Ransom

Matthew 20:28 (ESV) … “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The concept of Jesus as our substitute creates strong aversion in the modern mind. Some would rather define salvation as an optional lifestyle chosen from enlightened self-interest (that is, neither Christ’s work nor our response to it has any ultimate significance; equally good help can be found elsewhere). Others opt for a universalism that avoids accountability for sin by saying that ultimately everyone will be saved. Each of these views guts the gospel by making sin and eternity irrelevant.

Ransom, however, speaks bluntly of hopelessness, necessity, and sin. By definition, ransom must be done for us. The God who ransoms doesn’t save out of whim; God declares us valuable by paying the highest price. But some refuse the ransom offer. They remain in slavery, even when told that a way out has been provided by the death of Jesus on the cross. Don’t neglect Jesus’ offer to be your ransom! And if you have accepted his offer, don’t recoil from presenting it to others, even when they seem unreceptive.[1]

[1] Barton, B. B. (1996). Matthew (p. 400). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.