Note:
I preached Sunday from Galatians 3:6-15.
Here are some notes from the exposition of Galatians 3:13:
“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).
Notice
first the language of redemption or ransom (“Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us….”). The verb for “to redeem” in Greek is exagorazo, which literally means “to
take off or away from the market [agora].” In the ancient world, prisoners of war could
be redeemed or ransomed from their captors by the exchange of money. Slaves could also purchase or redeem their
freedom by paying the right price.
Notice
also the concept of substitution. We
were under the curse of the law which is the wrath of God for our sin (refer
back to the citation from Deut 27:26 in Galatians 3:10). But the Lord Jesus stepped into our place and
was made a curse for us. The just stood
in the place of the unjust.
Where
was Jesus made a curse for us? It was on
the cross. That is made clear in v. 13
as Paul quotes Deuteronomy 21:23:
“Cursed is every one that hangeth from a tree.” The ancient Hebrews did not know about
crucifixion. That would only come later
with the Persians and then the Romans.
The passage probably speaks about the practice of hanging or impaling
the bodies of criminals to posts or trees. Paul and the first Christians saw in
this passage a hidden or veiled reference to the sacrifice of Christ on the
cross. There he took on our curse; he
was shamed; he was mocked; he was denounced; he bore the wrath and indignation
of God that we deserved.
One of
the reports from the Boston massacre bombing I heard was about a father who
when the bomb went off immediately threw himself upon his two children to
shield them from any harm. The message
of the cross is that when Jesus suffered and died he overshadowed his saints
and took upon himself the curse that was due to us for our disobedience. God has demonstrated his love toward us in
that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff
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