Hebrews 9:15-24

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.  In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.  This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.  When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.  He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”  In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies.  In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.  It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence (Hebrews 9:15-24 NIV).

   Ransom is a key word here.  Ransom is a word contained in some classic hymns as well as some contemporary Christian music such as the song I posted the link to three weeks ago.  Yet it is a word I do not hear much in this day and age where you have advanced technology which contributes to officials successfully tracking down a huge percentage of kidnappers and hijackers.  I heard the word more in 1970’s movies.  In my home growing up as an elementary school student in the 1970’s, my family had one black and white television.  Yet we would go to movies frequently, and there were some movies where the conflict involved a kidnapping.  The people who had done the kidnapping would demand a “ransom.”  They would not return the person whom they had taken hostage until family of the hostage gave them money.  Usually they would threaten to kill the person within a short time period if no one would give them money.  So the evil act of kidnapping was done with the intention of creating an exchange of the abducted person for money.  In every movie I ever saw, the police ended up catching the hateful kidnappers, usually after a big car chase, which was popular in the seventies.

   Key for us is this concept that a ransom is an exchange.  Rather than being held captive by angry and sleazy guys from 1970’s movies, we people are held captive by our own wrongdoings, and the result is going to be spiritual death.  All humans are in jeopardy of perishing in hell because all humans have sinned.  In order for us to survive, there needs to be an exchange of someone dying in our place.  Ransom is the center doctrine of Christianity, which we Christians express by the cross, because the cross was the means for Jesus paying the ransom for people.  He died in our place, which is symbolized by the blood He shed.  I talked about the point of the shed blood last week, and the author of Hebrews continues explaining the blood signifies there has been death.  Again, the reason blood is “cleansing” is because the death of Jesus was the only manner to pay the ransom for human beings.  Jesus’ death on the cross did bring about the forgiveness of sins for all humankind, though His ransom still must be received by a person.  A person has the choice of whether to receive Christ, or not.  Yet the author of Hebrews makes it clear that there need be no doubt that Jesus has made the forgiveness of sins possible.  The shed blood of Jesus is the seal that the ransom has been paid.

   I add that languages and linguistics are not my gifts at all.  I rely on experts in those fields when studying.  Yet I need to note here the New International Version, the NIV, which is the translation I use for my personal Bible learning, uses the word ransom, whereas many other translations use the word redemption.  You get to the same end with both words, yet I like the word ransom here, because in the culture of the United States and some other countries in this day and age, the concept of the word redemption is one where a person can redeem herself or himself.  I sometimes hear a sports announcer state how a sports player “redeemed himself.”  Whereas the concept of ransom still today is that the payment must come from someone other than the person who is held captive.

   No one has ever directly left me anything in a will, yet most people know that a will does not go into effect until a person dies.  My Grandpa Irvine passed away in January of 1988, and I went to Denver during the summer between my junior and senior year at Virginia Tech to help Grandma in the wake of her loss.  One day, she asked me to go to the library to make a copy of Grandpa’s death certificate, because she had to send that documentation to someone, I do not remember exactly who but it might have been an insurance company, to show proof that he had died.  Running that errand for Grandma turned out to be a blessing for me, since I talked with the librarians in the local library not far from Newton Street in Denver, Colorado.  Hearing about his death for the first time from me that day, the librarians proceeded to tell me that he often came to the library to get reading material, and that he was always nice to them.  They expressed their condolences about our loss of Sam.  Walking home, I felt good about getting so many compliments about my grandpa, a man I only saw once a year at most growing up in Virginia, but a man who had likewise been nice to me.  Yet it was also the only time I had in my hand a death certificate.  I did not need official proof that Grandpa was dead.  I remember well the sad call from my dad one night when I was in my dorm room.  Yet for business reasons there needed to be proof.  And that sheet of paper from the state of Colorado was the proof.  The world needs proof that God is offering them forgiveness of their sins.  The blood on the cross of Calvary is the proof.  Jesus paid the ransom; then Jesus was resurrected; then Jesus ascended into heaven.  As God the Son, He is the advocate for the redeemed being One with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  And that is why, if you believe in Jesus, you can be forgiven of your wrong doings by God, and you can have eternal life in heaven!

Hunter Irvine

   For over a decade, I have been a fan of Selah, and their debut album is one of my favorites.  The original members: Alan Hall, Todd Smith, and Nicol (Smith) Sponberg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P56eSXwGNrc