To redeem means to gain (or regain) possession of something in exchange for payment. To the ancient Hebrews, a redeemer (“goel”) was a relative who would purchase back someone who had been sold into debt slavery (a “bondservant”), or repurchase and return property that had been sold due to poverty.
Jesus Christ is the great Redeemer of mankind because He, through His Atonement, paid the price for the sins of mankind and made possible the resurrection of all people.
Guide to the Scriptures
Jesus is our Redeemer because, through His suffering in Gethsemane, He literally “paid the price” for our sins. Some translations of the Bible call Him “the Repurchaser.” Either translation indicates that a transaction has taken place.
Because we, in our human weakness, have sinned, have fallen, eternal justice demands payment if we are to return to a state of purity. Jesus has paid that price on our behalf. He has freed us from that debt. All he asks in return is that we repent and follow Him.
Jesus called for a year of Jubilee
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
Luke 1:68-69
And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
When John the Baptist was born, his father Zacharias prophesied that John’s second cousin, Jesus, would be “an horn of salvation.” This is a reference to the shofar, an instrument made from a ram’s horn, that is blown to announce the Year of Jubilee. This is the year that all debts were forgiven.
When Jesus preached in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth he read some verses from Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1-2) that speak about the Messiah. Jesus then proclaimed, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” (Luke 4:16-21).
Jesus was not only telling the people that he was the Messiah, but, in quoting Isaiah’s words “preach deliverance to the captives,” and “preach the acceptable year of the Lord,” Jesus was proclaiming a year of Jubilee.
Luke records that the people of Nazareth angrily chased Jesus out of town. It is not clear from the scripture whether the people were more upset at his religious blasphemy of claiming to be the Messiah or his political heresy of suggesting that all debts be forgiven.
Showing the same mercy we have received
Because Jesus has forgiven our debt, he expects us to do the same for others. In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:23-35) he tells of a king who compassionately forgave one of his servants a debt of ten thousand talents. Later that same servant had another servant thrown in prison for owing him a debt of a hundred pence.
When the king learned about what had happened, he chastised the first servant and “delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due to him.” (verse 24).
We all certainly owe a much greater debt to the God who gave us life than any of our fellow humans could possibly owe to us. In fact, whatever we may have loaned to another, and expect to be returned, isn’t really “ours” anyway since everything belongs to God. If we are too selfish with God’s blessings, we, too, could find ourselves “delivered to the tormentors.”
This isn’t to say that we on this Earth cannot make agreements and give, trade, and lend goods and services to one another. One who borrows under an agreement to return is obliged, as far as possible, to live up to his promises. But to those who have plenty, the test is whether they will live generously, be understanding, and show compassion.
The creditor who, in this life, works diligently to extract every last farthing from others can expect to pay his own debt to God that same way in the next life.
“… as we forgive our debtors”
Jesus also preached about debt forgiveness during the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew (Matthew 6:12), and in 3 Nephi (3 Nephi 13:11), the Lord’s Prayer says “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” The Gospel of Luke has an even more specific version:
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
(Luke 11:4)
So, in prayer, when we are seeking mercy, compassion, and forgiveness from the Lord, we need to be able to honestly tell Him that we, ourselves, are doing our best to be merciful, compassionate, and forgiving to others.
It won’t matter how much money we have in the bank.
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Mark 8:36
Sources: “Goel,” Wikipedia.
“Redeemer,” Guide to the Scriptures, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“How the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament Help Us Understand What it Means to be Redeemed,” Book of Mormon Central, May 24, 2018.
Michael Hudson, “…and Forgive Them Their Debts: Lending, Foreclosure and Redemption from Bronze Age Finance to the Jubilee Year,” ISLET, 2018.
Albert Vanhoye, “The jubilee year in the gospel of Luke,” Tertium Millennium, March 1997.
D. Todd Christofferson, “Redemption,” Sunday Afternoon Session, General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April 7, 2013.
Amen to that.