Redemption of Man by Christ

[thyrodandstaff]

Ignatius RSV-CE Second Catholic Edition:

Exodus 6:6, “Say therefore to the sons of Israel, 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment…”

The notes for 6:6 say: redeem: The Hebrew term means, “to buy back” a kinsman or his property from captors or confiscators.

So Christ’s passion was how he redeemed all mankind from the state that Adam and Eve had created after the Fall.

There is the prayer at the closing of the rosary:
O God, Whose only-begotten son, by his Life, Death, and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life…

So those three things, Life, Passion, and Resurrection “bought us back” from who?
The Devil? What does this mean? What does Catholic Tradition have to say about this?

So the devil was a captor or confiscator of all mankind, who took us from the God the Trinity? Is this the Catholic way to think about this? It troubles me. If you answer this question remember that God sees all and punishes wrongdoing.

 

[babs57]

Ignatius RSV-CE Second Catholic Edition:

Exodus 6:6, “Say therefore to the sons of Israel, 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment…”

The notes for 6:6 say: redeem: The Hebrew term means, “to buy back” a kinsman or his property from captors or confiscators.

So Christ’s passion was how he redeemed all mankind from the state that Adam and Eve had created after the Fall.

There is the prayer at the closing of the rosary:
O God, Whose only-begotten son, by his Life, Death, and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life…

So those three things, Life, Passion, and Resurrection “bought us back” from who?
The Devil? What does this mean? What does Catholic Tradition have to say about this?

So the devil was a captor or confiscator of all mankind, who took us from the God the Trinity? Is this the Catholic way to think about this? It troubles me. If you answer this question remember that God sees all and punishes wrongdoing.

The devil is not our captor. Sin is our captor:

Rom 6:6 knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we shall not serve sin.

Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye become the servants of righteousness.

I’m not sure why you added the bit about God watching us?

 

[TimothyH]

We have to look at the scriptures in the context of the culture which produced them and with an eye toward figuring out the literal sense of what the human authors were trying to communicate.

In short, people were bought and sold as slaves back then, and you could purchase your own freedom, or someone could buy your freedom from you for a price. Even into the time of Jesus, Roman citizenship could be purchased. Debtor’s prisons were also common. We no longer have debtor’s prisons and so have lost the context of how they operated.

When a debtor owed money but couldn’t pay, the creditor could have them summoned to court. If the judge ruled in favor of the creditor, the debtor could be thrown into the debtor’s prison until the debt could be paid. But to further humiliate the debtor, he was not allowed to pay the debt himself. A relative, friend or even a complete stranger had to pay the debt for him, and the person who paid the debt was given the right to take the debtor out of prison. Purchasing the right to take the debtor out of prison was what was known as redemption, or redeeming the debtor.

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him.q Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny. (Matthew 5:26-26)

That’s a debtor’s prison right there.

So if you owed money and your wife could not pay, I could offer to redeem you in return for your servitude for a period of time, or even for life. I would then purchase the right to take you out of prison by paying the debt, in return for your service, or your slavery.

That is what Christ did. He paid the price for us to get out of prison. He bought us back from slavery to Satan. He has the right to take us out of prison, if we will take his hand and go with him. Many don’t recognize Christ as a friend. Many don’t take his hand. If we do accept Christ’s redemption, we have to serve him for life. Or we are free to walk back to the jail cell, or to go back into slavery to Satan, and Christ will honor our decision.

This is barely even skimming the top. Books could be written about the subject of redemption. I hope I helped in some way.

-Tim-