to purchase something. It’s a term used in commerce and it’s an idea we see all throughout the Old Testament. God Himself uses the term in the book of Exodus when talking about His deliverance of the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. The Jews would have been most familiar with the idea of a “Kinsmen Redeemer” from what was laid out here in the law in Leviticus. A kinsmen redeemer was a title assigned to a family member that had one of three different duties, depending on what was happening within his family.
So, this gives us an idea of what the Jewish nation would have had in mind when it came to a redeemer and His coming in the form of the Messiah. We see these ideas expressed in verses such as Jeremiah 50:34 when the Redeemer is spoken of in the context of Judgement, or in Obadiah 1 when the idea of the restoration of the Promised Land is talked about. We also see all of it played out in the book of Ruth with Boaz being her Kinsmen Redeemer. When Jesus came it’s not hard to imagine that He wasn’t exactly what the Jews were expecting in a Redeemer. It’s like when we shake a gift at Christmas time and try to guess what’s in the package, but we totally miss the mark. The Jews expected the Messiah to come and free them from the rule of the Romans. They expected the Messiah to redeem all the promised land, they were expecting the old kingdom to be restored. What they got instead was so much better. Turn with me to Ephesians 1 as we look at what we get when Jesus is our Redeemer.
1. The Redeemer secures our freedom – Ephesians 1:7-8
7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
If you remember we said that a Redeemer was someone that had to pay a price for another. Right out of the gate this is exactly what Paul says, it’s also echoed by Peter in 1 Peter 1:18-19, when he writes that we are not purchased with gold or silver, but by the precious blood of the lamb. We were bought with the highest of prices that have ever been paid just so we could be set free. Set free from what? The slavery of sin. Paul tells us in Romans 6 that sin was once our master, but now we have been set free from that sin that entrapped us. The sin that led us deeper and deeper into darkness, the requirements of the law that just shows us our sinfulness (Read Galatians 5:1-5 for more on this), and the shame of sin. Jesus purchased us with His blood. He pulled us out of the filth and He made us new, dressed us in His righteousness, and set us free from the mess we had gotten ourselves into with our many sins. It’s a debt we could never pay ourselves, so Jesus did it for us. He has redeemed us from our sins and set us free.
2. The Redeemer forgives our sins - Ephesians 1:7-8
7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
We were told in the first part of these verses that Jesus purchased our freedom. That freedom is from the entrapment of sin in this life, but it still leaves us with the consequences of our sin. Romans 6:23 tells us that the consequence of sin is death, it’s the second death, which is eternal separation from God in a place called Hell. Our God is a just God (Deuteronomy 32:4) and a just God can not let sin go unpunished for there are always consequences for our actions. But good news! Not only has Jesus purchased our freedom from sin, but He’s also forgiven our sins with His blood. The wrath of God that was meant for us was taken and placed upon Jesus when He was on the cross. Justice was done, justice was carried out, and the consequence of our sin is death, but Jesus took that death upon Himself to offer us forgiveness. We have been redeemed not only from our sins that entrapped us but we have been redeemed from the consequences of those sins as well. Justice was carried out by our Redeemer.
3. The Redeemer restores our Paradise – Ephesians 1:9-11
9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.
The Jewish people were looking back to the good old days - the days of King David. They wanted to see the promised land restored to its former glory here on earth, but God blows their expectations out of the water because the plan of Salvation only comes through Jesus Christ. His grand plan wasn’t for Jesus to rule just over Jerusalem, but to rule over everything, that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow, and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The plan is to restore the paradise that was lost in Genesis when Adam and Eve sinned. It’s a perfect place, free of sin, free of pain, and a place where God walks with His people. It’s a place that could only have been restored to us by the blood of Jesus Christ.
God always knows just what we need and just when we need it. That’s why almost 2000 years ago, Jesus came, born of a virgin, in the town of Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and He was laid in a manger. He came at just the right time to redeem all mankind when they had no hope of doing so themselves. That’s why we celebrate Jesus the Redeemer every Christmas.
