Redeemed

That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” 

They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his Body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.” 

And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures.

As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” 

So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the Eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:13-35)

Two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.  According to Luke, the road to Emmaus appearance is one of the early post-resurrection appearances of Jesus after his crucifixion and the discovery of the empty tomb.

They thought Jesus was going to free them from political oppression and subjugation from the Romans. Why? They were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel – to ransom it from Roman captivity.

What does "redeemed" mean? The term means "ransomed from captivity." Very often the context in both Scripture and the ancient world in general was redemption from slavery. If you were captured by an enemy and made a hostage or sold into slavery, your family could redeem you by paying a ransom fee. Or you might be a slave who was able to come up with the money agreed upon by your master, and you offered your own ransom payment.

An example of redemption in the Old Testament is the story of Hosea and his wife Gomer. After bearing three sons, Gomer ran away and ended up in slavery. God eventually instructed Hosea to reclaim his wife. He reported the following: So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about 10 bushels of barley (Hosea 3:2). Hosea redeemed Gomer; he paid the ransom price to release her from whoever owned her that they might again live as husband and wife.

Who is it, or what is it, that owns us? We slaves to sin expressed by Paul in Romans 7:14-25 who said: “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold into slavery to sin. What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I concur that the law is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if [I] do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 

So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, I myself, with my mind, serve the law of God but, with my flesh, the law of sin.”

Now that’s some slavery!  How are we redeemed?  According to our faith, by Jesus Christ who paid the price for our sin through his sacrifice on the cross.  He was our Paschal Lamb.  His life and end were patterned after the scapegoat onto which the high priest ceremonially laid the sins of the people before casting the goat into the wilderness to die.

The scapegoat in the Yom Kippur ritual is described in the Torah.  The goat was ritually burdened with the sins of the Jewish people. The scapegoat was sent into the wilderness for Azazel, possibly for the purpose of placating that evil spirit, while a separate goat was slain as an offering to God. By extension, a scapegoat has come to mean any group or individual that innocently bears the blame of others.

This ritual is described in Leviticus 16:20-22 that states: “When he has finished purging the inner sanctuary, the tent of meeting and the altar, Aaron shall bring forward the live goat. Laying both hands on its head, he shall confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and their trespasses, including all their sins, and so put them on the goat’s head. He shall then have it led into the wilderness by an attendant. The goat will carry off all their iniquities to an isolated region.”

We are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Deacon David Pierce