The word redeem had legal meaning in Old Testament Hebrew. The term meant to buy back a person, property or right to which one had a previous claim. Someone who had to sell himself into slavery because of poverty, for instance, could have his freedom bought back by someone called a redeemer, usually his next of kin.

Boaz redeemed the widow Ruth when he bought back the land that belonged to her mother-in-law, the widow Naomi. Boaz said, "You are witnesses this day that I have caught from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place" (Ruth 4:9-10)

This foreshadows the way Christ redeemed the Church and bought it back as his Bride. He saw our lost state and made sure we had a family, a home and a relationship with him. And the payment for this redemption? The body and blood of Jesus. He gave completely of himself to give us an inheritance with him forever.
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