MARK 10:35–45
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”
(Mark 10:45).
The Atonement is a multifaceted event. One of the images used in the New Testament is that of a ransom paid to redeem a captive. Redemption involves being set free from bondage by a deliverer. If redemption involves paying a ransom, then to whom is the ransom paid?
The most common erroneous view in church history has been that Jesus paid a ransom to Satan because Satan holds fallen man bound in captivity. A moment’s thought will show, however, that this cannot be. If Christ paid a ransom to Satan to deliver us from Satan’s clutches, then Satan would be the victor.
It is true that Satan has a kind of dominion over fallen man, but Satan has no legal claim on humanity. God is our Owner, and if we are in Satan’s clutches, it is only because God has turned us over to him as part of our punishment. In order for us to be set free, then, the ransom must be paid to God, our ultimate Owner; Satan is only our prison master. When God redeemed Israel from Egypt, He did not pay a price to Pharaoh; rather He destroyed Pharaoh. The price, which was the Passover blood, was paid to God. When God was satisfied, He delivered Israel from bondage to His wrath, and into a wonderful “bondage” to His grace.
In this matter of sin, the ransom is paid to the offended party—the Father. Jesus as a servant offered Himself as a payment to the Father for us. This payment involved two elements: substitution and satisfaction. Jesus offered Himself as a substitute, paying the ransom that we are unable to pay. Satisfaction means that in some sense God is being appeased. If I am angry because you have offended me, but then you appease me, the problem will be removed. Christ’s work on the cross satisfies the wrath of God, and God is no longer angry with us.
CORAM DEO
Micah 1–3
Revelation 10
How angry is God against the unrepentant? So angry that hell in all its fury is waiting for those who die outside faith in Christ. The Scriptures teach shocking truth, and no where more so than when teaching the consequences of sin. Equally shocking and true is Christ’s death as a ransom for many. Reserve time to praise the love of Christ.
For further study: Isaiah 50:1–11; The Cross of Christ series
thursday
december