(The Kinsman Redeemer)
Introduction — When Love Takes Initiative
We live in a world where people often step back when things get complicated.
But in Ruth 4, we meet a man who steps forward.
This is the moment redemption moves from promise to reality.
Boaz doesn’t just feel compassion—he takes action.
And that’s what this final chapter is about:
The love of a redeemer who won’t rest until the work is finished.
---
Scene One — The gate of decision
> “Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along.” (v.1)
The town gate was the ancient version of a courthouse—a place of witnesses, contracts, and justice.
Boaz goes early in the morning; he’s not procrastinating. He’s pursuing.
He gathers ten elders to witness what’s about to happen.
> “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.” (v.3)
The nearer kinsman listens. At first, he says,
> “I will redeem it.”
But then Boaz adds,
> “On the day you buy the land, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead.” (v.5)
Suddenly the man hesitates.
> “Then I cannot redeem it because it might endanger my own estate.” (v.6)
And with that, he steps back.
Boaz steps forward.
---
Reflection pause
Have you noticed that some blessings only come when someone is willing to step into the cost?
Redemption always has a price.
Grace is free to the receiver—but costly to the giver.
---
Scene Two — The sandal exchange
Verse 7 says,
> “Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other.”
That might sound odd today, but it was their way of sealing the deal—
a visible, tangible testimony that the right to walk the land had been transferred.
When the nearer kinsman hands Boaz his sandal, it’s more than a transaction.
It’s a turning point in history.
Because through this moment, the lineage of the Messiah will be secured.
---
Illustration — The price of adoption
A couple I know adopted a little girl from overseas.
The legal process was long, expensive, and exhausting.
But I’ll never forget the father’s words when I asked if it was worth it.
He said, “Every signature, every mile, every dollar—it’s all worth it because she’s ours.”
That’s redemption.
Boaz paid the price, not because it was convenient, but because love said, “She’s mine.”
---
Scene Three — Boaz’s public declaration
> “Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, ‘Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite as my wife.’” (vv.9–10)
Boaz doesn’t whisper her name—he declares it.
The very word “Moabite” that once carried shame is now spoken in honor.
Redemption doesn’t hide what we’ve been—it redeems it.
And the people at the gate bless them, saying,
> “May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah.”
Boaz and Ruth leave the gate not with a contract—but with a covenant.
---
Reflection pause
A redeemer’s love doesn’t just rescue—it restores dignity.
Christ doesn’t merely erase your past; He announces your belonging before all heaven.
> “You are witnesses,” Boaz says.
And in the gospel, Jesus says to the universe,
“You are witnesses—this one is Mine.”
---
Scene Four — Love that builds a legacy
> “So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.” (v.13)
Ruth’s story began with three funerals—it ends with a birth.
Naomi’s arms, once empty, now cradle a child named Obed—meaning “servant.”
It’s a quiet miracle:
Ruth, the Moabite outsider, becomes the great-grandmother of King David.
And through David’s line, the Messiah will be born in the same Bethlehem where Naomi once wept.
What began as tragedy ends as triumph.
---
Illustration — The tapestry from the back
A woman once watched her grandmother weave a tapestry. From underneath, it looked chaotic—threads crisscrossed, colors clashing, knots everywhere.
But when she stood up to look from above, the design took her breath away.
That’s how redemption works.
From the underside of life, it looks tangled and painful.
But from God’s perspective, every thread has purpose.
---
Scene Five — Naomi’s full circle
The women of Bethlehem gather and say:
> “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer!” (v.14)
Naomi, who once said, “Call me bitter,” now hears the sound of blessing again.
Her arms are full. Her heart is healed.
And that’s the gospel rhythm—
From famine to fullness,
From emptiness to embrace,
From loss to legacy.
---
Reflection pause
If Ruth’s story teaches us anything, it’s this:
When you think the story is over, grace is already writing the next chapter.
You may not see how all the threads fit, but God never stops weaving.
---
Scene Six — The greater Boaz
Boaz is not just a man in Bethlehem’s history—he’s a preview of another Redeemer who would be born in the same town.
Jesus, the greater Boaz, also went to the gate of judgment.
He, too, paid a price for those who couldn’t redeem themselves.
He, too, declared our worth publicly before witnesses.
And He didn’t just buy a field—He bought the whole world to gain His bride, the Church.
Boaz’s sandal sealed the covenant;
Christ’s cross sealed eternity.
---
Illustration — The signed check
Imagine holding a check written out to you, signed and paid in full—but you never cash it.
It’s yours, but unused.
That’s what unclaimed grace looks like.
Redemption is finished. The price is paid.
But you have to receive it.
Boaz finished his work at the gate.
Jesus finished His work at the cross.
And both declare, “It is done.”
---
Pastoral appeal — Step forward
Maybe you’ve been standing at your own gate of decision.
You’ve watched opportunities pass, waiting for certainty before moving.
Boaz’s story says: Step forward.
Faith doesn’t wait for everything to make sense—it moves because love compels it.
And for those who feel unworthy or overlooked—remember Ruth:
A foreigner in a strange land who became part of God’s royal family.
If grace could find her, it can find you too.
---
Closing encouragement
When the book of Ruth closes, it doesn’t end with sorrow—it ends with a genealogy.
Because redemption always multiplies.
> “Obed was the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of David.” (v.22)
And generations later, in that same Bethlehem, angels would sing,
> “Unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
The Redeemer of Ruth’s story became the Redeemer of ours.
