Word Study: Deliverance
Luke 21:27-28, “ And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
“I’ve been redeemed, by the blood of the Lamb
Filled with the Holy Ghost I am
All my sins are washed away
I’ve been redeemed.” Traditional song
I recently had a friend point out Luke 21:28 to me and ask. Now why does the Scripture say look up and then lift up your heads? My friend had an interesting take on this redundancy, but first let me address an issue related to an age old question, at least for my old age, and that is, “I thought we are already redeemed, why are we commanded to look up with expectation of our redemption.
Now I am a Baptist, and proud of it, educated in a Conservative Baptist seminary and ordained into the Conservative Baptist Churches of America. I know we Baptist have our contradictions, just like any other denomination, but I embrace our contradictions. This matter of redemption is one such contradiction. I remember singing our songs proclaiming our redemption and how Jesus redeemed us from our sins. Then after getting all hyped up over the fact that we said our sinner’s prayer and were born again, we would listening to some old time preacher wax lyrical about the Second Coming of Jesus and, like wow, they would talk of Hippies, communist, street riots, revolution, war in Viet Nam and declare that things were so bad if the rapture did not occur before I was sixteen the world would blow up. Then this preacher would declare, “When these things come to pass, look up for your redemption draweth nigh.” Boy, I would walk outside looking up in the clouds fully expecting Jesus to appear on His white horse, riding bareback for He surely would not need a saddle (I was a big fan of cowboy movies and I knew all about saddles and things like that).
Even at that young age, something always bothered me about this. “Did we not just get done singing about being redeemed? If I am already redeemed, why am I looking for my redemption to come?” I remember my grandfather used to tell about hearing these same sermons when he was boy. Only these sermons would speak of World War I threatening and how the nations were gearing up for a world war, disease such as small pox and measles were rampant and there was something called a recession going on in the country. Of course in those days people were not as enlightened as they are now about something called a rapture and when things get really bad we are going to get snatched out. So grandpa said he would run into the woods and hide before the Antichrist could find him.
But wait, hold it, are we not already redeemed? Who needs a rapture? We are bound for glory anyways. I mean if there is a seven years of tribulation to follow, I think I might want to stay around and bring the message of redemption to as many people as possible. After all, I am an evangelical Baptist, evangelism is our second name, our cup of tea, we live to evangelize and what better opportunity to evangelize than a seven year tribulation period.
Ok, just another one of our Baptist contradictions that I embrace, but there is salvation for us Baptist here and that is in the way we use the word redemption. It is not that Scripture is wrong, it is the use of our English language. The word used in the Greek for redemption is apolytrosis which means to purchase or to by something back, hence to redeem. Well, that was the first coming of Jesus was it not. That is why He came to earth in the first place to die on the cross and pay that price to purchase use back. According to my Baptist preachers, He is coming back a second time to claim His own that which he has already purchased. So I forgive my Baptist preachers for there mangling of the English language here. I suppose you can squeeze our English word redemption into this picture.
However, I believe Scripture is more precise than our English language and herein lies another reason I believe the Gospels were written in Aramaic and our Greek text is only a translated version of the inspired original documents which were in Aramaic. In fact it is the words of Jesus that are inspired and scholars are pretty much agreed that He did not speak Greek but Aramaic. Thus, the Aramaic would be the inspired words, not the Greek. The Aramaic version of the Bible, The Peshitta, uses the word, porkana which means to deliver, to rescue or to claim something that you own, that is of value to you, that you love. The word is sometimes used for salvation.
Jesus is going to return in the clouds. This idea of coming in a cloud is an old Semitic metaphor. Clouds express the idea of glory, honor and majesty. The expression to come in on the cloud is an old idiom used to describe a conquering king who rides into the city of his conquest on a white horse to claim his ownership. The horse would be white as a cloud hence the expression that to come in on the cloud.
So Jesus is saying that after all the troubles we experience here on earth, look up, lift your head for your deliverance from all your troubles is on its way for your deliverer is coming as a conquering king on a cloud to claim what is His and what is His are you, me, and anyone else who has accepted His free gift, His offer of porkana, salvation.
Now about this looking up and lifting your head business, my friend had an interesting take on this which fits right into this study, but I forgot what it was, I will have to get back with you on that one.
Recent Comments