THE KINSMEN REDEEMER
Text: Hebrews 2:10 -18
Have you ever heard of the law of the kinsman redeemer? There are three things that have to happen for someone to be redeemed. The first rule is that the redeemer must be a relative to those in debt. The second rule is that a redeemer must be willing to act for his lost brothers and sisters. This rule sounds like an echo of being a “brother’s keeper”. The third and final rule is that the kinsman redeemer must be able to pay the price for redemption. (M. R. DeHaan. Studies In Revelation. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1998, pp. 106 – 110). If you go to the book of Ruth in the Old Testament, then you will these three rules play out as Boaz is the kinsman who saves Ruth. What Boaz did for Ruth, Jesus does for all of humanity.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten So that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish (John 3:16). Have you ever pondered what that really means? The word “so” gives us a much stronger emphasis.
Nevertheless, every hero has his nemesis---a seemingly unbeatable opponent. The nemesis in this story has limits and goes against God’s Son. The nemesis uses fear, deception, blackmail, guilt and exploitation against God’s people. Satan is a nemesis to Christians.
Jesus is a pioneer whose suffering shows us God’s victory and gives us access to God.
PIONEER
Have you ever wondered about how we make mistakes? 1) Failure: Adam failed to be what God meant for him to be. Don’t we also fall short of who it is that God intended for us to be? Aren’t we all human and capable of making mistakes?
2) Missing the mark: A golfer’s errant shot ended up on an ant hill. He squared up , took a big swing---and missed. Thousands of innocent ants were killed. The hacker took another swing---and missed again. Another wave of ants was destroyed. Panic stricken ants scurried everywhere.
One ant finally took charge. “Follow me, “ he cried with authority. Another ant yelled , but where are we going?”
He pointed to the golf ball sitting in front of them. “There. If we don’t get on the ball, we’re going to die!” (Edward K. Rowell & Bonne L. Steffen. eds. Humor For Preaching & Teaching. Grand Rapids: Baked Book House, 1996, p. 179). Getting on the ball might help in getting things done but it will not save us! We need a Savior for that!
How does Jesus become our Savior? 1) Trading places: Would you trade places with someone who was in need? Would it depend on whether the one with whom you would trade places was a friend as opposed to a stranger or even an enemy? Jesus left the glory of heaven to come to us as one of us. Jesus came from heaven to earth to get us from earth to heaven. Jesus came to save us from our sins. 2) God in human flesh: Jesus came to help us change our nature. Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. 3) Kinsman Redeemer: Now why does that matter? It matters because Jesus is our kinsman Redeemer! When Jesus came to us as one of us, He also came as God in human flesh---God’s only begotten son! Remember John 3:16? Analogy: A seamstress sews pieces of cloth to each other. Is that what God did in Jesus Christ? Jesus shared in our human nature that we might share with Him in his divine nature through being baptized into His likeness.
SUFFERING
Does Jesus succeed where Adam failed? 1) A Fail safe: We think of a “fail-safe” as ideal because it is impossible for the “fail-safe” thing to fail. Is Jesus a “fail-safe” savior? The answer is obviously and emphatically “yes”! Paul explains it well: 1 Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. …. 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit”. 2) Exemption: If you noticed today’s text begins and ends with suffering--- the suffering of Jesus Christ! 3) Impartiality: Matthew 5:45 reminds us by saying “… so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (ESV). 4) Etymology: There are two different words used for suffering in the Greek. The first word translates as hardships and the second translates as experience. The point is that Jesus understands every hardship that you have suffered or will suffer.
Some ask, “Why would a loving God allow suffering?” 1) Inquisitive: Have you ever asked that question? Why doesn’t God just end our suffering? 2) Theodicy: Someone coined a name for those kinds of questions. Theodicy. Theodicy is a branch of theology that questions how could God’s goodness coexist in an environment where evil also exists. 3) Explanation: Evil has limits and will one day cease to exist. Max Lucado is among those who describe how evil is allowed to exist but will one day lose its power and cease to exist. Max Lucado once compared evil’s energy and activity to a spinning top that eventually loses all its energy and falls over. (Max Lucado. Max On Life.) What is the point?, you may ask. The answer is simple, God makes all things [even things that were meant for our downfall] to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). God always wins and good will always triumph over evil because nothing is impossible [or limited]/ with God!
Do we have a misplaced anger about suffering? There is a story about a preacher who was preaching one day to a congregation in which there was an angry farmhand. He was so openly disapproving of the minister's sermon that he held up his sick daughter which he seemed to be upset about. Perhaps, his anger was misplaced because of that fact. Nevertheless, he accused the minister of being like the farmers that he worked for because he, too, was making money off him. Finally, he made the comment that God had better stop sending ministers to speak for Him because He needed to come and speak for Himself. But, what he did not realize was that God had already come in Jesus Christ. (Paraphrased. Philip Yancey. Where Is God When it Hurts?. New York: Harper Paperbacks, 1990, pp. 176-177). How well do we stoop to help those on the margins of the world we live in?
Do we accept our mission field or cling to our comfort zones? What if Jesus would not have wanted to leave His comfort zone in heaven? 1) Comfort Zone : How far would you go to rescue someone you love? 2) Distance or indifference?: How far would you go to rescue an enemy? 3) The plentiful harvest and the need for harvesting disciples: That is what Jesus did because His love for us is unconditional. What will you do differently in your mission field in 2017? “Christians who refuse to witness are saying to those people that they choose not to witness to, “You can go to hell”. (Tony Evans. Tony Evans’ Book Of Illustrations. Chicago: Moody Press Publishers’, 2009, p. 341). 4) Marching orders: Did Jesus come to be our Savior so that we could only work on our self-preservation? Are we neglecting our marching orders to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19)? Remember, “God so loved the world….” Doesn’t that mean everybody in the world? How well does our love mirror God’s love?
ACCESS
Jesus identified with us in our suffering! 1) Savior: Jesus stooped down to show us how great God’s love is for us! Jesus not only identified with us in our suffering, He also suffered for us on the cross. 2) Jesus is our lifeguard. He “… is the strong swimmer who carries the rope ashore and so not only secures His position but makes rescue [a reality] for all who will follow”. (George A. Buttrick. ed. The Interpreter’s Bible. Volume XI. Thirty-third printing. J. Harry Cotton. Exposition: “The Epistle to the Hebrews.” Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1987, p 615). We have access to God because of Jesus! Did you get that? Do we deny others access to Jesus when we do not witness?
Does Satan weaponize suffering to distort how we see God? 1) Viewpoint on suffering: How do you look at suffering and evil in this world? That brings us back to the question of Theodicy. 2) Weaponized suffering: How does Satan weaponize the way we view suffering anyway? Satan would love to have us see suffering as something that alienates us from God. Satan wants us to view suffering as if access to God is denied! Is that how we view suffering? When we neglect our call to witness as disciples, are we disabling others who are being harmed by Satan’s “weaponized suffering?” 3): Undefeatable : Jesus came to conquer sin, death and even the fear of death!
Is Jesus the Captain of your salvation? 1) Access to God: Do you have access to God? Some (like Oprah Winfrey) say that you can have access to God without Jesus Christ! That is not at all what scripture says. How will we find salvation apart from our Creator? 2) God’s answer to any mayday: Mayday is known as the international distress call. How many are there who wait till they are in mortal danger before they pray to God to save their souls? 3) The captain of our souls: When we face stormy seas, Jesus is the captain of souls! When we go through difficult places in the deserts of life, Jesus is our pioneer who blazed the trail and showed us how to conquer temptation. Is Jesus your Savior? Jesus came to be the author and perfecter of our faith! Jesus is our Savior in every environment because He is our kinsman redeemer!
Consider 1 Corinthians _14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” (KJV). Consider also Hebrews 5:9 “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (KJV); Hebrews 12:2 – 3: “…. Jesus, the founder [pioneer] and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” (ESV). The love of our Kinsman Redeemer is beyond measure!
