What does it mean to redeem something? If we own something, it belongs to us, but things can get lost or stolen, then somebody else ends up possessing what is rightfully ours. How do we get our possession back? We could show some sort of proof of ownership or we might need to purchase it back or we could just demand it back. However it happens, that transfer back to us as the rightful owner, that’s what the Bible calls redemption. What does it mean, for a person to be redeemed? Imagine we lived in ancient Bible times and we ran out of money, as a last resort, we could sell ourselves as a slave to pay back that debt, but a family member could come with money, called a redemption price and claim us and that person is called a kinsman redeemer, they were transferring us back into the family. The story of the Bible begins with this big idea that all creation, especially humans, belong to God, but tragically, humans have ended up being corrupted and enslave by death. God wants humanity back and so the story of the Bible is basically about how God transfers us back into his possession, he redeems us.
Where does the blood of the lamb fit into all of this? In the book of Exodus, Pharaoh has claimed the lives of all of the Israelites, making them his slaves. God confronts Pharaoh and demands, let my people go free or I will take them back with displays of power. Pharaoh refuses to acknowledge God’s claim on Israel, but in one final act of power, God makes it clear to Pharaoh that not just Israel, but all life belongs to him. God will unleash a deadly plague through the land to compel Pharaoh to free the Israelites, every life is already enslaved by death, but God provides a way of safety from the plague. This is what the Passover meal is all about, where every family puts the blood of a flawless lamb on the door frame of their house to protect them.
The lamb is a symbol of a life that belongs totally to God, uncorrupted by evil or death, that means death has no rightful claim to it. The blood is a symbol of its flawless life that has been surrendered over to death. But death has no claim over the life of this lamb, why does it die? Because it surrendered its life, it can give its life power for others to open up a way back to life with God, so to go back in, is like being in the house that is covered by the blood of the lamb, protected from death, belonging to God. On the night of Passover, God liberates people from death, and the next day, Pharaoh released his claim on Israel and so, God also liberates them from slavery. Both liberations are central to what redemption means in the rest of the Bible, God redeemed Israel for a larger purpose, so they could be God’s partners and represent his character to the nations. Israel’s story turns tragic as they become enslaved along with all the rest of humanity to their corrupt desires and the deadly violence that results, instead of living in freedom, Israel remains claimed by death.
Can Israel or anyone be truly redeemed from death? The story of Jesus, he went around announcing the arrival of God’s redemption, he led a life fully dedicated to loving God and loving others, freeing them from sickness and from death. Then Jesus went to Jerusalem on Passover weekend to confront the power of death itself, and the city leaders decide to kill him. Jesus was blameless, those leaders have no right to claim his life, it wasn’t fair. In an act of generous love, he surrendered his life for others. When Jesus was raised from the dead, it all became clear, Jesus is God’s ultimate counterclaim against death and the life of Jesus represented by the blood is a covering for anyone who takes refuge in him, death could not claim him and ultimately it cannot claim us either. When Christians say they been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, what they mean is that because of Jesus’ life, they have been reclaimed by God into freedom and into a kind of life that’s beyond the power of death, we belong to God and nothing can change that. This is what it means to be redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
Where does the blood of the lamb fit into all of this? In the book of Exodus, Pharaoh has claimed the lives of all of the Israelites, making them his slaves. God confronts Pharaoh and demands, let my people go free or I will take them back with displays of power. Pharaoh refuses to acknowledge God’s claim on Israel, but in one final act of power, God makes it clear to Pharaoh that not just Israel, but all life belongs to him. God will unleash a deadly plague through the land to compel Pharaoh to free the Israelites, every life is already enslaved by death, but God provides a way of safety from the plague. This is what the Passover meal is all about, where every family puts the blood of a flawless lamb on the door frame of their house to protect them.
The lamb is a symbol of a life that belongs totally to God, uncorrupted by evil or death, that means death has no rightful claim to it. The blood is a symbol of its flawless life that has been surrendered over to death. But death has no claim over the life of this lamb, why does it die? Because it surrendered its life, it can give its life power for others to open up a way back to life with God, so to go back in, is like being in the house that is covered by the blood of the lamb, protected from death, belonging to God. On the night of Passover, God liberates people from death, and the next day, Pharaoh released his claim on Israel and so, God also liberates them from slavery. Both liberations are central to what redemption means in the rest of the Bible, God redeemed Israel for a larger purpose, so they could be God’s partners and represent his character to the nations. Israel’s story turns tragic as they become enslaved along with all the rest of humanity to their corrupt desires and the deadly violence that results, instead of living in freedom, Israel remains claimed by death.
Can Israel or anyone be truly redeemed from death? The story of Jesus, he went around announcing the arrival of God’s redemption, he led a life fully dedicated to loving God and loving others, freeing them from sickness and from death. Then Jesus went to Jerusalem on Passover weekend to confront the power of death itself, and the city leaders decide to kill him. Jesus was blameless, those leaders have no right to claim his life, it wasn’t fair. In an act of generous love, he surrendered his life for others. When Jesus was raised from the dead, it all became clear, Jesus is God’s ultimate counterclaim against death and the life of Jesus represented by the blood is a covering for anyone who takes refuge in him, death could not claim him and ultimately it cannot claim us either. When Christians say they been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, what they mean is that because of Jesus’ life, they have been reclaimed by God into freedom and into a kind of life that’s beyond the power of death, we belong to God and nothing can change that. This is what it means to be redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
