The wicked become a ransom for the righteous,
and the unfaithful for the upright
(Proverbs 21:18)
Depending on who you are, what your story is, you might read this in different ways.
- The wicked get what they deserve, and the good guy wins in the end! Yay, good guy!
- Well, who are we to say who is wicked, and who is righteous? I mean – God doesn’t judge, why should we?
- “I don’t wanna go to heaven if I can’t get in”
- Wha? I don’t get it? Why would the righteous need a ransom?
Truth is – this is a prophetic verse. This is about Jesus the Christ. He became the ransom for the righteous, for the upright.
But even that doesn’t make sense, does it? That implies Jesus is wicked, unfaithful.
Yes.
God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)
See, Jesus BECAME sin. Jesus, who was perfect, became that which God detests – sin. In this, He became wicked in the Father’s sight. In this, he became unfaithful. For YOU. For me.
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,ema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) (Matthew 27:46)
Picture, if you could, perfect union with God the Father. You can’t, really. Because nobody, save for Jesus, has ever known this (and Adam and Eve, before the fall). We have always had at best a cloudy, strife-ridden relationship with God. For now. Some day that will change, thank you Jesus! But bottom line, we cannot know that perfect union between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Now, picture, if you could, COMPLETE SEPARATION from the Father! Oh, how I dread this, how I tremble in terror at the thought! I can’t even imagine….
And – nobody can. Even those who reject God, do not yet know what it means to be completely separated from God. Yet…
But Jesus did, in that moment on the cross… He endured the worst possible thing… For YOU… For me…
Jesus took our sin, our muck, our wickedness – and gave us His righteousness. He became the ransom for you.
God is so good…
