I’ve always been fascinated by the legal provision for the new nation of Israel that if a Hebrew purchased another Hebrew as a slave, the one purchased would serve six years and then be freed in the seventh—but at the time of his scheduled release, the slave could decide to stay. If he declared he loved his master and wanted to continue to serve him, he would have his ear pierced with an awl and would become the permanent property of his owner (see Deut. 15:12-17).
What could make a slave decide to serve his master for the rest of his life? The master himself! Can you imagine a master so wonderful you would forfeit your freedom to serve him forever? We Christians don’t have to imagine! We know Him! Just as the slave forever bore a mark that testified he was the permanent property of his owner, so we Christians bear the permanent mark of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God “anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor. 1:21-22).
I’m not condoning slavery here, just upholding Christ as the perfect Master. He also bears marks, and these testify to His loving pursuit of us.
One evening, a fire broke out in a home where a grandmother lived with her young grandson. The fire spread rapidly, trapping the young boy in his upstairs room. The grandmother attempted to save him but perished in the fire; and it appeared the boy, too, would not survive. Then a man broke through the crowd of onlookers. He grabbed hold of the iron drainpipe that ran down the side of the house next to the boy’s bedroom window. Climbing up, rescuing the boy, and climbing back down again as the lad held tightly onto his neck, the man brought the boy at last to safety.
The child’s life had been spared, but who now would be his guardian? He had no other living relatives. Two months after the fire, a hearing was held. Several people in the town asked to be considered. All of them presented compelling cases for the boy to come live with them, but the lad seemed indifferent to each one. Then a man walked to the front of the room and said he wanted to adopt the orphaned youngster. He held out his hands before the crowd so everyone present could see they were badly discolored and scared.
The boy looked up when he heard the man speak, smiled with satisfaction, and ran to meet him. Wrapping his arms around the man’s legs, he demonstrated he knew this was the one who had saved him from the fire. The hot iron pipe had burned the rescuer’s hands, leaving them permanently blemished.
No one needed to say anything more. Those scars proved that the boy’s rightful place was in the home of the man who had saved him.
After relating this story, Dr. Bill Bright writes that just as the rescuer’s scars ended the debate over whom should have custody of the child, Jesus’ nail-scared hands demonstrate decisively that we belong to the One who was executed on the cross in our place.
We are not our own, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, for we have been bought at a very high price. Realizing no one ever could love us more or in any better way than Jesus has, we understand that living for Him and serving Him are the greatest privileges of our lives. Legalism isn’t part of this equation. It can’t be when we fully understand who Jesus is and how He has loved us!
He is, without question, the perfect Master!
Copyright © 2017 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
B. Nathaniel “Bev” Sullivan writes each week on religious liberty and cultural issues. His website is www.wordfoundations.com.
top image credit: Photo by Chris Karidis on Unsplash