Scripture passage: Mark 10:45 “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.”

Last week I spoke at a men’s ministry Saturday morning breakfast. I love these events because it’s great to see men coming out early on a Saturday morning for food and fellowship. This men’s ministry calls itself Ransomed. I was intrigued by their use of this moniker. I normally hear the term redeemed. As a student at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, I learned that redeemed means “purchased with a price.” However, the word ransomed struck me as a stronger word, something that might appear in an outlaw western movie.

Ransomed means freed from captivity, kidnapping, or bondage after a payment is made. It can describe a person, group, or item that is successfully recovered or released because a payment or demand is met. For example: “The ransomed hostages returned home safely to their families.”

In our biblical context, ransomed often means being saved or redeemed from sin, spiritual darkness, or punishment through divine grace rather than physical money. In our Scripture passage above, Jesus and His death on the cross are the payment described. Jesus paid for our sins. Think of it. Jesus was the only one qualified to do this.

Here are a couple of historical examples of ransom payments. King Richard the Lionheart (1192–1194) was captured by Leopold V, Duke of Austria. England paid a massive ransom of 150,000 marks to free their king. In today’s dollars, this is often estimated at up to $3.3 billion.

In 1996, the eldest son of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing was kidnapped by the notorious gangster Cheung Chi-keung. The family paid a record $134 million in cash to secure his safe release! How much would someone be willing to pay if you were kidnapped?

So, all this discussion of ransom brings us to this question: What should our attitude be toward Jesus Christ, since He secured our ransom payment? Shouldn’t we be willing to offer Him our talent, time, and treasure?

No amount of money could secure our redemption: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed… but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1:18–19)

At the men’s breakfast, it was tremendous to be with a group of men, young and old, wearing T-shirts that simply said, RANSOMED.
© Dr. Paul Pettit www.dynamicdads.com

This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.