Ruth 1-4
I love the story of Ruth! Not only is it a beautiful story, but I believe it is a more significant one than at first meets the eye. It is a fantastic example of the remarkable layering of meaning in God’s word. The purpose of a kinsman redeemer was so that a line – a family name – would not be blotted out and their inheritance lost. This is, in ways I don’t fully understand, a picture of our own redemption through Christ, whose line is unbroken as promised by God, that we might have the inheritance promised to us in Christ and that Christ might have us as His promised inheritance from God.
How fitting that Ruth, who was redeemed by Boaz, is in the direct line of Jesus! And how prophetic that the men who were witnesses to the redemption mentioned both Leah and Tamar in their blessing. I still stand in awe at the women God chose to use in Christ’s line.
I also had the thought reading this story that, though the “purchase” of women seems debasing to us, back in the day, I believe it was actually the opposite. Boaz’s purchase of Ruth gave her great value, where she would have remained ‘worthless’ otherwise. Obviously we don’t hold that women are worthless unless they are married and bearing children, but in that time and culture that was very important to them. And indeed, the son Ruth bore for Naomi – to carry on the name of her late husband – was important to all of us.
Luke 17:1-19
The ten lepers Jesus healed – they stood at a distance and called out to Him. Jesus never touched them, never did anything fancy, never told them they were healed. He simply told them to go show themselves to the priest, according to the law for lepers when they became clean again. Nothing had changed when the lepers started off – it was an act of obedient faith that Jesus required of them. As far as they could tell, they were going to the priest in their leprous state. What was the point in that?!
But they obeyed and they were cleansed on the way. Talk about acting on faith! When they saw what had happened, one of them – ONE – turned back in gratitude to give thanks to Jesus. That ONE was a foreigner (presumably a Samaritan, given the stated location). To this one, Jesus said, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” Perhaps, then, this ONE was the only one to receive Christ’s true healing.