Redeemed … with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
The story has been often told of a young man from New England who was visiting a friend in colonial Virginia and saw an appalling sight. He was witnessing an auction where human beings were being sold as livestock. A ship of African slaves had been brought to the auction blocks near the dock, and plantation owners were bidding against each other to buy the best of them. He made a promise that if he ever came back he would make a difference, if only for one of these poor victims.
Later, loaded with money, he returned. He stood in the crowd and waited. Toward the end of the auction, a beautiful young African woman stood in chains, her head down, trembling in fear. The men at the auction had been waiting for her. As the bidding began and went higher and higher, it was obvious that this young woman was the desired object of these wicked men. And she knew what lay ahead of her.
He waited patiently. One by one, bidders dropped off. Then he voiced his first bid, to their astonishment. Very quickly, the men in the audience realized they did not have the wealth to match this young man’s. The final bid was his, and the auctioneer brought his gavel down with a loud “Sold!”
The young man went up, paid the money, and was handed a key. Before everyone, he walked up to the young woman, who looked at him with eyes full of anger and hatred. He held the key up to her to make sure that she understood what he was doing. He unlocked the cuffs on her wrists. He showed her the key again, then knelt and unlocked the chains around her feet. As the chains dropped and she stood unfettered, he stood and, with a smile, held up the key again. Then, with all his might, he threw the key as far as he could into the river. She immediately understood: he had bought her to set her free! At that moment of understanding, she fell to her knees in tears and wrapped her arms around the man who had just set her free.
This old story of redemption, as beautiful as it is, pales in significance to the Man who came from the glory to redeem us. The Old Testament, in its stories of redemption, introduces the subject of a kinsman redeemer, one who was not only willing and able to redeem, but one who was related to the captive that needed to be set free. The Lord Jesus Christ came from heaven and became one of us – our sinless Kinsman Redeemer. He paid the ultimate price for the redemption of our souls. With heavenly dignity, He walked quietly and steadily to Calvary, where He shed His precious blood to buy us back from the slave market of sin. It is wonderful to know that I am loved by God and bought back by a Redeemer. Has this ever happened in your life? If not, we trust that you will soon be set free from the shackles of your sins by accepting this Savior and Redeemer who loved you so much that He went all the way to Calvary and paid the ultimate price.
