What does "redeem" mean to you?

 Jesus appeared to many after His resurrection.  Two of those were disciples who were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  When Jesus approached them, they didn't know who He was, but they had plenty to tell Him.  They were amazed that this "stranger" didn't know about what had been going on in Jerusalem.  As they told Him about Jesus, they said, "But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel"  (Luke 24:21a).  They wanted Israel to be redeemed.  What does that mean?  The dictionary defines redeem as "to save someone from sin, error, or evil."    I think this is what the men meant.  They wanted Israel to be saved from the big bad Romans who were making their lives difficult.  But another definition from the dictionary is "to gain or regain possession of something in exchange for payment, to pay the necessary money to clear a debt."  The Greek word for redeem means "to ransom."  While the word redeem may mean different things depending on context, we need to make sure we understand that Jesus did come to redeem us, but by His definition.  Jesus didn't come to redeem Israel from the Romans.  He didn't come to redeem you out of a hard family situation.  He didn't come to redeem you from a job you hate.  He didn't come to redeem you from hard things in this world.  He came to redeem  you from that which was separating you from Him - sin.  He came to buy us back after we had sold ourselves into slavery to the temporary, the physical, the things that seem good for us at the time but turned out to rot our souls.  Jesus came to redeem us, period.  Eternally.  For all time.  

Many liars will tell you that, if you are a Christian, life will be easy, fun, and full of health, wealth, and well-being.  That is not what Jesus tells us.  Believing that is getting the definition of redeem incorrect.  Jesus tells us in John 16:33 that we will have trouble or suffering in this world.  It is a guarantee.  He is more concerned with the eternal than the temporary.  He has redeemed us for the long haul, the forever, bringing us the ability to be with Him because He has paid the cost to buy us back.  If we are only looking at the temporary things of this world, the suffering and hardships, we are missing out on the true hope.  We are missing out on what it means to truly be redeemed.  

Make sure you have the definition of redeem correct.   Make sure you understand that He has redeemed you from sin to bring you to Himself.  We are redeemed to have a relationship with Him, not to have it easy.  We are redeemed so that we can have peace and hope, not so we can temporarily have some fun.  Redeemed at a very, very high cost.  Live in it.  Hope in it.  Love in it.